Mike Penning
Encyclopedia
Michael Alan "Mike" Penning MP
(born 28 September 1957) is the Conservative
Member of Parliament
for Hemel Hempstead
and is a junior Transport minister
.
and raised in Essex
. He went to Appleton School
in South Benfleet and King Edmund School
in Rochford
, Essex. He joined the British Army
, serving as a Grenadier Guards
man in Northern Ireland
, Kenya
and Germany
. One of his officers was Captain Robert Nairac
who was abducted and killed by the IRA. Penning subsequently worked as a firefighter for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
before going in his family business and a further career change took him into political journalism
.
during the Maastricht Rebellion
Penning was Sir Teddy Taylor
's election agent during the 1997 general election
. He stood for election in the safe Labour seat of Thurrock
in the 2001 general election
, coming second behind Andrew MacKinlay
.
Following this he became a chief adviser to former Conservative leader William Hague
, most notably touring on the 'Keep the Pound' bus together, a move which in part caused tension within the Conservative Party over Britain's relationship with Europe. He later became the Conservative Party's deputy head of media under the brief and unpopular party leadership of Iain Duncan Smith
. He was seen as one of his most trusted aides.
In the 2005 general election
he stood in Hemel Hempstead, and narrowly defeated the Labour Co-operative
incumbent Tony McWalter
. Penning overturned McWalter's 2001 majority of 3,742 votes, winning (after a partial recount) by 499 votes.
In July 2007, Penning was promoted by David Cameron
to Shadow Minister for Health.
According to theyworkforyou.com, Penning spoke in an "above average" number of debates last year and replied to a "very high number" of messages. He also received replies to an "above average" number of written questions.
However the quality of those questions was disputed by a 2006 Times article about the Theyworkforyou
website which Penning used to email constituents.
His 624 questions in 10 months at an average cost of £138 each, included one on sales of lost property in Royal parks since records began. The newspaper suggested the objective was to increase ratings on the website though Penning denied this.
Penning "occasionally rebels" with 2% of his votes being against the whip and was "very strongly" in favour of a smoking ban. Penning's parliamentary expenses details have been published as part of a general publication of all MPs' expenses. In 2008/2009, he claimed a total of £135,078 (502nd of all MPs). The Legg Report found no problem with his expenses. Penning, however, repaid £2.99 (for a dog bowl), this is the lowest recorded repayment by an MP.
Ayfer Orhan into third place behind the Liberal Democrat
candidate Richard Grayson and was notable for the largest swing from Labour to Conservative (14.4%) in the country. Following the election, he was appointed a junior Transport minister by David Cameron.
, "There is something providential about the fact that the worst fire in western Europe since the second world war should occur in a constituency represented by a fireman. It was undoubtedly in the interests of all his constituents and mine to have someone so knowledgeable, as well as so vigorous in their response, to represent their interests."
Penning who arrived on the scene within half an hour of the explosion had himself been trained to deal with much smaller petroleum fires i.e. the scenario was that one tank not twenty was affected.
Dexion pensioners were featured celebrating a victory at the High Court in February 2007 which eventually led to increased compensation from the Government.
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,...
(born 28 September 1957) is 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...
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,...
for Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead (UK Parliament constituency)
Hemel Hempstead is a 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 :...
and is a junior Transport minister
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
.
Early life and career
Penning was born in HendonHendon
Hendon is a London suburb situated northwest of Charing Cross.-History:Hendon was historically a civil parish in the county of Middlesex. The manor is described in Domesday , but the name, 'Hendun' meaning 'at the highest hill', is earlier...
and raised in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. He went to Appleton School
Appleton School
The Appleton School is a secondary school located in Croft Road Benfleet, Essex, England. It currently accommodates 1,180 students from school years 7 to 11, and roughly 50 teachers.-External links:* *...
in South Benfleet and King Edmund School
King Edmund School
The King Edmund School is a comprehensive school in Rochford, Essex. The school has specialisms in Business and Enterprise and Applied Learning.-External links:*...
in Rochford
Rochford
Rochford is a small town in the Rochford district of Essex in the East of England. It is sited about 43 miles from Central London and approximately 21 miles from the Essex county town, Chelmsford...
, Essex. He joined the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, serving as a Grenadier Guards
Grenadier Guards
The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
man in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, 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...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. One of his officers was Captain Robert Nairac
Robert Nairac
Captain Robert Laurence Nairac GC was a British Army officer who was abducted from a pub in south County Armagh during an undercover operation and killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on his fourth tour of duty in Northern Ireland as a Military Intelligence Liaison Officer...
who was abducted and killed by the IRA. Penning subsequently worked as a firefighter for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Essex in the east of England, and is one of the largest fire services in the country, covering an area of almost 400,000 hectares and a population of over 1.7 million people.The service attends an...
before going in his family business and a further career change took him into political journalism
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
.
