Michael Thomas Hall (born 20 September 1952) is a 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 of ...

(MP) for

Weaver Vale Weaver Vale is a constituency in Cheshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Mike Amesbury, a member of the Labour Party. Constituency profile The constituency takes its name from the River Weaver, which f ...

from

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Early life

Mike Hall was born in

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

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 educated at St Mary's RC Primary School and St Damian's Catholic

Secondary Modern School A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usually ...

there. He studied at Padgate Training College,

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, where he was awarded a

Certificate in Education The Certificate in Education (Cert Ed) is a professional qualification for teachers in the United Kingdom. There have been two incarnations of the Cert Ed over the years. New Cert Ed The current Cert Ed is a non-compulsory qualification offering ...

in 1977. He later returned to the college and received a

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. In some countries such as Tanzania and Kenya, additional tasks like field work and research are required in order for ...

degree in 1987. He completed his studies at the

University of Wales, Bangor Bangor University ( cy, Prifysgol Bangor) is a Public university, public university in Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor, Wales. It received its Royal charter, Royal Charter in 1885 and was one of the founding institutions of the federal University of Wales ...

, where he earned a

Postgraduate diploma in education The Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE), also known as a Graduate Diploma of Education (GradDipEd), is a one-year postgraduate course in several countries including Australia, Ghana, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Hong Kong, Sing ...

in 1989. He joined

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at M ...

Blackley Blackley is a suburban area of Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is approximately north of Manchester city centre, on the River Irk. History The hamlet of Blackley was mentioned in the Domesday Book. The name derives from t ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, in 1969 as a

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

laboratory assistant, leaving to go to university in 1973. He became a

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

teacher in 1977 in

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

, where he remained until he became a support teacher with the Halton community assessment team from 1985 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: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. He joined the Labour Party in 1977 and was elected as a

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

to the

Borough Council in 1979. He became Warrington's deputy leader in 1984, and leader for seven years from 1985, before standing down in 1993. He was also elected to the

Great Sankey Great Sankey is a civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. It is west of Warrington town centre and had a population of 24,211 in 2001 Census.Parish Council for four years from 1979. He served for four years on the

Birchwood Birchwood is a town in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England with a population of 11,395 (as at the 2001 census). Although physically and administratively part of Warrington, the civil parish council has named itself a town council. Hi ...

and

Croft Croft may refer to: Occupations * Croft (land), a small area of land, often with a crofter's dwelling * Crofting, small-scale food production * Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, also called a croft Locations In the Uni ...

Parish Council from 1983.

Parliamentary career

Hall was elected 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. ...

for

Warrington South Warrington South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Andy Carter, a Conservative Party politician. Constituency profile Warrington South is one of two seats covering the Borough of Warri ...

at the 1992 general election, defeating 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 i ...

MP Chris Butler by just 191 votes. He 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 6 May 1992. Following boundary changes, at the 1997 general election, he moved from Warrington South to the newly created, nearby constituency of

, which covers

Northwich {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

, Frodsham and parts of

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

. He won this seat with a safe 13,448 majority, and continued to hold the seat comfortably, albeit with reduced majorities at each subsequent election. In Parliament he served as a member of the Public Accounts Committee (1992–1997), and became the

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 ...

(PPS) to the

Leader of the House of Commons The leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons. The leader is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of the ...

Ann Taylor Ann or Anne Taylor may refer to: *Ann Taylor (writer, born 1757) (1757–1830), English writer *Ann Taylor (poet) (1782–1866), English poet and children's writer, daughter of the above *Ann Taylor (actress) (born 1936), British actress, hostess a ...

following the 1997 General Election. He became a member of the Labour government, under

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

, in 1998, when he was appointed as an Assistant Government Whip. He was sacked following the 2001 General Election. From 2001 to 2005 he served as PPS to the

Secretary of State for Health The secretary of state for health and social care, also referred to as the health secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department of Health and Social Care. The incumbent ...

, initially under

Alan Milburn Alan Milburn (born 27 January 1958) is a British Labour Party politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Darlington from 1992 to 2010. He served for five years in the Cabinet, first as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 1998 to 1999, a ...

and, from 2003, his successor, John Reid. He has been a member of the Culture, Media and Sport

select committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system), a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues *Select or special committee (United States Congress) *Select ...

since the 2005 General Election. From October 2008 onwards he was the PPS to

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...

, the Justice Secretary. In May 2009, it was reported by ''

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 ...

'' that he claimed expenses in excess of £15,000 over three years for cleaning products. On 2 February 2010, Hall announced that he was standing down at the next general election for health reasons.

Personal life

He married Lesley Evelyn Gosling on 2 August 1975 in Ashton-under-Lyne and they have a son, Thomas. In 2022, his daughter-in-law Sarah Hall was selected Labours prospective parliamentary candidate in Warrington South for the next general election.

References

External links

Official Website

TheyWorkForYou.com – Mike Hall MP

BBC Politics Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Mike 1952 births Living people Alumni of Bangor University Alumni of the University of Chester Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Ashton-under-Lyne UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010