Douglas Carswell
Encyclopedia
John Douglas Wilson Carswell (born 3 May 1971) is a British
Conservative Party
politician
. He is the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Clacton
, having been first elected as MP for Harwich
in 2005
.
He found prominence by calling for reform of parliamentary expenses before the 2009 expenses scandal
, and leading the campaign to eject Michael Martin as Speaker of the House of Commons
. A Eurosceptic
and libertarian
, Carswell is a strong advocate of greater localism
, and has worked with Daniel Hannan
to promote their 'localist agenda' in the Conservative Party.
/AIDS
, in Uganda in the early 1980s, and was instrumental in drawing the world's attention to the unfolding pandemic.
Carswell was educated at St Andrews School
, Kenya
, Charterhouse School
, the University of East Anglia
, where he graduated with a degree in history in 1993, and at King's College London
where he graduated with a degree in British Imperial History. He worked as Corporate Development Manager for Television Broadcasting in Italy from 1997-9, and for INVESCO, reporting to the Continental Europe regional CEO, from 1999 before entering politics.
At the 2001 General Election
, he was the Conservative
candidate at Sedgefield
: the constituency of the Prime Minister
Tony Blair
. Blair's majority fell by 7,500 votes, and Carswell managed to increase the Conservative share of the vote by 3.1% of the electorate. In the months before the 2005 General Election, he worked in the Conservative Party's Policy Unit, reporting to David Cameron
.
at the 2005 General Election
for the constituency of Harwich
, defeating the sitting Labour
MP Ivan Henderson
by 920 votes. Carswell made his maiden speech
on 28 June 2005 in the debate on the Identity Cards Bill. He is a member of Conservative Friends of Israel
. Carswell serves on the House of Commons Education Select Committee and the Public Accounts Committee.
Shortly after entering Parliament, Carswell wrote a publication 'Direct Democracy: an agenda for a new model party'. This publication has been described by The Spectator
(2 June 2007) as "one of the founding texts of the new, revitalised Toryism .... written by some of the brightest young Conservative thinkers". It sets out much of the thinking that has now become central to the Conservatives under David Cameron MP. In July 2005, Carswell became a founder member of the Cornerstone Group
representing the traditional conservative wing of Toryism. He also founded Direct Democracy, a group of like-minded modernisers within the party committed to making localism the core of the Conservative Party's platform.
After returning from an Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme
(AFPS) trip to Afghanistan
, Carswell criticised the poor equipment and lack of helicopter
s that he'd witnessed, for which he was ejected from the AFPS.
Carswell made his mark at Westminster, bringing about the removal of a Speaker of the House of Commons for the first time in over 300 years. He defied convention in April 2008, when he became the first MP to publicly call for the Speaker of the House of Commons
Michael Martin
to be fired after his failure to ensure greater transparency as to how the House of Commons is run. No other MPs would speak publicly against Martin at the time, and Labour ex-minister Denis MacShane
called for Carswell to be disciplined for this call. Despite suggestions that Carswell would never be called to speak in the House again, Martin called him to speak at Prime Minister's Questions
for the first time the following week. He pressed this again in September 2008, arguing that Martin opposed 'all reform on principle' on the issue of second-home allowances and expenses. In May 2009, he then put forward the motion of no confidence, backed by 23 MPs, which triggered Martin's downfall in June.
During the 2009 expenses scandal
, the Daily Telegraph
published his expenses showing he had claimed, amongst other things, a £655 'love seat' and had flipped his second home.
In December 2009, Carswell introduced a Bill
before the House of Commons requesting a public referendum on British EU membership. In February 2010, he asked Gus O'Donnell
to suspend Cabinet
meetings held outside London, when it was found that the government was using them to host Labour Party
events in marginal seat
s.
at the 2010 General Election, Carswell increased his majority over Henderson to 12,068 votes. The eurosceptic
United Kingdom Independence Party
decided not to field a candidate against Carswell in the 2010 general election. Instead, UKIP actively campaigned for his re-election as a result of his anti-EU views.
