Eric Ollerenshaw OBE (born 26 March 1950) is a

British Conservative Party The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...

politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Lancaster and Fleetwood Lancaster and Fleetwood is a constituency created in 2010 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Cat Smith of the Labour Party. History ;Creation Following their review of parliamentary representation in Lancashire, the B ...

from 2010 to 2015. He was born and grew up in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

and was educated at Hyde County Grammar School and the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics in 1971. He has previously been an elected member of the

London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...

and head of the Cities and Diversity section of the Conservative Party at

Conservative Campaign Headquarters The Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), formerly known as Conservative Central Office (CCO), is the headquarters of the British Conservative Party, housing its central staff and committee members, including campaign coordinators and manag ...

Teaching career

Before moving into politics, Ollerenshaw was a full-time teacher of History. He taught in three comprehensive schools – two of which were social priority schools – and in 1986 gained his first elected position on the

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corpor ...

. After rising to lead the Conservative group on the Authority in 1988, he worked with the Government and the Boroughs to abolish the Authority in 1990.

Political career

In the

1991 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1991 were appointments by Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by people of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. They were published on 28 December 1990 for the United Kingdom, N ...

, he was awarded his OBE for Public and Political Service. The same year he was elected to the

London Borough of Hackney London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

representing

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

as one of its three Conservative councillors. In 1992 he stood as the

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 i ...

Parliamentary Candidate in

Heywood and Middleton Heywood and Middleton is a constituency in Greater Manchester represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Chris Clarkson of the Conservative Party. Constituency profile The constituency covers the west half of the Me ...

. In 1998, he rose to lead the Conservative group on

Hackney London Borough Council Hackney London Borough Council is the local government authority for the London Borough of Hackney, London, England, one of 32 London borough councils. The council is unusual in the United Kingdom local government system in that its executive fun ...

when

Joe Lobenstein Josef "Joe" Lobenstein (April 1927 – 28 June 2015) was a spokesman for the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations and a former Conservative politician in London. Career Lobenstein managed an electrical wholesale business, started in a back room ...

, the previous leader of the group, became mayor of Hackney. His involvement with Councillor Isaac Leibowitz, who was later convicted of electoral fraud, was mentioned in an

Early Day Motion In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a Motion (parliamentary procedure), motion, expressed as a single sentence, Table (parliamentary procedure), tabled by Member of Parliament, members of Parliament that formally ...

from the Labour MP for Hackney,

Brian Sedgemore Brian Charles John Sedgemore (17 March 1937 – 29 April 2015) was a British politician who served as a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 to 1979, and again from 1983 to 2005. He defected to the Liberal Democrats shortly after standin ...

calling for him to be divested of his OBE. Between 2000 and 2001, he was the joint leader of

Hackney Council Hackney London Borough Council is the local government authority for the London Borough of Hackney, London, England, one of 32 London borough councils. The council is unusual in the United Kingdom local government system in that its executive fu ...

with Labour's

Jules Pipe Julian Benjamin Pipe (born May 1965) is a British politician who currently serves as the Deputy Mayor of London for Planning, Regeneration and Skills. Pipe was the first directly elected mayor of the London Borough of Hackney between his elect ...

during Hackney's most troubled period. In 2000, Ollerenshaw was elected as a member of the

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the metonym "City Hall", is the devolved regional governance body of Greater London. It consists of two political branches: the executive Mayoralty (currently led by Sadiq Khan) and the ...

and in 2002 rose to become the Conservative Group Leader. He was elected Member of Parliament for

at the 2010 general election with a majority of 333 votes.

Parliamentary career

In March 2007 he was selected as the

Parliamentary Candidate for

, which he won in the General Election held on 6 May 2010 by just 333 votes. In September 2010 he was appointed

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

Baroness Warsi Sayeeda Hussain Warsi, Baroness Warsi, (; born 28 March 1971) is a British lawyer, politician, and member of the House of Lords who served as co-Chairwoman of the Conservative Party from 2010 to 2012. She served in the Cameron–Clegg coaliti ...

. Ollerenshaw campaigned on the 'No' side during the lead up to the 2011 Referendum on the Alternative Vote. In the 2015 General Election Ollerenshaw lost to Labour's

Cat Smith Catherine Jane Smith (born 16 June 1985) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lancaster and Fleetwood since 2015. A member of the Labour Party, she was a member of the shadow cabinets of Jeremy Corbyn and Ke ...

by 1,265 votes. After returning to live in Hackney, he was again selected as the Conservative candidate for Lancaster and Fleetwood at the 2017 General Election, once again being defeated by Labour's Cat Smith, but by a much increased margin of 6,661 votes, despite him increasing his votes and vote share.

Personal life

Ollerenshaw is openly gay. His partner of 36 years, Michael Donoghue, died of pancreatic cancer in 2009. Ollerenshaw is a trustee of the Baroness Warsi Foundation.

References

External links

*
The Hackney Conservative Party
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ollerenshaw, Eric Conservative Members of the London Assembly Councillors in the London Borough of Hackney 1950 births Living people People from Ashton-under-Lyne UK MPs 2010–2015 Gay politicians Officers of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the London School of Economics LGBT politicians from England Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies LGBT members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom