Michael St John Trend,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 19 April 1952) is a British former

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 ...

politician and journalist who was a member of parliament from 1992 to 2005, when he stood down after an expenses scandal.

Early life

He is the son of Lord Trend, the former Cabinet Secretary. He attended the independent

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

, then went to

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

where he gained an MA in Modern History. He became a journalist for ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication i ...

'', ''

History Today ''History Today'' is an illustrated history magazine. Published monthly in London since January 1951, it presents serious and authoritative history to as wide a public as possible. The magazine covers all periods and geographical regions and pub ...

'' and ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

''. He was chief leader writer for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' from 1990 to 1992.

Parliamentary career

He was elected at the 1992 General Election as 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 of ...

(MP) for

Windsor and Maidenhead The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a Royal Borough of Berkshire, in South East England. It is named after both the towns of Maidenhead and Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor, the borough also covers the nearby towns of Ascot, Berkshire, Asc ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. When that constituency was abolished for the 1997 Election, he was returned for the new constituency of

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area *Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wind ...

. Trend was a frontbench spokesman and Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive of the Conservative Party until 2000. He was Chairman of the party's International Office until September 2005, and has done extensive democracy building work in much of the former Soviet Union, and also in Africa.

Fraudulent expenses claim

In December 2002, Trend agreed to repay £90,000 to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

, after accepting that he wrongly claimed the money as an allowance. In February 2003, Trend was found guilty of abusing the allowances system, and ordered to repay £90,277. He was briefly suspended from Parliament, and did not stand again at the following election. Trend claimed he "believed that I could properly continue to designate London as 'home' for the purposes of ACA, even though, in domestic terms, Windsor had become my 'main residence'." It was not accepted. There was no doubt in the Standard's Committee's minds that there was no "real scope for doubt that the words 'main residence' were intended to have other than their natural meaning." The Committee ruled that: "Mr Trend should have recognised that, by claiming Additional Costs Allowance in relation to his Windsor home, the taxpayer was meeting some of the core running costs of what was in reality his main residence. He should have realised that this was wrong". "Accordingly, we agree with the Commissioner that Mr Trend was negligent, and has breached the Code of Conduct by making improper use of the Additional Costs Allowance, and by failing strictly to observe the administrative rules relating to the Allowance."House of Commons Standards and Privileges Committee, Third Report of Session 2002/3. 12 February 2003.

Personal life

He has written extensively about music. He married Jill Kershaw in February 1987, in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

. They have a son and two daughters. For many years, he was the organist of his local church.

References

External links

They Work For You

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trend, Michael 1952 births 20th-century British journalists 21st-century British male musicians 21st-century organists British male organists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies English male journalists English organists Living people Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Windsor People educated at Westminster School, London Sons of life peers The Daily Telegraph people The Spectator people The Times Literary Supplement people UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005