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 an office,carrying 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.
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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.
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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.
Jeffrey William Rooker,Baron Rooker is a British politician and life peer who served as a government minister from 1997 to 2008. A member of the Labour Party,he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Perry Barr from 1974 to 2001.
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.
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Paul Edward Winston White,Baron Hanningfield is a British politician and a member of the House of Lords. He served in various leadership roles in local government as a Conservative and was influential in the establishment of the Local Government Association. He achieved notoriety in the Parliamentary expenses scandal,when he was convicted of false accounting and sent to prison. Following his release he was suspended from the House of Lords for a time.
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.
Roy Francis Kennedy,Baron Kennedy of Southwark,is a British politician and life peer serving as Chief Whip of the House of Lords since 2024. He is a member of the Labour and Co-operative Parties.
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Jeremy Corbyn assumed the position of Leader of the Opposition after being elected as leader of the Labour Party on 12 September 2015;the election was triggered by Ed Miliband's resignation following the Labour Party's electoral defeat at the 2015 general election when David Cameron formed a majority Conservative government. The usual number of junior shadow ministers were also appointed.
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