Philip Hollobone
Encyclopedia
Philip Thomas Hollobone (born 1964) is a British
Conservative Party
politician
who is both a Member of Parliament
for the Kettering constituency
(since the 2005 general election
) and a member of Kettering Borough Council
for the Piper's Hill
ward (since 3 May 2007).
, London
, and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
where he was awarded a BA
degree in Modern History and Economics.
He was a prominent member of the Oxford University branch of the Monday Club.
In 1984, he worked as a voluntary teacher
in Honduras
with a Baptist mission. He worked as an investment banker for 13 years from 1987. and was in the Territorial Army for eight years.
, where he served as a councillor
between 1990 and 1994, before unsuccessfully contesting Lewisham East at the 1997 General Election
where he was defeated by the sitting Labour
MP Bridget Prentice
by 12,127 votes. In 1999, he served a one-year term as Chairman of the Bromley and Chislehurst Conservative Association.
He was later selected as the Conservative candidate for the marginal Northamptonshire
constituency of Kettering for the 2001 General Election
, losing to incumbent Labour MP Phil Sawford
by just 665 votes. From this election onwards, Hollobone made Kettering his political base, securing election in 2003 onto Kettering Borough Council (first representing the rural ward of Buccleuch before representing the suburban ward of Piper's Hill
) as well as serving as Vice Chairman of the Kettering Conservative Constituency Association since 2002.
Hollobone secured election to the House of Commons at the second attempt, during the 2005 General Election
, defeating Phil Sawford by 3,301 votes. He made his maiden speech
on May 24, 2005.
Some of his subsequent speeches were not well received. In 2006 he was one of 3 new MPs specifically mentioned in a Times article about manipulating the performance figures for the Theyworkforyou
website. The article claimed new MPs boosted “their ratings on the internet by saying very little, very often.”
Whilst Hollobone’s frequent “speeches” might give the appearance of “Churchill or Gladstone,” many were interventions of only 2 or 3 sentences.
On just one day in February 2006, he made six speeches, one of which, on the Ascension Islands
simply noted that a former mayoress of Kettering came from St Helena.
In response, Hollobone said that as a new MP he tried to speak as often as possible on behalf of constituents and take part in many different debates.
In April 2009, Hollobone was revealed to be the thriftiest Member of Parliament in terms of expenses: the average MP claimed £144,176 whereas Hollobone's expenses bill amounted to £47,737. Hollobone has condemned Hamas
which he has described as "in its entirety... a terrorist organisation proscribed by the European Union". However, he has described Interpal
, which has been banned by Canada
, Australia
and the United States of America for its links with Hamas, as "a worthwhile organisation." Hollobone is a supporter of the Better Off Out
campaign.
The eurosceptic
United Kingdom Independence Party
did not field a candidate against Hollobone in the 2010 general election and subsequently campaigned for his re-election as a result of his Eurosceptic views. Hollobone is rated as the Conservatives' most rebellious MP.
In response to a written question by Hollobone, the expenses claimed for public duties by former Prime Ministers after they had left office was revealed to the public. Lady Thatcher
received £535,000 in expenses over 5 years, Sir John Major
received £490,000 and Tony Blair
received £273,000.
s as like "going round wearing a paper bag over your head" and expressed his "huge sympathy" with those calling for a ban on the garments
. On 30 June 2010, Hollobone introduced the Face Coverings (Regulation) Bill after coming seventeenth out of twenty in the Private Members' Bill ballot, which would regulate the use of certain facial coverings, including the burka, in public. The bill was on the Order Paper to be read a second time on 3 December 2010.
They had a son in June 2004 and a daughter in 2006 and live in Barton Seagrave
.
Hollobone has also played occasionally for Kettering Rugby Football Club
.. Hollobone is a serving Special Constable
with the British Transport Police
.
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...
who is both 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,...
for the Kettering constituency
Kettering (UK Parliament constituency)
Kettering is a county constituency in Northamptonshire which returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
(since 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....
) and a member of Kettering Borough Council
Kettering Borough Council
Kettering Borough Council is a local authority in Kettering Borough, composed of 36 local councillors and currently controlled by the Conservatives, who have controlled the Council since the 2003 local elections, where they gained control from Labour with a majority of 15. Having retained control...
for the Piper's Hill
Piper's Hill (Kettering BC Ward)
Piper's Hill Ward is a 2-member ward within Kettering Borough Council which is statistically regarded as a marginal ward between Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. The ward was last fought at Borough Council level in the 2007 local council elections, in which both seats were won by the...
ward (since 3 May 2007).
Early life
Hollobone was educated at Dulwich CollegeDulwich College
Dulwich College is an independent school for boys in Dulwich, southeast London, England. The college was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn, a successful Elizabethan actor, with the original purpose of educating 12 poor scholars as the foundation of "God's Gift". It currently has about 1,600 boys,...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Lady Margaret Hall is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located at the end of Norham Gardens in north Oxford. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £34m....
where he was awarded a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in Modern History and Economics.
He was a prominent member of the Oxford University branch of the Monday Club.
In 1984, he worked as a voluntary teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
in Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
with a Baptist mission. He worked as an investment banker for 13 years from 1987. and was in the Territorial Army for eight years.
Political career
His elected political career began in the London Borough of BromleyLondon Borough of Bromley
The London Borough of Bromley is a London borough of south east London, England and forms part of Outer London. The principal town in the borough is Bromley.-Geography:...
