Matthew Banks
Encyclopedia
Matthew Gordon-Banks was a British
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. Originally commissioned into The Gordon Highlanders, he joined Barclays Bank in 1984, before before becoming private secretary to a prominent Conservative MP in 1988. In 1987 he fought Manchester Central
Manchester Central (UK Parliament constituency)
Manchester Central is a borough 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 has always been a safe Labour seat...

 for the Conservatives retaining second place. In 1990 he was selected to fight Southport. He was elected 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 Southport
Southport (UK Parliament constituency)
Southport is a borough 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:...

 in 1992, gaining the seat from the Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

 Ronnie Fearn making the only Conservative gain in England. However, in 1997, Fearn won the seat back from Banks, who then divided his time between his home in NE Scotland and the Cotswolds. He worked for several Arab governments between 1997 and 2000.

In January 2007 Banks was injured by a bomb blast in Pakistan, while working for the British government.

In February 2007 Banks was arrested for allegedly obtaining money from the charity WellChild, and accepted a formal caution for obtaining property by deception. The case involved a doctored cheque that had been made out to a company he was a director of, which was employed by the charity. Banks had no connection with the Charity itself. However, he was interviewed shortly after returning from Pakistan and had no legal representation and sufferred from complex PTSD. He accepted a caution even though his fingerprints were not on the cheque. 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...

 have since removed his name from their item of March, August and October 2010 on their website and it is believed a man now serving 11 years in prison was the person responsible, since he used Banks's account to launder a six figure sum of money to Switzerland the same year.Citation is LloydsTSB Inlt payment P131628 dated 23 August 2007 from London Branch, 1 Butler Place SW1, to account of Susan Danison at Credit Suisse in Zurich. (Could you experts input this, Strathisla1 has the original document)

Banks worked to help those who had lost money like himself and cooperated with the police. In 2009 Banks was released without charge after having been implicated in the £23 million pound fraud, in which he lost £500,000. He had been arrested and interviewed once in January 2009 and was left on bail never being interviewed again until December 2009. During the period he jumped, in frustration, from a high storey building. In recent years he has worked as a Consultant to various governments in the Middle East and South Asia on international and anti-terrorist issues, including the British Ministry of Defence, as well as fighting serious illness and injury. In Parliament he served on the Transport Select Committee from 1992-7. He played a significant role in improving safety on "roll-on-roll-off" ferries, making seatbelts in mini-busses and coaches - especially for children - compulsory, and for fighting against the injustice of wrongful convictions; most notably helping to overturn the convictions of those found guilty of the murder of newspaper boy Carl Bridgewater. In 1997 the swing against him in Southport was 8% and he lost his seat to the Liberal Democrats.

Banks represented Northleach
Northleach
Northleach is a small Cotswold market town in Gloucestershire, England. It constitutes the major part of the civil parish of Northleach with Eastington.The nearest railway stations are Moreton-in-Marsh, Kingham and Shipton on the Cotswold Line....

 on Cotswold District Council between 2000–2004, being rather more Independent than Conservative and Chaired the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for 2 years. Having been re-elected unopposed in May 2004 he resigned from the Council in November of that year. He is married with two children.

In 2008 Banks switched party allegiance to the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

, joining the Liberal Democrats executive committee in Moray
Moray
Moray is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.- History :...

, Scotland.
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