Andrew Stunell
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Robert Andrew Stunell, Baron Stunell, (born 24 November 1942) is a
Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...
politician in the United Kingdom. Stunell was the Member of Parliament (MP) for
Hazel Grove Hazel Grove is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, close to the Peak District national park. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Cheshire, the area was kno ...
, from the 1997 general election until he stood down at the 2015 general election. From 2010 to 2012 he served as the
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of Minister (government), government minist ...
at the
Department of Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local government in ...
. He was nominated for a
life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
age in the 2015 Dissolution Honours.


Early life and career

Andrew Stunell was born in
Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...
, Surrey. He was educated at
Surbiton County Grammar School Surbiton County Grammar was a school in Surbiton on the borders of London and Surrey. Established in the 1920s, the school later moved to Thames Ditton and changed its name to Esher County Grammar School. The last grammar school pupils were admi ...
for Boys, before studying architecture at the
University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
and
Liverpool Polytechnic , mottoeng = Fortune favours the bold , established = 1823 – Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts1992 – Liverpool John Moores University , type = Public , endowment = , coor ...
. He became a member of
RIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...
in 1969. Stunell married Gillian Chorley in 1967. They have three sons and two daughters. He is a former
Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
lay preacher and an active member of his local
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
church. After graduation he was an architectural assistant until 1989, working for CWS Manchester from 1965 to 1967, Runcorn New Town from 1967 to 1981, then freelance 1981–5. From 1989 to 1996 he worked as Political Secretary of the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors and was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...
(OBE) in the
1995 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1995 were appointments by most of the sixteen Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those co ...
. Stunell was elected to
Chester City Council Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Local ...
in 1979 and to
Cheshire County Council Cheshire County Council was the county council of Cheshire. Founded on 1 April 1889, it was officially dissolved on 31 March 2009, when it and its districts were superseded by two unitary authorities; Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East. ...
in 1981. He contested the City of Chester constituency three times, as the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
candidate in
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
and for the SDP-Liberal Alliance in
1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
and
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
.


Member of Parliament, 1997–2015


Hazel Grove

Stunell was elected as the member of parliament for
Hazel Grove Hazel Grove is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, close to the Peak District national park. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Cheshire, the area was kno ...
in
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 t ...
having fought the seat previously in
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
when he came second with 43.1% of the vote. The general election of 1997 resulted in a majority of 11,814 and a 54.5% of the vote, taking the seat from the Conservatives. He retained the seat at the
2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
(52%),
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
(49.5%) and
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 ...
(48.8%) general elections.


Liberal Democrat Frontbench

On entering parliament in 1997 Stunell was appointed the Shadow Energy minister under
Paddy Ashdown Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, (27 February 194122 December 2018), better known as Paddy Ashdown, was a British politician and diplomat who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 to 1999. Internati ...
, a role he performed until 2005. At the same time Stunell operated as the party's deputy chief whip, only stepping down from that position in 2001 when he was elected to the position of
Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...
, a position he was re-elected to in 2005. He stood down from the role in March 2006 to serve as the Shadow Secretary of State for communities and local government which concluded in December 2007 when
Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicepr ...
asked him to become chair of the Liberal Democrat local elections team. In January 2009 Stunell was appointed to be the Liberal Democrat representative on the International Development Select Committee and in August 2009 he was asked to take on the role of vice-chair of the General Election campaign.Andrew Stunell , About Andrew – Andrew in Parliament


Sustainable and Secure Buildings Act 2004

In 2003 Stunell came top in the regular ballot of
Private Members' Bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...
s and was successful in having his Sustainable and Secure Buildings Bill become an
Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
in 2004. As part of the bill Stunell wanted to see all new and existing homes either built or renovated with security and energy saving features with Stunell saying that he wanted the bill to promote "greener and safer buildings".


Coalition negotiations

Following the general election of 2010, no one political party was able to secure a majority in the House of Commons. As a result, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats entered into negotiations with each other to form the United Kingdom's first coalition government since the Second World War. Stunell along with
Danny Alexander Sir Daniel Grian Alexander (born 15 May 1972) is a former politician who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2010 and 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency from 2005 u ...
,
Chris Huhne Christopher Murray Paul-Huhne (born 2 July 1954), known as Chris Huhne, is a British energy and climate change consultant and former journalist and politician who was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Eastleigh from 2005 to 2013 an ...
and
David Laws David Anthony Laws (born 30 November 1965) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Yeovil (UK Parliament constituency), Yeovil from 2001 United Kingdom general election, 200 ...
acted as the negotiating team for the Liberal Democrats with
William Hague William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
,
Oliver Letwin Sir Oliver Letwin (born 19 May 1956) is a British politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for West Dorset from 1997 to 2019. Letwin was elected as a member of the Conservative Party, but sat as an independent after having the whip removed in Sep ...
,
George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...
and Edward Llewellyn acting for the Conservatives.


Coalition Government

Following the formation of the coalition, Stunell was appointed a
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...
at the
Department for Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local government ...
under Secretary of State
Eric Pickles Eric Jack Pickles, Baron Pickles, (born 20 April 1952) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentwood and Ongar (UK Parliament co ...
. His responsibilities in the role were community cohesion, race equality, building regulations and the implementation of the
Big Society The Big Society was a sociopolitical concept of the first 15 years of the 21st century, that was developed by the populist Steve Hilton, that sought to integrate free market economics with a conservative paternalist conception of the social con ...
particularly with regard to housing and regeneration. Stunell was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
for public and political service in the
2013 Birthday Honours The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...
. receiving the accolade from the
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
on 24 January 2014. In 2013 he announced that he would be stepping down at the next general election. Stunell was created a
Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
taking the title Baron Stunell, of
Hazel Grove Hazel Grove is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, close to the Peak District national park. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Cheshire, the area was kno ...
in the County of Greater Manchester on 26 October 2015.


References


Further reading

*


External links


Andrew Stunell MP
''official constituency website''
Profile
at the Liberal Democrats * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Stunell, Andrew 1942 births Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester Knights Bachelor Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies Living people Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Sutton, London UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 Politicians awarded knighthoods Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Hazel Grove Member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life