Martin John Callanan, Baron Callanan (born 8 August 1961) is a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician. He was

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) for

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary author ...

from 1999 to 2014 and Chairman of the

European Conservatives and Reformists The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European ...

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

from 2011 to 2014. Callanan failed his bid to win re-election in the 2014 European Parliament elections, becoming the first sitting chairman of a European parliamentary group to lose his seat. On 8 August 2014, it was announced that he would be made a Conservative life peer in the House of Lords. Following the 2017 general election, Callanan was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport. In October the same year, he was appointed Minister of State for Exiting the European Union.

Early life

Callanan was born on 8 August 1961 in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary ...

. In 1985, he graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree (BSc) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from

Newcastle Polytechnic , mottoeng = A lifetime of learning , established = 1877 - Rutherford College of Technology1969 - Newcastle Polytechnic1992 - gained university status , type = Public , budget = ...

. He worked as an engineer at Scottish and Newcastle breweries from 1986 to 1998.

Political career

Local councillor

Callanan was a

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 ...

councillor on

Tyne and Wear County Council Tyne and Wear County Council was the county council of the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear in northeast England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1974 and was abolished on 1 April 1986. The county council was based at Sandyford House in Ne ...

between 1983 and 1986 (when the council was abolished) and

Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary ...

between 1987 and 1996, for the Low Fell ward. He worked as a project engineer at Scottish and Newcastle breweries from 1986 to 1998, when he was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

. He unsuccessfully stood as a parliamentary candidate for

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

(in the 1987 election), Gateshead East (in the 1992 election), and

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, North East England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, hence its name. It is 8 mi (13 km) east-northeast of Newcastle upon Tyn ...

(in the 1997 election).

Member of European Parliament

He was a

for the

constituency from 1999, re-elected in 2004 and 2009. In December 2011, he became the leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the Parliament; as a leader of a parliamentary group, he had a seat in the political leadership of the European Parliament, the Conference of Presidents. He was a member of the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, and of the European Parliament's committee on the environment, public health and food safety (ENVI). Callanan was a regular contributor to

ConservativeHome ConservativeHome is a British right-wing blog which supports, but is independent of, the Conservative Party. It was first established by Tim Montgomerie in 2005 with the aim of arguing for a broad conservative spectrum, which is serious about bo ...

, writing a monthly report. Callanan failed to win re-election in the

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...

, becoming the first sitting chairman of a European parliamentary group to lose his seat.

Peer and government minister

Callanan 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 ...

on 24 September 2014, taking the title Baron Callanan, of Low Fell in the County of Tyne and Wear. Following the 2017 general election, Callanan was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport. In the role he introduced the Space Industry Bill. In October the same year he was appointed Minister of State for Exiting the European Union. The following month he was obliged to apologise for incorrectly stating in the Lords that the Supreme Court had ruled

Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union Withdrawal from the European Union is the legal and political process whereby an EU member state ceases to be a member of the Union. Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union ( TEU) states that "Any Member State may decide to withdraw from t ...

was irreversible.

Notes

References

External links

Profile on European Parliament website
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Callanan, Martin 1961 births Alumni of Northumbria University Conservative Party (UK) MEPs Living people MEPs for England 1999–2004 MEPs for England 2004–2009 MEPs for England 2009–2014 Conservative Party (UK) life peers Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Life peers created by Elizabeth II