David Michael Chaytor (born 3 August 1949) is a former British Labour Party politician, who was the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Bury North Bury North is a borough constituency in Greater Manchester, created in 1983 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. With a Conservative majority of 105 votes, it is the most marginal constituency for a sitting MP in the U ...

from

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. He was the first member of Parliament to be sentenced following the

United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal that emerged in 2009, concerning expenses claims made by members of the British Parliament in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords over the previous ye ...

of 2009. On 2 June 2009, he announced that he would not be standing for Parliament at the next general election. On 3 December 2010 he pleaded guilty to charges of

false accounting False accounting is a legal term for a type of fraud, considered a statutory offence in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. England and Wales This offence is created by section 17 of the Theft Act 1968 which provid ...

in relation to Parliamentary expenses claims and he was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment on 7 January 2011. Chaytor was released from prison on 26 May 2011 under the conditions of

Home Detention Curfew Home Detention Curfew (HDC) is a detention scheme in the United Kingdom whereby fixed-term offenders serving between three months and four years in prison may be released between 15 days and four and a half months (depending on sentence length) ear ...

Education

David Chaytor was born in Bury and was educated at the East Ward Primary School and

Bury Grammar School (The key that opens sacred doors) , established = , type = Independent day schoolGrammar school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Headmaster , head ...

(an

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British En ...

), both in the town. He later attended the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

where he was awarded a BA degree in 1970, Huddersfield Polytechnic, the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...

, and he then qualified as a teacher in 1976 at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. He then returned to the University of London to finish his Masters (MPhil) degree in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

in 1979 and did further postgraduate work at the University of Bradford.

Early career

He started work as a college

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in 1973, before being appointed as the senior staff tutor at the Manchester College of Arts and Technology in 1983. In 1990, he became the Head of Continuing Education at the same institute, where he remained until his election to

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

Political career

Local council

He was elected as a councillor on the

Calderdale Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, whose population in 2020 was 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the u ...

Borough Council in 1982 and served until 1997. He served as chairman of the Labour Group, and chairman of the Education, Economic Development, and Highways & Transportation Committees.

Parliament

He contested the parliamentary constituency of Calder Valley at the 1987 General Election, but was defeated by 6,045 votes by the sitting

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

MP Donald Thompson. He again contested Calder Valley at the 1992 General Election, at which he reduced Thompson's majority to 4,878. He had to cede the candidacy for Calder Valley because of an all women shortlist which selected Christine McCafferty. However, Chaytor contested the marginal seat of Bury North at the 1997 General Election which he won, defeating the then Social Security minister

Alistair Burt Alistair James Hendrie Burt (born 25 May 1955) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Bedfordshire from 2001 until 2019. He was previously MP for his native Bury North in Greater Manchester from 1983 unt ...

by 7,866 votes. Chaytor made his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

on 17 June 1997, where he talked of the humble Bury

black pudding , type = , course = , place_of_origin = Great Britain and Ireland , region =England, Ireland, Scotland , associated_cuisine = United Kingdom and Ireland , creator = , year = , mintime = , maxtime = , served = Hot, occasionally ...

and Bury's most famous son,

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Excheque ...

. Chaytor's main political interests were in the Environment, Education, Transport and Foreign Affairs. In the 1997–2001 Parliament he was a Member of the Environmental Audit Select Committee and in January 2000 he received the Green Ribbon award as best environmentalist backbencher in the House of Commons. He was a member of the

Education & Skills Select Committee The Education & Skills Select Committee was a Committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The official name was the ''House of Commons, Education and Skills Committee''. The committee was abolished as a result of the ...

and the Environmental Audit Select Committee. He voted against the government on the privatisation of the

National Air Traffic Services NATS Holdings, formerly National Air Traffic Services and commonly referred to as NATS, is the main air navigation service provider in the United Kingdom. It inherited the traditions of UK air traffic control, which (founded over Croydon Air ...

, and announced his intention to vote against the last clause of the

Gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...

Bill. Although he was educated under the

Direct Grant A direct grant grammar school was a type of selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted ...

system at Bury Grammar School, Chaytor became Chairman of Comprehensive Future, an organisation set up to end selection in British schools, standing down from the role in 2009. He chaired the All Party Group for Intelligent Energy, and co-chaired the All Party Group for Further Education and Lifelong Learning. He was the Secretary of Globe UK, the British branch of the international network of environmentalist parliamentarians.

Suspension and retirement from parliament

On 16 May 2009, following his self-referral to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards for claiming nearly £13,000 in mortgage expenses on a home on which the mortgage had already been paid, Chaytor was suspended by the Labour party, and on 2 June 2009 he announced that he would be stepping down as a member of parliament at the next General Election. Shortly after this the Labour Party NEC's Special Endorsements Panel barred him from standing for election as a Labour Party candidate. The general election took place in June 2010, and Chaytor did not stand for election.

Conviction and sentencing

On 5 February 2010, it was announced that he would be charged with offences under section 17 of the

Theft Act 1968 The Theft Act 1968c 60 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of offences against property in England and Wales. On 15 January 2007 the Fraud Act 2006 came into force, redefining most of the offences of decepti ...

relating to

in relation to claims for Parliamentary expenses and on 27 May he and other politicians appeared at

Southwark Crown Court The Crown Court at Southwark, commonly but inaccurately called Southwark Crown Court, is one of two locations of the Crown Court in the London SE1 postcode area, along with the Crown Court at Inner London. Opened in 1983, the brick building is ...

for a preliminary hearing. Following the failure of the attempt by the group to claim

parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties ...

(dismissed either in the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much ...

or in United Kingdom Supreme Court), on 3 December 2010 he immediately pleaded guilty to three counts of false accounting involving approximately £18,000 and was released on bail until a sentencing hearing in January 2011. Among the charges was that he had claimed rent on a flat in Westminster which he in fact owned, using a fake tenancy agreement. On 7 January 2011, Chaytor was sentenced by Mr Justice Saunders sitting in the Crown Court at

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

to 18 months' imprisonment. On 23 February 2011 it was announced that following legal advice, Chaytor was seeking leave to appeal against the length of his sentence. The application was heard by the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) on 22 March 2011 and refused on 23 March 2011, when the Lord Chief Justice described the behaviour referred to in the charges as "calculating", with the element of dishonesty being "not simply inflated claims for expenses, but rather the careful preparation of bogus claims". The primary grounds of appeal (and the main mitigation in the original hearing) – that according to the UK Parliament's 'Green Book' expenses guidelines, Chaytor's situation would have entitled him to claim more than he had done but on a different property – was dismissed as not relevant. On 26 May 2011, Chaytor was released from prison under the normal

licensing conditions.

Personal life

David Chaytor is married with three children. As of 2014, he was living in France.

References

External links

*
Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: David Chaytor MP

TheyWorkForYou.com – David Chaytor MP

BBC Politics page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaytor, David 1949 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bradford Alumni of the University of Huddersfield Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of the University of London British politicians convicted of crimes English prisoners and detainees Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Bury Grammar School People from Bury, Greater Manchester Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 British politicians convicted of fraud Labour Party (UK) councillors Councillors in Calderdale Independent members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom 21st-century British criminals Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Bury North