Michael Brown (UK politician)
Encyclopedia
Michael Russell Brown is a British
former Conservative Party
politician and is now a newspaper and broadcast political journalist. He was a Member of Parliament
(MP) from 1979 to 1997.
, Sussex
, and the University of York
, later studying for a year at the Middle Temple
. He worked as a graduate management trainee for Barclays Bank from 1972 to 1974 then as a lecturer and tutor at Swinton Conservative College from 1974 to 1975. From 1975 to 1976 he was a part-time research assistant to Michael Marshall
MP, working for Nicholas Winterton
MP from 1976 to 1979.
Brown was selected for the marginal
constituency of Brigg and Scunthorpe
and was elected at the 1979 general election
.
In 1983, following favourable boundary changes, he was elected for the new seat of Brigg and Cleethorpes
. This followed a bitter selection battle between Brown and Michael Brotherton
, who was MP for the Louth constituency
, which included the towns of Immingham
and Cleethorpes
. Brown's robust style is considered to be the factor which swung the party members to support him over Brotherton. Big Brother 6 contestant Derek Laud
served as Brown's research assistant for a considerable time as an MP.
Brown threatened to resign from parliament when the village of Killingholme
, in the centre of his constituency was marked as a potential site for nuclear dumping.
Brown served as Parliamentary Private Secretary
to Douglas Hogg
, Minister of State
at the Department of Trade and Industry, from 1989 to 1990, and then at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
from 1990 to 1992. From 1992 to 1993 he was a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Patrick Mayhew
, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
. He was appointed as an Assistant Government Whip
in 1993.
He resigned in 1994 after The News of the World published pictures of him on holiday in Barbados with a 20 year old gay man. At the time, the age of consent
for gay sex was 21 so the paper ran the story under the headline "Lawmaker as lawbreaker". He subsequently acknowledged his homosexuality.
seat at the general election
on 1 May 1997. Initially he struggled to find employment, working for David Evans contract cleaning firm but in April 1998 he submitted a piece for The Independent
on how he was looking forward to being canvassed by the Labour Party
candidates for his area in the Westminster City Council
elections, which would give him an opportunity to play the kind of tricks voters often play on election candidates.
The piece was published and was well-received. It led to a regular commission as a political sketchwriter for The Independent
starting in 1999, as well as political commentary for other newspapers. He regularly appears as a commentator and newspaper reviewer on British television, particularly on BBC News 24
and Sky News
.
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...
former 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 and is now a newspaper and broadcast political journalist. He was a 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) from 1979 to 1997.
Biography
Brown was educated at the Andrew Cairns Secondary Modern SchoolSecondary modern school
A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed in most of the United Kingdom from 1944 until the early 1970s, under the Tripartite System, and was designed for the majority of pupils - those who do not achieve scores in the top 25% of the eleven plus examination...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, and the University of York
University of York
The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...
, later studying for a year at the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
. He worked as a graduate management trainee for Barclays Bank from 1972 to 1974 then as a lecturer and tutor at Swinton Conservative College from 1974 to 1975. From 1975 to 1976 he was a part-time research assistant to Michael Marshall
Michael Marshall (politician)
Sir Robert Michael Marshall, DL , usually known as Michael Marshall, was a businessman, politician, cricketer and author....
MP, working for Nicholas Winterton
Nicholas Winterton
Sir Nicholas Raymond Winterton is a retired British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Macclesfield from 1971 until he retired from the House of Commons at the 2010 general election....
MP from 1976 to 1979.
Brown was selected for the marginal
Marginal
Marginal may refer to:* For marginal constituency in politics, see “Marginal seat”* For the manga, see Marginal * For marginal model in hierarchical linear modeling, see “Marginal model”...
constituency of Brigg and Scunthorpe
Brigg and Scunthorpe (UK Parliament constituency)
Brigg and Scunthorpe was a parliamentary constituency centred on the towns of Brigg and Scunthorpe in Humberside. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
and was elected at the 1979 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
.
