Goodwill is a member of the Cornerstone Group of Conservative MPs. He describes himself as a "staunch Eurosceptic"[2] but supported Remain in the EU referendum.[3]
In September 2001,he participated in the European Parliament Observer Mission on the Presidential Election in Belarus.[8] In 2003,Goodwill criticised the Council of the European Union's proposal to ban smoky bacon flavoured crisps,calling it "over the top" and "disproportionate to the possible risks."[9] During the 2004 European Parliament election campaign,The Guardian classed Goodwill as "pro-war" as a result of his supporting a motion in the European Parliament that said the Iraq War was inevitable and the result of Saddam Hussein's actions.[10]
In August 2005,Goodwill co-authored a letter to The Spectator with five other newly elected Conservative MPs,criticising the "decadent" nature of British society.[11] In the 2005 Conservative Party leadership election,Goodwill supported Liam Fox's candidacy,declaring his support on 14 October 2005.[12][13]
After spending 18 months as a member of the TransportSelect Committee,he was appointed an Opposition Whip by David Cameron in 2006 and promoted to the post of Shadow Roads Minister in the Transport team in 2007. He was re-elected with an increased majority of 8,130 at the 2010 general election and appointed to the government as a Whip with responsibility for Treasury and DEFRA business. Goodwill is secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Flag Group.[14]
In the October 2013 ministerial reshuffle,he became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport,replacing Norman Baker.[15] Goodwill was given responsibility for aviation policy[16] Goodwill had previously established himself as a strong opponent of a third runway at Heathrow,inviting Greenpeace members to plant a tree in his constituency as a gesture of "solidarity" with opponents of Heathrow expansion.[16] Goodwill was re-appointed to his position as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport following the 2015 general election and the election of a Conservative majority government. He was the minister responsible for cycling,aviation,road safety,walking and High Speed 2.[17] He was promoted to Minister of State at the Department of Transport in December 2015.
In January 2016,the Labour Party unsuccessfully proposed an amendment in Parliament that would have required private landlords to make their homes "fit for human habitation.". According to Parliament's register of interests,Goodwill was one of 72 Conservative MPs who voted against the amendment who personally derived an income from renting out property. The Conservative Government had responded to the amendment that they believed homes should be fit for human habitation but did not want to pass the new law that would explicitly require it.[18]
In the 2016 European Union membership referendum,in which the UK voted to 'Leave' the EU by 52% to 48%,Goodwill supported a 'Remain' vote[3] despite stating on his own website he was a "staunch Eurosceptic".[2]
Goodwill was dismissed from the post of Children's Minister on 9 January 2018.[20]
Goodwill joined the Environmental Audit Select Committee on 22 January 2018 and the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee on 5 March 2018. He remained on these two committees until he rejoined the government in March 2019,when he became Minister of State for Agriculture,Fisheries,&Food,replacing George Eustice who had resigned over Brexit.
In May 2022,Goodwill was elected as chairman of the Environment,Food,and Rural Affairs Select Committee.[26] He is a member of Conservative Friends of the Countryside,a right-wing group that advocates for the use of neonicotinoid pesticides (which have been banned in the EU as they are lethal to bees),opposes the re-introduction of wild beavers to the UK,supports the burning of peatland (which can have adverse environmental effects) and opposes a ban on imports of endangered animals killed for trophy hunting.[27]
In 2000,whilst working as a Conservative MEP,Goodwill highlighted the generous allowances given to MEPs when he stated that he bought return air tickets from Bradford to Brussels for £160 and claimed,legally,£500.[29] The Conservative Party criticised his actions. Goodwill later donated £2,000 to local charities following feedback from constituents.[30]
He married Maureen Short in November 1987 in North Yorkshire,and they have two sons (born May 1989 and June 1991) and a daughter (born May 1994). He employs his wife as a part-time caseworker on a salary just under £30,000.[32]
He was once the chairman of the cereals and livestock committee of the North Yorkshire National Farmers Union (1986–1988). He takes a keen interest in steam engines and owns several;he once brought an engine back from the former Czechoslovakia to restore it.[citation needed] He stepped in to save the Scarborough Pleasure Ship,Coronia,in January 2011 so that the historic Dunkirk-veteran vessel can continue to be based in the harbour there.[33]
Alan Gordon Barraclough Haselhurst,Baron Haselhurst,,is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden from 1977 to 2017,having previously represented Middleton and Prestwich from 1970 to 1974. Haselhurst was Chairman of Ways and Means from 14 May 1997 to 8 June 2010,and later Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association between 2011 and 2014. The oldest Conservative MP to stand down at the 2017 general election,he was created a Life Peer in May 2018,sitting in the House of Lords as Baron Haselhurst.
