The Lord McFall of Alcluith | |
---|---|
Lord Speaker of the House of Lords | |
Assumed office 1 May 2021 | |
Monarchs | |
Deputy | The Lord Gardiner of Kimble |
Preceded by | The Lord Fowler |
Senior Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords | |
In office 1 September 2016 –30 April 2021 | |
Lord Speaker | The Lord Fowler |
Preceded by | The Lord Laming (as Chairman of Committees) |
Succeeded by | The Lord Gardiner of Kimble |
Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee | |
In office 18 July 2001 –6 May 2010 | |
Preceded by | Giles Radice |
Succeeded by | Andrew Tyrie |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | |
In office 28 July 1998 –2 December 1999 | |
Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
Preceded by | Tony Worthington |
Succeeded by | Vacant |
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury | |
In office 8 May 1997 –28 July 1998 | |
Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
Chancellor | Gordon Brown |
Preceded by | Bowen Wells |
Succeeded by | Jane Kennedy |
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
Assumed office 6 July 2010 Life peerage | |
Member of Parliament for West Dunbartonshire Dumbarton (1987–2005) | |
In office 11 June 1987 –12 April 2010 | |
Preceded by | Ian Campbell |
Succeeded by | Gemma Doyle |
Personal details | |
Born | Glasgow,Scotland | 4 October 1944
Political party | None |
Other political affiliations |
|
Spouse | Joan Ward |
Children | 4 |
Alma mater | |
John Francis McFall,Baron McFall of Alcluith, PC (born 4 October 1944),is a British politician and life peer who has served as Lord Speaker since 2021. He was a member of Parliament for the Labour and Co-operative Party from 1987 to 2010,first for Dumbarton and then from 2005 for West Dunbartonshire. He also served as Chairman of the House of Commons Treasury Committee. Following his appointment to the House of Lords,McFall served as Senior Deputy Speaker from 2016 to 2021 before succeeding Lord Fowler as Lord Speaker.
McFall went to a boys' school,St Patrick's Secondary School (since merged with Notre Dame High School to form Our Lady &St Patrick's High School),on Hawthornhill Road in Castlehill,Dumbarton,leaving without any qualifications at 15. His father was a school caretaker and his mother had a newsagents shop,which sparked his (later) interest in how to run businesses. He worked for the local Parks Department in Dumbarton and then in a factory.
At the age of 24,he studied at Paisley College of Technology (now the University of the West of Scotland) receiving a BSc in Chemistry. In 1977,he wanted to widen his knowledge away from science and obtained a BA from the Open University in Education and Philosophy. He was a chemistry and maths teacher from 1974–1987 in Dumbarton,Kirkintilloch and Glasgow,becoming a deputy-head in Glasgow and Secretary of his Constituency Labour Party before he entered Parliament. Whilst a teacher he completed a part-time course over three years at the University of Strathclyde for an MBA. In 1994,he became a Visiting Professor at Strathclyde University Business School,and now is a member of the Strategic Advisory Board at the University of Glasgow Business School. He is a member of the GMB Union.
He was first elected for the Dumbarton constituency,Scotland,at the 1987 general election,after the previous MP,Ian Campbell retired. His original majority was a little over 2,000. Dumbarton constituency was replaced with the new West Dunbartonshire constituency for the 2005 general election,which McFall won with a majority over 12,500.
In 1995 he introduced a private member's bill,the Wild Mammals (Protection) Bill which,although unsuccessful,informed the Hunting Act 2004 outlawing the hunting of mammals by dogs in England and Wales. [1]
He was a whip and junior minister (for Education,Training and Employment,Health and Community Relations,then in 1999 for Economy and Education) at the Northern Ireland Office from 1998–99.
In 2001 he was appointed Chair of the Treasury Select Committee,and reappointed for a second term in this position in 2005. The committee conducted inquiries into the banking crisis,producing evidence of the bonus culture,the lack of banking qualifications among many top bankers and poor oversight of the industry by the Financial Services Authority.
On 29 January 2010,McFall announced his intention to stand down as an MP at the 2010 general election. [2]
On 17 June 2010,he was created a life peer as Baron McFall of Alcluith,of Dumbarton in Dunbartonshire , [3] and was introduced in the House of Lords on 6 July 2010. [4]
He is currently the Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development (Apgood). [5]
In July 2016,he was appointed as Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords with effect from 1 September 2016. He was known as Senior Deputy Speaker while holding the office. [6]
In the 2021 Lord Speaker election,McFall was elected as Lord Speaker,succeeding Lord Fowler. [7]
In 2023 he suggested the House of Lords needs more independent,expert peers. Lord McFall stated he was making no direct criticism of recent peerage choices,but the upper house was in danger of becoming "out of sync" with its balance of legislators. McFall plans to meet Rishi Sunak to lift a cap limiting the number of new,non-party expert peers that can be created by the House of Lords Appointments Commission,currently set at a maximum of two a year. [8]
He was Chair of the Scotch Whisky and Spirits All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) and of the Royal Navy APPG.