In the first week of the new parliament, Carswell revealed he intended to force a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon
, when it became necessary to re-ratify it to resolve an oversight of apportionment
in the European Parliament
.
to the chairman of the Socialist Campaign Group
, John McDonnell
. Dod's political biography describes Carswell as being "Tall and Eurosceptic ... one of his party's radical thinkers". Carswell was described in The Sunday Times in July 2008 as 'one of the energetic young Tory modernisers elected to the Commons in 2005'.
Carswell has been an outspoken advocate of political reform, and action to clean up Westminster politics. He has proposed radical change to force politicians to answer outward to the electorate, rather than to other politicians. In recognition of his stance, the Daily Telegraph nominated him a Briton of the Year 2009, and Spectator readers voted him their choice as Parliamentarian of the Year for that same year.
Carswell is sceptical of anthropogenic global warming, believing current climate change
to be driven by non-human factors. He came to this position after reading Ian Plimer
's Heaven and Earth
.
Carswell is the only Conservative MP returned at the 2010 general election to have openly advocated proportional representation
.
, Carswell has had significant influence over Coalition government policy. Moore credits Carswell, together with MEP Daniel Hannan
, as the architects behind the idea of a Great Repeal Bill, as well as the idea of a ""Contract with Britain" offered during the election, the "recall" of MPs who have displeased their constituents, open primaries for the selection of candidates, and plans for elected police commissioners.". According to Moore's analysis not only is "The localism of the Carswell/Hannan "direct democracy" movement is now good Coalition orthodoxy", but Cameron's policy guru, Steve Hilton, "has enthusiastically lifted several bits of The Plan", the best-selling moderniser book written by Carswell and co-author Daniel Hannan
.
Even before the formation of the Coalition, the influence of Carswell's ideas was evident in speeches made by David Cameron - most notably a speech to the Open University made by David Cameron in Milton Keynes
in May 2009. Blogger Guido Fawkes
, who describes The Plan as a "huge hit, an Amazon
bestseller and the all-time best-selling publish-on-demand publication ever sold by Amazon", also noted the influence of the book on Conservative thinking.
Carswell has frequently been invited to speak at conferences and seminars on a range of policy topics in which he has no formal role within the party, such as reform of the criminal justice system, constitutional reform, defence and local government.
In July 2009, the Conservatives announced they would be using full, open primary contests to select candidates for the first time, another illustration of the way that ideas in The Plan have been adopted by the Conservatives.
Significantly, the new Coalition Government's legislative agenda announced in the Queen's Speech in May 2010, included two ideas originally put forward by Carswell. Carswell and Hannan were the first to suggest a Great Repeal Bill in The Plan. They proposed that the Bill should be a wiki-Bill, with members of the public directly contributing to the list of laws and regulations to be repealed.
Also included in the Queen's Speech were proposals to put a "directly elected individual" in charge of local policing. Carswell was the first British Conservative to propose this idea in print in his October 2002 pamphlet Direct Democracy; empowering people to make their lives better.
Carswell was the first to demand that Commons select committees should have power to approve Whitehall department budgets and confirm appointments of senior officials. He insisted that the new head of the Office of Budget Responsibility be subjected to a confirmation hearing by the Treasury select committee, an innovation accepted by Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He is the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Clacton
Clacton (UK Parliament constituency)
Clacton is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
, having been first elected as MP for Harwich
Harwich (UK Parliament constituency)
Harwich was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Until its abolition for the 2010 general election it elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
in 2005
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
.
He found prominence by calling for reform of parliamentary expenses before the 2009 expenses scandal
United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal
The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal triggered by the leak and subsequent publication by the Telegraph Group in 2009 of expense claims made by members of the United Kingdom Parliament over several years...
, and leading the campaign to eject Michael Martin as Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker of the House of Commons can refer to:*Speaker of the House of Commons *Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada*Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons...
. A Eurosceptic
Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
and libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
, Carswell is a strong advocate of greater localism
Localism (politics)
Localism describes a range of political philosophies which prioritize the local. Generally, localism supports local production and consumption of goods, local control of government, and promotion of local history, local culture and local identity...
, and has worked with Daniel Hannan
Daniel Hannan
Daniel John Hannan is a British journalist, author and politician who is currently a Member of the European Parliament, representing South East England for the Conservative Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists political group...
to promote their 'localist agenda' in the Conservative Party.
Early life
Douglas Carswell is the son of two medical doctors, and grew up in Africa, where his parents worked amongst resource-starved communities. His home was in Uganda until his late teens. His father, Wilson Carswell, a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, diagnosed the first confirmed cases of HIVHIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
/AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, in Uganda in the early 1980s, and was instrumental in drawing the world's attention to the unfolding pandemic.
Carswell was educated at St Andrews School
St. Andrews School, Turi
St. Andrews School is a preparatory and secondary independent school situated near Nakuru, Kenya near the town of Molo. It is often simply referred to as "Turi" thanks to its location near a small town of the same name....
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
, the University of East Anglia
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
, where he graduated with a degree in history in 1993, and at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
where he graduated with a degree in British Imperial History. He worked as Corporate Development Manager for Television Broadcasting in Italy from 1997-9, and for INVESCO, reporting to the Continental Europe regional CEO, from 1999 before entering politics.
At the 2001 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
, he was the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
candidate at Sedgefield
Sedgefield (UK Parliament constituency)
Sedgefield is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
: the constituency of the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
. Blair's majority fell by 7,500 votes, and Carswell managed to increase the Conservative share of the vote by 3.1% of the electorate. In the months before the 2005 General Election, he worked in the Conservative Party's Policy Unit, reporting to David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
.
First parliament
Douglas Carswell was elected to ParliamentBritish House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
at the 2005 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
for the constituency of Harwich
Harwich (UK Parliament constituency)
Harwich was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Until its abolition for the 2010 general election it elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
, defeating the sitting Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MP Ivan Henderson
Ivan Henderson
Ivan John Henderson is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Member of Parliament for Harwich from 1997 to 2005.-Early life:...
by 920 votes. Carswell made his maiden speech
Maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country...
on 28 June 2005 in the debate on the Identity Cards Bill. He is a member of Conservative Friends of Israel
Conservative Friends of Israel
Conservative Friends of Israel, abbreviated to CFI, is a British parliamentary group affiliated to the Conservative Party and dedicated to strengthening business, cultural and political ties between the United Kingdom and Israel. CFI is an unincorporated associationIt was founded by the late...
. Carswell serves on the House of Commons Education Select Committee and the Public Accounts Committee.
Shortly after entering Parliament, Carswell wrote a publication 'Direct Democracy: an agenda for a new model party'. This publication has been described by The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
(2 June 2007) as "one of the founding texts of the new, revitalised Toryism .... written by some of the brightest young Conservative thinkers". It sets out much of the thinking that has now become central to the Conservatives under David Cameron MP. In July 2005, Carswell became a founder member of the Cornerstone Group
Cornerstone Group
The Cornerstone Group is a socially conservative or traditional conservative political organisation within the British Conservative Party. The group emphasises traditional values, exemplified by the motto: Faith, Flag, and Family. It consists of Members of Parliament with a traditionalist stance,...
representing the traditional conservative wing of Toryism. He also founded Direct Democracy, a group of like-minded modernisers within the party committed to making localism the core of the Conservative Party's platform.
After returning from an Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme
Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme
The Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, abbreviated to AFPS, is a privately-run programme to give Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom experience of the armed forces...
(AFPS) trip to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Carswell criticised the poor equipment and lack of helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s that he'd witnessed, for which he was ejected from the AFPS.
Carswell made his mark at Westminster, bringing about the removal of a Speaker of the House of Commons for the first time in over 300 years. He defied convention in April 2008, when he became the first MP to publicly call for the Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
Michael Martin
Michael Martin (politician)
Michael John Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn, PC is a British politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Glasgow Springburn from 1979 to 2005, and then for Glasgow North East until 2009...
to be fired after his failure to ensure greater transparency as to how the House of Commons is run. No other MPs would speak publicly against Martin at the time, and Labour ex-minister Denis MacShane
Denis MacShane
Denis MacShane is a British politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Rotherham since the 1994 by-election and served as the Minister for Europe from 2002 until 2005, as well as being a current Policy Council member for Labour Friends of Israel.On 14 October 2010, it was announced...
called for Carswell to be disciplined for this call. Despite suggestions that Carswell would never be called to speak in the House again, Martin called him to speak at Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime minister's questions is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom that takes place every Wednesday during which the prime minister spends half an hour answering questions from members of parliament...
for the first time the following week. He pressed this again in September 2008, arguing that Martin opposed 'all reform on principle' on the issue of second-home allowances and expenses. In May 2009, he then put forward the motion of no confidence, backed by 23 MPs, which triggered Martin's downfall in June.
During the 2009 expenses scandal
United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal
The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal triggered by the leak and subsequent publication by the Telegraph Group in 2009 of expense claims made by members of the United Kingdom Parliament over several years...
, the Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
published his expenses showing he had claimed, amongst other things, a £655 'love seat' and had flipped his second home.
In December 2009, Carswell introduced a Bill
Bill (proposed law)
A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....
before the House of Commons requesting a public referendum on British EU membership. In February 2010, he asked Gus O'Donnell
Gus O'Donnell
Sir Augustine Thomas "Gus" O'Donnell GCB is a British civil servant, who is the current Cabinet Secretary, the highest rank in the British Civil Service. He is consequently, under current practice, Head of the Civil Service, which means he has authority over all civil servants except those who are...
to suspend Cabinet
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
meetings held outside London, when it was found that the government was using them to host Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
events in marginal seat
Marginal seat
A marginal seat, or swing seat, is a constituency held with a particularly small majority in a legislative election, generally conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat....
s.
Second parliament
In the new constituency of ClactonClacton (UK Parliament constituency)
Clacton is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
at the 2010 General Election, Carswell increased his majority over Henderson to 12,068 votes. The eurosceptic
EuroSceptic
EuroSceptic is the second album of British singer Jack Lucien. It was released in October 2009.Due to being an album influenced by Europop, it features songs with parts in different languages...
United Kingdom Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...
decided not to field a candidate against Carswell in the 2010 general election. Instead, UKIP actively campaigned for his re-election as a result of his anti-EU views.
In the first week of the new parliament, Carswell revealed he intended to force a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain, concluded at Lisbon on 13 February 1668, through the mediation of England, in which Spain recognized the sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza....
, when it became necessary to re-ratify it to resolve an oversight of apportionment
Apportionment (politics)
Apportionment is the process of allocating political power among a set of principles . In most representative governments, political power has most recently been apportioned among constituencies based on population, but there is a long history of different approaches.The United States Constitution,...
in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
.
Political positions
Carswell is an outspoken and independent-minded radical, having allied on certain issues with politicians ranging from Daniel HannanDaniel Hannan
Daniel John Hannan is a British journalist, author and politician who is currently a Member of the European Parliament, representing South East England for the Conservative Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists political group...
to the chairman of the Socialist Campaign Group
Socialist Campaign Group
The Socialist Campaign Group is a left-wing democratic socialist grouping of Labour Party Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. It was formed in December 1982 as an alternative Parliamentary left-wing group to the Tribune Group...
, John McDonnell
John McDonnell (politician)
John Martin McDonnell is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington since 1997; he serves as Chair of the Socialist Campaign Group, the Labour Representation Committee, and the "Public Services Not Private Profit Group"...
. Dod's political biography describes Carswell as being "Tall and Eurosceptic ... one of his party's radical thinkers". Carswell was described in The Sunday Times in July 2008 as 'one of the energetic young Tory modernisers elected to the Commons in 2005'.
Carswell has been an outspoken advocate of political reform, and action to clean up Westminster politics. He has proposed radical change to force politicians to answer outward to the electorate, rather than to other politicians. In recognition of his stance, the Daily Telegraph nominated him a Briton of the Year 2009, and Spectator readers voted him their choice as Parliamentarian of the Year for that same year.
Carswell is sceptical of anthropogenic global warming, believing current climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
to be driven by non-human factors. He came to this position after reading Ian Plimer
Ian Plimer
Ian Rutherford Plimer is an Australian geologist, academic, professor of mining geology at the University of Adelaide, and a director of four mining companies...
's Heaven and Earth
Heaven and Earth (book)
Heaven and Earth: Global Warming – The Missing Science is a popular science book published in 2009 and written by Australian geologist, professor of mining geology at Adelaide University, and mining company director Ian Plimer...
.
