George Philip Willis, Baron Willis of Knaresborough (born 30 November 1941,

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He 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 ...

member of the House of Lords, and was Member of Parliament (MP) for

Harrogate and Knaresborough Harrogate and Knaresborough () is a parliamentary constituency in North Yorkshire which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Andrew Jones, an MP from the Conservative Party. The constituency was for ...

from

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 ...

until retiring at the 2010 general election. Up to that date he was the chair of the House of Commons

Science and Technology Committee 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 fo ...

Early life

He attended

Burnley Grammar School Burnley Grammar School was latterly, a state-funded selective boys grammar School, situated in Byron Street in Burnley, England. However, during its long history, it moved between a number of sites in the town. History In 1552, on the order of ...

and the City of Leeds and Carnegie College, where he gained a Cert Ed in 1963. From 1963 to 1965 he was a teacher at Middleton County Secondary Boys' School; Head of History at Moor Grange County Secondary Boys' School from 1965 to 1967; Senior Master at Primrose Hill High School,

Mabgate Mabgate is an inner city area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England and the name of one of its streets. In Leeds City Council's ''Mabgate Development Framework'' (2007), "the area is bounded to the west by North Street; to the east by Macaulay Stre ...

, from 1967 to 1974; and Deputy Head at West Leeds Boys' Grammar School from 1974 to 1978. In 1978, he gained a

BPhil Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; la, Baccalaureus Philosophiae or ) is the title of an academic degree that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's d ...

in Education from the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

. Moving from Leeds to Teesside, he was Head Teacher of Ormesby School in

Netherfields Netherfields is an area in the Park End and Beckfield ward of the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It forms the north-east side of the Ormesby. The area includes Outwood Academy Ormesby, Priory Woods (School and Arts Colle ...

from 1978 to 1982, then moved back to Leeds to become Head Teacher of John Smeaton Community High School in

Pendas Fields Pendas Fields is a private, suburban housing estate in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is considered part of Cross Gates, as is Manston. Swarcliffe is close, and Cock Beck runs nearby. The area falls within the Cross Gates and Whinmoor ward ...

from 1983 to 1997.

Parliamentary career

He was first elected in 1997, beating

Norman Lamont Norman Stewart Hughson Lamont, Baron Lamont of Lerwick, (born 8 May 1942) is a British politician and former Conservative MP for Kingston-upon-Thames. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1990 until 1993. He was created a life peer in ...

, the former

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

, and was re-elected with increased majorities in 2001 and 2005. In May 2007 announced his decision to step down as an MP at the next general election, although he said that he would have stood again if a snap election had been called. From 1999 to 2005, Willis was the Liberal Democrat Shadow Education and Skills Secretary, having previously served as Higher Education spokesman and acting spokesman on

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Following the 2005 general election, he was appointed chair of 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. ...

, succeeding

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

's Ian Gibson. In 2006, he stated that he would force an election for the party leadership by standing if there would otherwise be only one candidate. As two further candidates came forward to challenge the eventual winner,

Sir Menzies Campbell Walter Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, (; born 22 May 1941), often known as Ming Campbell, is a British Liberal Democrat politician, advocate and former athlete. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Fife from 1 ...

, Willis did not stand. Campbell's victory left a vacancy for the post of deputy leader. Willis considered running in the deputy leadership election but did not submit a nomination. At the Liberal Democrat Federal Conference in Spring 2007 (held in his home seat of Harrogate) he proposed a change to official Liberal Democrat policy on the future of Trident in an amendment to commit the party to getting rid of Britain's nuclear deterrent. The amendment was opposed by the party leadership and, in one of the closest votes in recent years at a Federal Conference, the amendment was defeated by 454 votes to 414. In September 2008, Mr Willis provoked the resignation of Professor Michael Reiss from his position as Director of Education at the Royal Society (on secondment from the Institute of Education). Professor Reiss, in a speech to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, had commented that in his experience as a teacher, children with creationist views were difficult to persuade otherwise, and that merely silencing them didn't cause them to change their minds at all. He suggested an alternative approach: that such pupils should be allowed to express their opinions, not as science, but as 'a world view'. This would provide the opportunity for real discussion and science teaching. Willis demanded action by the Royal Society against Professor Reiss, so stimulating a furore which concluded with Reiss' resignation on 17 September.

Peerage

On 18 June 2010, Willis 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 ...

with the title Baron Willis of Knaresborough, ''of

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

in the County of North Yorkshire'' and was introduced in the House of Lords on 7 July 2010.House of Lords Business, 22 June 2010

Personal life

He is a keen supporter of Burnley Football Club. He married Heather Sellars in 1974 in Staincliffe. They have a daughter Rachel (born 1975) and a son (born 1980). His daughter Rachel is a television personality best known for her role of Connie, the so-called "AOL lady" in the AOL adverts, a role which she played from 1998 to 2003. Although from Burnley, he has lived in the Yorkshire area for many years.

References

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