He was Chairman of Strathleven Regeneration Company and of Clydebank re-built,two development companies based in his constituency.
He gave his backing to Dumpster Kids,a not-for-profit organisation aimed at rescuing abandoned children,in January 2011.
McFall's family lived in Bellsmyre,Dumbarton,where he met and married Joan Ward. They have three sons and a daughter. [9]
George Samuel Knatchbull Young,Baron Young of Cookham,,known as Sir George Young,6th Baronet from 1960 to 2015,is a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 to 2015,having represented Ealing Acton from 1974 to 1997 and North West Hampshire from 1997. He has served in Cabinet on three occasions:as Secretary of State for Transport from 1995 to 1997;as the Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal from 2010 to 2012;and as Chief Whip of the House of Commons from 2012 to 2014.
Timothy Eric Boswell,Baron Boswell of Aynho is a British politician who was the Conservative MP for Daventry from 1987 until he stood down at the 2010 general election,after which he was appointed to the House of Lords as a life peer.
Thomas Galloway Dunlop du Roy de Blicquy Galbraith,2nd Baron Strathclyde,,known informally as Tom Strathclyde,is a British Conservative politician. Lord Strathclyde served in the political role of Leader of the House of Lords from the 2010 general election until January 2013 and as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster,having been Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords (1998–2010).
George Foulkes,Baron Foulkes of Cumnock PC is a British politician and life peer who served as Minister of State for Scotland from 2001 to 2002. A member of the Scottish Labour Party and Co-operative Party,he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Carrick,Cumnock and Doon Valley,formerly South Ayrshire,from 1979 to 2005. He was later a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP),as one of the additional members for the Lothians region,from 2007 to 2011.
Alan Reid is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician who has been a councillor in the East Dunbartonshire ward of Bearsden North since 2022.
John Cradock Maples,Baron Maples was a British politician and life peer who served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 1989 to 1992. A member of the Conservative Party,he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham West from 1983 to 1992 and Stratford-upon-Avon from 1997 to 2010.
Laurence Anthony Robertson is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tewkesbury since 1997. A member of the Conservative Party,he chaired the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee for seven years,from 2010 to 2017.
Andrew Guy Tyrie,Baron Tyrie,is a British politician and former chair of the Competition and Markets Authority. A member of the Conservative Party,he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Chichester from 1997 to 2017. Tyrie was previously a special adviser at HM Treasury and chair of the Treasury Select Committee,having taken up the role on 10 June 2010. He was described by Donald Macintyre of The Independent in 2013 as "the most powerful backbencher in the House of Commons",and by The Economist as a liberal conservative.
Helene Valerie Hayman,Baroness Hayman,is a British politician who was Lord Speaker of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. As a member of the Labour Party she was a Member of Parliament from 1974 to 1979. When she became an MP at age 25,she was the youngest MP of the 1974–79 Parliament. Hayman became a life peer in 1996.
Michael Goodall Watson,Baron Watson of Invergowrie,is a British Labour Party politician. He has served in two legislatures in the United Kingdom and served as Minister for Culture and Sport in the Scottish Executive Cabinet.
The Lord Speaker of the House of Lords is the presiding officer,chairman and highest authority of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons:the Lord Speaker is elected by the members of the House of Lords and is expected to be politically impartial.
West Dunbartonshire is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election and covers the same area as the county of West Dunbartonshire.
Ian Campbell was a Scottish politician who served as a backbench Labour Member of Parliament (MP) of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1987.
Bellsmyre is a large housing estate in the town of Dumbarton in West Dunbartonshire,Scotland. Located on the edge of the Kilpatrick Hills in the northeast of Dumbarton. Bellsmyre is one of five predominantly council housing schemes in Dumbarton,the other four being Westcliff,Silverton,Brucehill and Castlehill.
Norman Hogg,Baron Hogg of Cumbernauld CBE,DL,JP,LLD,FSA Scot. was a Scottish Labour Party politician.
Paul Christopher Maynard is a British politician who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackpool North and Cleveleys. A member of the Conservative Party,he has served Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions since November 2023. He previously as served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice in 2019 and for Transport from 2016 to 2018 and again from 2019 to 2020.
David Henry Rutley is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Macclesfield since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party,he has been Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Americas and Caribbean since October 2022.
Gareth Alan Johnson is a British politician and former lawyer who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts from September to October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party,he previously served as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from February to September 2022 and Assistant Government Whip from 2018 to 2019 and 2021 to 2022. Johnson was first elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dartford,winning the seat from Labour. He has been supportive of Leave Means Leave,a Eurosceptic pressure group.
Roy Francis Kennedy,Baron Kennedy of Southwark,is a British Labour and Co-operative politician and life peer serving as Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords since 2021.
News items
Video clips