Carswell is the only Conservative MP returned at the 2010 general election to have openly advocated proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
.
Influence in the Conservative Party
According to conservative commentator Charles MooreCharles Moore
Charles Moore may refer to:*Charles Moore , America Olympic hurdler*Charles Moore , director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney...
, Carswell has had significant influence over Coalition government policy. Moore credits Carswell, together with MEP Daniel Hannan
Daniel Hannan
Daniel John Hannan is a British journalist, author and politician who is currently a Member of the European Parliament, representing South East England for the Conservative Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists political group...
, as the architects behind the idea of a Great Repeal Bill, as well as the idea of a ""Contract with Britain" offered during the election, the "recall" of MPs who have displeased their constituents, open primaries for the selection of candidates, and plans for elected police commissioners.". According to Moore's analysis not only is "The localism of the Carswell/Hannan "direct democracy" movement is now good Coalition orthodoxy", but Cameron's policy guru, Steve Hilton, "has enthusiastically lifted several bits of The Plan", the best-selling moderniser book written by Carswell and co-author Daniel Hannan
Daniel Hannan
Daniel John Hannan is a British journalist, author and politician who is currently a Member of the European Parliament, representing South East England for the Conservative Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists political group...
.
Even before the formation of the Coalition, the influence of Carswell's ideas was evident in speeches made by David Cameron - most notably a speech to the Open University made by David Cameron in Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
in May 2009. Blogger Guido Fawkes
Paul Staines
Paul Staines is an English-born Irish right-wing political blogger. Writer of the pseudonymous "Guido Fawkes' blog of parliamentary plots, rumours & conspiracy", which had as of February 2009, 118,000 visitors per month, his political blog has been described as "one of Britain's leading political...
, who describes The Plan as a "huge hit, an Amazon
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
bestseller and the all-time best-selling publish-on-demand publication ever sold by Amazon", also noted the influence of the book on Conservative thinking.
Carswell has frequently been invited to speak at conferences and seminars on a range of policy topics in which he has no formal role within the party, such as reform of the criminal justice system, constitutional reform, defence and local government.
In July 2009, the Conservatives announced they would be using full, open primary contests to select candidates for the first time, another illustration of the way that ideas in The Plan have been adopted by the Conservatives.
Significantly, the new Coalition Government's legislative agenda announced in the Queen's Speech in May 2010, included two ideas originally put forward by Carswell. Carswell and Hannan were the first to suggest a Great Repeal Bill in The Plan. They proposed that the Bill should be a wiki-Bill, with members of the public directly contributing to the list of laws and regulations to be repealed.
Also included in the Queen's Speech were proposals to put a "directly elected individual" in charge of local policing. Carswell was the first British Conservative to propose this idea in print in his October 2002 pamphlet Direct Democracy; empowering people to make their lives better.
Carswell was the first to demand that Commons select committees should have power to approve Whitehall department budgets and confirm appointments of senior officials. He insisted that the new head of the Office of Budget Responsibility be subjected to a confirmation hearing by the Treasury select committee, an innovation accepted by Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne.
Publications
- Direct Democracy – Agenda for a New Model Party13 June 2005. ISBN 1-84275-057-7
- "Direct Democracy; empowering people to make their lives better". C-change. October 2002. ISBN 1-84275-057-7
- Paying for LocalismPublished by the Adam Smith InstituteAdam Smith InstituteThe Adam Smith Institute, abbreviated to ASI, is a think tank based in the United Kingdom, named after one of the founders of modern economics, Adam Smith. It espouses free market and classical liberal views, in particular by creating radical policy options in the light of public choice theory,...
- Chief author of The Localist PapersPublished by the Centre for Policy Studies, serialised in the Daily Telegraph May - June 2007. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/thinklocal/
- The Plan: Twelve Months to Renew Britain - co-written with Daniel HannanDaniel HannanDaniel John Hannan is a British journalist, author and politician who is currently a Member of the European Parliament, representing South East England for the Conservative Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists political group...
.
External links
- Douglas Carswell Official Site
- talkcarswell.com Douglas' Blog
- BBC Politics MP Profile
- They Work For You
- Douglas Carswell speaking about the ineffectiveness of the House of Commons at a seminar organised by The Constitution Society