John Steven Bassam,Baron Bassam of Brighton, PC (born 11 June 1953) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician and a member of the House of Lords.
John Steven Bassam,Baron Bassam of Brighton, PC (born 11 June 1953) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician and a member of the House of Lords.
Bassam grew up on a council estate in Great Bentley,Essex and went to the local boys secondary modern school in Pathfield Road,now Clacton Coastal Academy in Clacton-on-Sea. He then went to study at the universities of Sussex and Kent,where he received a Master's in social work. Bassam then began his career as a social worker at Camden London Borough Council. He moved on to other roles in local government,serving as an assistant secretary at the Association of Metropolitan Authorities,later the Local Government Association. [1]
Bassam was also a squatter and a committed far left anarchist during his early years in Brighton,where he founded a squatters union alongside anti-fascist anti-Zionist activist,Tony Greenstein,which campaigned for the rights of squatters to occupy empty properties and improve the conditions of the squats. [2]
In January 1976,Bassam led the opposition to the eviction of a family from a house on West Hill Road,saying "We will gladly vacate the premises if we are assured that the family at the top of the housing list is given the house to live in." [3]
Interviewed in 2013,he claimed that he would not support anyone who occupies someone else's home. [4]
Bassam became involved in local politics and was elected a Brighton councillor. He rose to become Leader of Brighton,then Brighton and Hove Council,from 1987 until 1999. He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in Brighton Kemptown at the 1987 general election against the Conservative MP Andrew Bowden.
On 3 November 1997,he was created a life peer as Baron Bassam of Brighton,of Brighton in the County of East Sussex , [5] and was introduced in the House of Lords on 18 November, [6] sitting on the Labour benches.
Bassam was promoted to the frontbenches as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Office in 1999. In 2001,he was appointed a Lord-in-waiting (Government whip in the Lords). He served in that role and as Government spokesman for the Home Office until 2008. During the same period he served at various times as Government spokesman for a number of other departments:Lord Chancellor's Department 2001–04,Cabinet Office 2001–07,Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (subsequently Communities and Local Government) 2002–04,2005–07,2008,Attorney General's Office 2005–08,Transport 2007–08,Culture,Media and Sport 2008.
In 2008,Gordon Brown promoted him to the role of Labour Chief Whip,and therefore Government Chief Whip and Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms. [7] On 8 July 2009 he was made a Privy Councillor. [8] When Labour moved into Opposition in 2010,he became Opposition Chief Whip.
In December 2011 and January 2012,Bassam engaged in a vigorous debate on Twitter with Brighton and Hove Greens about budget cuts by the council's Green administration. [9]
In December 2017 a Daily Express article claimed that Lord Bassam wrongly "claimed £260,000 in second home allowance despite only having one house". [10] The article noted that "Lord Bassam,the Labour chief whip in the Lords and a key member of Jeremy Corbyn’s team,was also given over £40,000 of taxpayers’cash to cover the costs of his commute. He insisted he has not breached any rules but has offered to pay back travel expenses from his Brighton home to Westminster." He agreed to stand down as Labour's Chief Whip in the House of Lords following the appointment of a successor. He also referred himself to the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards over the accusations. [11] [12]
The Commissioner found that Bassam had claimed both the Lords allowance and the Lords Office Holders Allowance for travel costs,but had done so mistakenly rather than dishonestly. The Commissioner also noted that "his mistake was compounded by a degree of negligence in not reading the guidance provided to him." [13] The Committee for Privileges and Conduct asked that Bassam repay £15,737 in over-claimed travel allowance and write a letter of apology to the Committee. [14] Bassam stated he would resign as chief whip once a replacement had been elected. [15]
A sinecure is a position with a salary or otherwise generating income that requires or involves little or no responsibility,labour,or active service. The term originated in the medieval church,where it signified a post without any responsibility for the "cure [care] of souls",the regular liturgical and pastoral functions of a cleric,but came to be applied to any post,secular or ecclesiastical,that involved little or no actual work. Sinecures have historically provided a potent tool for governments or monarchs to distribute patronage,while recipients are able to store up titles and easy salaries.
Ivor Keith Caplin is a British Labour Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hove from 1997 until 2005.
John Anderson Cunningham,Baron Cunningham of Felling,is a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament for over 30 years,serving for Whitehaven from 1970 to 1983 and then Copeland until the 2005 general election,and had served in the Cabinet of Tony Blair.
Alan James Beith,Baron Beith,is a British Liberal Democrat politician who represented Berwick-upon-Tweed as its Member of Parliament (MP) from 1973 to 2015.
