Rudolf Jan Vis (4 April 1941 – 30 May 2010) was a Dutch-born British Labour politician who served as

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 o ...

(MP) for

Finchley and Golders Green Finchley and Golders Green is a constituency created in 1997 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The current MP is Mike Freer of the Conservative Party, who has held the seat since 2010. Boundaries 1997–2010: The ...

from 1997 to 2010.

Early life

Vis was born in 1941 in the town of Alkmaar, in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, where he went to the high school. He gained a

BSc 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 ...

in economics from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1970 and was a graduate of the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

, gaining an MSc in economics in 1972. He gained a PhD in economics from Brunel University in 1976. From 1971 to 1996, he was a lecturer at the North East London Polytechnic, which became the University of East London.

Parliamentary career

Vis was elected as MP for the newly drawn constituency of

in the 1997 general election, defeating the Conservative MP John Marshall with a majority of 3,189 votes. This was one of Labour's more unexpected victories – part of the constituency formed the Finchley constituency once held by Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

– and Vis had not even taken leave of his post as an economics lecturer prior to the victory. He was re-elected at 2001 with a slightly increased majority of 3,716, again defeating Conservative Party candidate John Marshall, but in 2005 his majority was greatly reduced to 741 votes, following an increase in support for the Liberal Democrats in the constituency. His constituency was one of the top Conservative targets at the 2010 general election, needing only a swing of 0.2% to the Tories. Knowing he was suffering from cancer, Vis stood down at the 2010 general election. Vis sat on the Council of Europe. His views were generally, though not dogmatically, to the left-wing of the party. He abstained in the mayoral candidate selection of 2000. He opposed the use of PPP for the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

, the war on Iraq,

top-up fees Tuition fees were first introduced across the entire United Kingdom in September 1998 under the Labour government of Tony Blair to fund tuition for undergraduate and postgraduate certificate students at universities; students were required to p ...

and foundation hospitals. However, he voted in favour of the government's controversial counter-terrorism legislation.

Expenses scandal

On 5 April 2009 ''The Times'' reported that he had used his parliamentary expenses to help buy a £520,000 home for his retirement near the Suffolk coast having taken out a mortgage on his London home to pay for the country property. By informing the parliamentary authorities that his main home had moved to Suffolk, he was able to claim the interest payments on the loan secured on his London home. Over the previous two years, he had claimed more than £40,000. "The rules are questionable," Vis said, "but this is well within the rules and I would have been advised if it wasn't." He was also discovered to have claimed £5,292 for 15,168 miles of travel between Parliament and his home nine miles away.

Death

Rudi Vis died in his sleep on 30 May 2010 from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

diagnosed five months earlier.

References

External links

*
TheyWorkForYou.com – Rudi Vis MP

BBC Politics Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vis, Rudi 1941 births 2010 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Dutch emigrants to England Dutch politicians Deaths from cancer in England Alumni of the London School of Economics University of Maryland, College Park alumni Alumni of Brunel University London Academics of the University of East London People from Alkmaar