Richard Haines Burden is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Northfield from 1992 to 2019. He served as a Shadow Transport Minister from 2013 to 2016 and again from 2016 to 2017. After the 2017 general election,he returned to the backbenches and served as a member of the House of Commons International Development Committee.
Mark Gino Francois is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party,he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rayleigh and Wickford,since the 2001 general election.
Sir Roger James Gale is a British politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for North Thanet since 1983. He had a career in journalism and broadcasting from 1964,around the same time as he joined the Conservative Party,until 1983. He was knighted in 2012. He was a prominent and vocal critic of Boris Johnson during his leadership of the Conservative Party.
Siôn Llewelyn Simon is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Erdington from 2001 to 2010 and as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands from 2014 to 2019.
Sir Robert Andrew Raymond Syms is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Poole in Dorset since 1997. He received a knighthood in 2017.
Christopher Heaton-Harris is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland since 6 September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party,he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Daventry since 2010.
Neil Quentin Gordon Parish is a British farmer and former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tiverton and Honiton from 2010 until his resignation in 2022. A member of the Conservative Party,he was previously a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South West England from 1999 to 2009. Parish chaired the Environment,Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee from 2015 until his resignation from the House of Commons.
David Campbell Bannerman is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East of England from 2009 to 2019. He is currently Chairman of The Freedom Association. He served as Deputy Leader of UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 until 2010,when he was replaced by Paul Nuttall.
Thirsk and Malton is a constituency in North Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Kevin Hollinrake,a Conservative.
Michael Norman Shaw,Baron Shaw of Northstead,was a National Liberal and British Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1960 to 1964 and from 1966 to 1992 for the Conservatives.
The 2009 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election,the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009. The election was held concurrently with the 2009 local elections in England. In total,72 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom using proportional representation.
Stuart James Andrew is a Welsh politician serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport,Tourism,Heritage and Civil Society since September 2022 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities since October 2022. Andrew previously served as Government Deputy Chief Whip from 2020 to 2022,Minister of State for Housing from February to July 2022,and Minister of State for Prisons and Probation from July to September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party,he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Pudsey since 2010.
Caroline Fiona Ellen Nokes is a British Conservative Party politician. She was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Romsey and Southampton North in Hampshire in the 2010 general election. Elected as a Conservative,Nokes had the Conservative whip removed on 3 September 2019 and sat as an independent politician until the whip was restored to her on 29 October.
Jason Alexander McCartney is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the member of Parliament (MP) for Colne Valley in West Yorkshire since 2019,and from 2010 to 2017. He is a former TV sports reporter.
Julian Charles Sturdy is a British Conservative Party politician and farmer. He was elected at the 2010 general election as Member of Parliament (MP) for York Outer.
The 2014 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2014 European Parliament election,held on Thursday 22 May 2014,coinciding with the 2014 local elections in England and Northern Ireland. In total,73 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom using proportional representation. England,Scotland and Wales use a closed-list party list system of PR,while Northern Ireland used the single transferable vote (STV).
Holly Lynch,also known as Holly Walker-Lynch,is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Halifax since 2015. She has served as Opposition Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Commons with responsibility for legislation since 2023.
The 2016 Conservative Party leadership election was held due to Prime Minister David Cameron's resignation as party leader. He had resigned after losing the national referendum to leave the European Union. Cameron,who supported Britain's continued membership of the EU,announced his resignation on 24 June,saying that he would step down by October. Theresa May won the contest on 11 July 2016,after the withdrawal of Andrea Leadsom left her as the sole candidate.
Leo Docherty is a British politician serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Europe since September 2022. He served as Minister of State for Europe from September to October 2022. He served as Minister for Defence People from July 2022 to September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party,he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aldershot since 2017. Prior to being elected as an MP he served in the Scots Guards,before working in publishing and for the Conservative Party. He is the author of Desert of Death (2007).
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