, where he served as a councillor
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
between 1990 and 1994, before unsuccessfully contesting Lewisham East at 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...
where he was defeated by 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 Bridget Prentice
Bridget Prentice
Bridget Theresa Prentice is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Lewisham East from 1992 to 2010, She was formerly married to fellow Labour MP Gordon Prentice, whom she married on 20 December 1975 and divorcing in 2000.- Background :Prentice was born in Glasgow,...
by 12,127 votes. In 1999, he served a one-year term as Chairman of the Bromley and Chislehurst Conservative Association.
He was later selected as the Conservative candidate for the marginal Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
constituency of Kettering for 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...
, losing to incumbent Labour MP Phil Sawford
Phil Sawford
Philip Andrew Sawford is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Kettering from 1997 to 2005.-Early life:...
by just 665 votes. From this election onwards, Hollobone made Kettering his political base, securing election in 2003 onto Kettering Borough Council (first representing the rural ward of Buccleuch before representing the suburban ward of Piper's Hill
Piper's Hill (Kettering BC Ward)
Piper's Hill Ward is a 2-member ward within Kettering Borough Council which is statistically regarded as a marginal ward between Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. The ward was last fought at Borough Council level in the 2007 local council elections, in which both seats were won by the...
) as well as serving as Vice Chairman of the Kettering Conservative Constituency Association since 2002.
Hollobone secured election to the House of Commons at the second attempt, during 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....
, defeating Phil Sawford by 3,301 votes. He 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 May 24, 2005.
Some of his subsequent speeches were not well received. In 2006 he was one of 3 new MPs specifically mentioned in a Times article about manipulating the performance figures for 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. The article claimed new MPs boosted “their ratings on the internet by saying very little, very often.”
Whilst Hollobone’s frequent “speeches” might give the appearance of “Churchill or Gladstone,” many were interventions of only 2 or 3 sentences.
On just one day in February 2006, he made six speeches, one of which, on the Ascension Islands
Ascension Islands
One of the Southampton Island offshore island groups, the Ascension Islands are uninhabited islands located in Foxe Basin's Foxe Channel, northwest of Caribou Island. They are part of the Kivalliq Region, in the Canadian territory of Nunavut....
simply noted that a former mayoress of Kettering came from St Helena.
In response, Hollobone said that as a new MP he tried to speak as often as possible on behalf of constituents and take part in many different debates.
In April 2009, Hollobone was revealed to be the thriftiest Member of Parliament in terms of expenses: the average MP claimed £144,176 whereas Hollobone's expenses bill amounted to £47,737. Hollobone has condemned Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
which he has described as "in its entirety... a terrorist organisation proscribed by the European Union". However, he has described Interpal
Interpal
Interpal is the working name for the British charity Palestinian Relief and Development Fund founded in 1994 which states that it is a non-political charity to alleviate problems faced by Palestinians, and focused solely on the provision of relief and development aid to the poor and needy...
, which has been banned by Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the United States of America for its links with Hamas, as "a worthwhile organisation." Hollobone is a supporter of the Better Off Out
Better Off Out
Better Off Out is the name of a non-party campaign run by The Freedom Association to call for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union...
campaign.
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...
did not field a candidate against Hollobone in the 2010 general election and subsequently campaigned for his re-election as a result of his Eurosceptic views. Hollobone is rated as the Conservatives' most rebellious MP.
In response to a written question by Hollobone, the expenses claimed for public duties by former Prime Ministers after they had left office was revealed to the public. Lady Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
received £535,000 in expenses over 5 years, Sir John Major
John 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...
received £490,000 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...
received £273,000.
Private members bill to restrict the burka
In February 2010, Hollobone described the wearing of burqaBurqa
A burqa is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic religion to cover their bodies in public places. The burqa is usually understood to be the woman's loose body-covering , plus the head-covering , plus the face-veil .-Etymology:A speculative and unattested etymology...
s as like "going round wearing a paper bag over your head" and expressed his "huge sympathy" with those calling for a ban on the garments
United Kingdom debate over veils
The British debate over veils began in October 2006 when the MP and government minister Jack Straw wrote in his local newspaper, the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, that, while he did not want to be "prescriptive", he preferred talking to women who did not wear a niqab as he could see their face,...
. On 30 June 2010, Hollobone introduced the Face Coverings (Regulation) Bill after coming seventeenth out of twenty in the Private Members' Bill ballot, which would regulate the use of certain facial coverings, including the burka, in public. The bill was on the Order Paper to be read a second time on 3 December 2010.
Personal life
He married Donna in St John's church, Cranford in June 2001.They had a son in June 2004 and a daughter in 2006 and live in Barton Seagrave
Barton Seagrave
Barton Seagrave is a village and civil parish in the Kettering borough of Northamptonshire, England. The Domesday Book records the village name as Bertone. The village is a suburb of Kettering and about south-east of the town centre...
.
Hollobone has also played occasionally for Kettering Rugby Football Club
Kettering Rugby Football Club
Kettering Rugby Football Club is a rugby club located in Waverley Road on the south side of Kettering, England.-History:The earliest available records indicate that the playing of rugby football in Kettering was initiated by the Rector of Barton Seagrave village in 1871...
.. Hollobone is a serving Special Constable
Special constable
A Special Constable is a law enforcement officer who is not a regular member of a police force. Some like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police carry the same law enforcement powers as regular members, but are employed in specific roles, such as explosive disposal technicians, court security, campus...
with the British Transport Police
British Transport Police
The British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services...
.
External links
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Philip Hollobone MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Philip Hollobone MP
- The Public Whip - Philip Hollobone MP voting record
- Kettering Conservatives
- BBC Democracy Live Philip Hollobone MP Kettering, Conservative