In 1983, following favourable boundary changes, he was elected for the new seat of Brigg and Cleethorpes
Brigg and Cleethorpes (UK Parliament constituency)
Brigg and Cleethorpes was a constituency on the south bank of the River Humber which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system....
. This followed a bitter selection battle between Brown and Michael Brotherton
Michael Brotherton
Michael Lewis Brotherton is a British journalist and politician. A Conservative, he had a promising Parliamentary career and has worked as a Parliamentary consultant since his constituency was broken up in boundary changes....
, who was MP for the Louth constituency
Louth, Lincolnshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Louth was a county constituency in Lincolnshire which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election....
, which included the towns of Immingham
Immingham
Immingham is a town in North East Lincolnshire, located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary...
and Cleethorpes
Cleethorpes
Cleethorpes is a town and unparished area in North East Lincolnshire, England, situated on the estuary of the Humber. It has a population of 31,853 and is a seaside resort.- History :...
. Brown's robust style is considered to be the factor which swung the party members to support him over Brotherton. Big Brother 6 contestant Derek Laud
Derek Laud
Derek George Henry Laud is a former British political adviser and Government Relations specialist, who has advised the Bank of England, The Securities and Investments Board, British Steel and Takcare PLC...
served as Brown's research assistant for a considerable time as an MP.
Brown threatened to resign from parliament when the village of Killingholme
Killingholme
Killingholme is an area of Lincolnshire, comprising the villages of North Killingholme and South Killingholme. It is the site of two oil refineries, the Humber Refinery and Lindsey Oil Refinery, and an liquid petroleum gas storage facility .It is also a fast expanding port, handling RORO ferries...
, in the centre of his constituency was marked as a potential site for nuclear dumping.
Brown served as Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to Douglas Hogg
Douglas Hogg, 3rd Viscount Hailsham
Douglas Martin Hogg, 3rd Viscount Hailsham PC, QC is a British politician and barrister. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1995-97, and was a Member of Parliament from 1979 to 2010.Hogg's claim for cleaning of the...
, Minister of State
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister...
at the Department of Trade and Industry, from 1989 to 1990, and then at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
from 1990 to 1992. From 1992 to 1993 he was a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Patrick Mayhew
Patrick Mayhew
Patrick Barnabas Burke Mayhew, Baron Mayhew of Twysden, PC is a British barrister, and Conservative Party politician.He was educated at Tonbridge School and Balliol College, Oxford...
, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, informally the Northern Ireland Secretary, is the principal secretary of state in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State is a Minister of the Crown who is accountable to the Parliament of...
. He was appointed as an Assistant Government Whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
in 1993.
He resigned in 1994 after The News of the World published pictures of him on holiday in Barbados with a 20 year old gay man. At the time, the age of consent
Age of consent
While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual...
for gay sex was 21 so the paper ran the story under the headline "Lawmaker as lawbreaker". He subsequently acknowledged his homosexuality.
After Westminster
Brown lost the election for the new CleethorpesCleethorpes (UK Parliament constituency)
Cleethorpes 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. It is a marginal seat between Labour and the Conservatives...
seat at the general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
on 1 May 1997. Initially he struggled to find employment, working for David Evans contract cleaning firm but in April 1998 he submitted a piece for The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
on how he was looking forward to being canvassed by the 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...
candidates for his area in the Westminster City Council
Westminster City Council
Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council and is entitled to be known as a city council, which is a rare distinction in the United Kingdom. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors...
elections, which would give him an opportunity to play the kind of tricks voters often play on election candidates.
The piece was published and was well-received. It led to a regular commission as a political sketchwriter for The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
starting in 1999, as well as political commentary for other newspapers. He regularly appears as a commentator and newspaper reviewer on British television, particularly on BBC News 24
BBC News 24
BBC News is the BBC's 24-hour rolling news television network in the United Kingdom. The channel launched as BBC News 24 on 9 November 1997 at 17:30 as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic television channels, becoming the first competitor to Sky News, which had been running since 1989...
and Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
.