Robert William Ainsworth is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry North East from 1992 to 2015,and was the Secretary of State for Defence from 2009 to 2010. Following the general election in 2010 he was the Shadow Defence Secretary,but was replaced by Jim Murphy following the election of Labour leader Ed Miliband.
Douglas Martin Hogg,3rd Viscount Hailsham,Baron Hailsham of Kettlethorpe,,is a British politician and barrister. A member of the Conservative Party,he served in John Major's second government as Minister of Agriculture,Fisheries and Food from 1995 to 1997,and was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2010.
Rosalie Winterton,Baroness Winterton of Doncaster,,is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster Central from 1997 to 2024. She served as a Deputy Speaker in the House of Commons from 2017 to 2024. She became a member of the House of Lords in 2024.
David Anthony Laws is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Yeovil from 2001 to 2015. A member of the Liberal Democrats,in his third parliament he served at the outset as a Cabinet Minister,in 2010,as Chief Secretary to the Treasury;as well as later concurrently as Minister of State for Schools and Minister Assisting the Deputy Prime Minister –an office where he worked cross-departmentally on implementing the coalition agreement in policies - from 2012 to 2015.
James Philip Knight,Baron Knight of Weymouth,is a British politician who served as Minister for the South West and Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform from 2009 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party and Co-operative Party,he was Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dorset from 2001 to 2010.
Thomas McLaughlin McAvoy,Baron McAvoy,was a British Labour and Co-operative politician serving as a life peer in the House of Lords from 2010 until his death in 2024. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Rutherglen from 1987 to 2005,and Rutherglen and Hamilton West from 2005 to 2010.
Anthony James "Tony" McNulty is a retired British politician who was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Harrow East from 1997 to 2010. During his ministerial career,which began in 2003,he was Minister for London and later Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform at the Department for Work and Pensions. He resigned his position on 5 June 2009 after allegations in the press regarding his expenses.
Angela Evans Smith,Baroness Smith of Basildon,,is a British politician and life peer serving as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal since 2024. A member of the Labour and Co-operative Parties,she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Basildon from 1997 to 2010.
Manzila Pola Uddin,Baroness Uddin is a British non-affiliated life peer and community activist of Bangladeshi descent. In 2009 she was included on The Guardian's Muslim Women Power List for Britain. She previously sat for Labour when,in 2012,Uddin was required to repay £125,349,the largest amount in the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal.
John David Beckett Taylor,Baron Taylor of Warwick is a member of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In 1996,at the age of 44,he became one of the youngest people in the upper house.
Denis Victor Carter,Baron Carter PC was a British agriculturalist and Labour Co-operative politician. He was made a life peer in 1987,and was chief whip in the House of Lords from 1997 to 2002.
Paul Edward Winston White,Baron Hanningfield,,was a British politician and farmer. As a member of the Conservative Party,he served in various leadership roles in local government in Essex and was influential in establishing the Local Government Association. He was a member of Essex County Council from 1970 and 2011,and served in frontbench roles in the House of Lords after being nominated for a life peerage in 1998.
Denis Tunnicliffe,Baron Tunnicliffe,,is a British pilot and railwayman. He is a Labour Life Peer,who has had several roles in the House of Lords ranging from a Government Whip to a Defence Spokesman. He recently spent years as the Opposition Deputy Chief Whip;when Labour returned to power after the 2024 United Kingdom general election the incoming Starmer ministry allotted the deputy chief whip's position to Margaret Wheeler,Baroness Wheeler.
The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal that emerged in 2009,concerning expense claims made by members of the British Parliament in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords over the previous years. The disclosure of widespread misuse of allowances and expenses permitted to members of Parliament (MPs) aroused widespread anger among the UK public and resulted in a large number of resignations,sackings,de-selections and retirement announcements together with public apologies and the repayment of expenses. Several members,and former members,of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords were prosecuted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment.
The basic annual salary of a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons is £91,346,plus expenses,from April 2024. In addition,MPs are able to claim allowances to cover the costs of running an office and employing staff,and maintaining a constituency residence or a residence in London. Additional salary is paid for appointments or additional duties,such as ministerial appointments,being a whip,chairing a select committee or chairing a Public Bill committee.
Ed Miliband became Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition upon being elected to the former post on 25 September 2010. The election was triggered by Gordon Brown's resignation following the party's fall from power at the 2010 general election,which yielded a Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition. Miliband appointed his first Shadow Cabinet in October 2010,following the Labour Party Shadow Cabinet elections. These elections were the last such elections before they were abolished in 2011.
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