Politics
In the mid-1990s, Penning was media advisor to the euro-rebels who had had the Conservative whip removed by John MajorJohn Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
during the Maastricht Rebellion
Maastricht Rebels
The Maastricht Rebels were British Members of Parliament belonging to the then governing Conservative Party who refused to support the government of John Major in a series of votes in the House of Commons on the issue of the implementation of the Maastricht Treaty in British law.The Maastrict...
Penning was Sir Teddy Taylor
Teddy Taylor
Sir Edward MacMillan Taylor, usually known as Teddy Taylor , is a British Conservative Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1964 to 1979 for Glasgow Cathcart and from 1980 to 2005 for Rochford and Southend East.He was a leading member and sometime Vice-President of the Conservative...
's election agent during the 1997 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...
. He stood for election in the safe Labour seat of Thurrock
Thurrock
Thurrock is a unitary authority with borough status in the English ceremonial county of Essex. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The local authority is Thurrock Council....
in 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...
, coming second behind Andrew MacKinlay
Andrew MacKinlay
Andrew Stuart MacKinlay is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Thurrock from 1992 until he stepped down at the 2010 general election.-Early life:...
.
Following this he became a chief adviser to former Conservative leader William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
, most notably touring on the 'Keep the Pound' bus together, a move which in part caused tension within the Conservative Party over Britain's relationship with Europe. He later became the Conservative Party's deputy head of media under the brief and unpopular party leadership of Iain Duncan Smith
Iain Duncan Smith
George Iain Duncan Smith is a British Conservative politician. He is currently the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously leader of the Conservative Party from September 2001 to October 2003...
. He was seen as one of his most trusted aides.
In 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....
he stood in Hemel Hempstead, and narrowly defeated the Labour Co-operative
Labour Co-operative
Labour and Co-operative describes those candidates in British elections standing on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party, based on a national agreement between the two parties....
incumbent Tony McWalter
Tony McWalter
Tony McWalter is a politician in the United Kingdom. He was Labour Party and Co-operative Member of Parliament for Hemel Hempstead between 1997 and 2005.-Education:...
. Penning overturned McWalter's 2001 majority of 3,742 votes, winning (after a partial recount) by 499 votes.
In July 2007, Penning was promoted by 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 ....
to Shadow Minister for Health.
According to theyworkforyou.com, Penning spoke in an "above average" number of debates last year and replied to a "very high number" of messages. He also received replies to an "above average" number of written questions.
However the quality of those questions was disputed by a 2006 Times article about the Theyworkforyou
TheyWorkForYou
TheyWorkForYou is a website run by mySociety, a project of registered charity UK Citizens Online Democracy, and is a tool for political campaigners and those interested in the Parliamentary activities of UK MPs, Lords, and Northern Ireland MLAs....
website which Penning used to email constituents.
His 624 questions in 10 months at an average cost of £138 each, included one on sales of lost property in Royal parks since records began. The newspaper suggested the objective was to increase ratings on the website though Penning denied this.
Penning "occasionally rebels" with 2% of his votes being against the whip and was "very strongly" in favour of a smoking ban. Penning's parliamentary expenses details have been published as part of a general publication of all MPs' expenses. In 2008/2009, he claimed a total of £135,078 (502nd of all MPs). The Legg Report found no problem with his expenses. Penning, however, repaid £2.99 (for a dog bowl), this is the lowest recorded repayment by an MP.
2010 General Election
Penning's majority increased to 13,406 votes in the 2010 general election where he achieved 50% of the vote share. The result pushed Labour'sLabour 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...
Ayfer Orhan into third place behind 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...
candidate Richard Grayson and was notable for the largest swing from Labour to Conservative (14.4%) in the country. Following the election, he was appointed a junior Transport minister by David Cameron.
Buncefield fire
The Buncefield fire, occurred on 11 December 2005 and led to some 2700 claims for compensation. In the words of Peter LilleyPeter Lilley
Peter Bruce Lilley MP is a British Conservative Party politician who has been a Member of Parliament MP since 1983. He currently represents the constituency of Hitchin and Harpenden and, prior to boundary changes, represented St Albans...
, "There is something providential about the fact that the worst fire in western Europe since the second world war should occur in a constituency represented by a fireman. It was undoubtedly in the interests of all his constituents and mine to have someone so knowledgeable, as well as so vigorous in their response, to represent their interests."
Penning who arrived on the scene within half an hour of the explosion had himself been trained to deal with much smaller petroleum fires i.e. the scenario was that one tank not twenty was affected.
Dexion pensions scheme
Dexion workers, 700 of whom worked in the constituency, lost their pensions when the company went into receivership in 2003. Dexion played a prominent part in Ros Altmann's Pensionstheft campaign. Penning, whose support for Dexion preceded his election, offered compensation from unclaimed assets in his 2005 Manifesto and has spoken on the issue 26 times in Parliament.Dexion pensioners were featured celebrating a victory at the High Court in February 2007 which eventually led to increased compensation from the Government.