Stephen Byers
Encyclopedia
Stephen John Byers is a British
Labour Party
politician who was the Member of Parliament
(MP) for North Tyneside
from 1997
to 2010; in the previous parliament, from 1992
, he represented Wallsend
. He did not contest the 2010 general election.
During Byers' ministerial career he was Chief Secretary to the Treasury
, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions
in the Cabinet
.
, a state-run day and boarding school; the City of Chester
Grammar School
; and the Chester College of Further Education. He then gained a law degree
at Liverpool John Moores University
and became a law teacher
at Northumbria University
from 1977 until his election to Parliament
in 1992.
Said to be a one time a supporter of the Militant tendency
which he denies, an entrist
group within the Labour Party
which was based upon Trotskyist political ideals, Byers rejected the group's approach by 1986. He was elected as a councillor to the North Tyneside
District Council in 1980 and was its deputy leader from 1985 until he became an Member of Parliament in 1992. In the 1983 general election
, he contested the Conservative stronghold seat of Hexham
, finishing in third place and some 14,000 votes behind the former Cabinet
minister Geoffrey Rippon
. He was first elected to Parliament in the 1992 general election
in Wallsend
, a Labour stronghold, following the retirement of Ted Garrett
, and secured a majority of 19,470.
In 1993 Byers joined the influential Home Affairs
Select Committee. He became an ally of Tony Blair
, a fellow northeastern Labour MP, who was also in favour of 'modernising' the Labour Party. Blair gave him a job as soon as he became the Leader of the Opposition, placing Byers in the Whips Office
. He became a spokesman for the Department for Education and Employment in 1995, and he identified himself as an "outrider" for the New Labour project, regularly floating radical ideas on Blair's behalf to test reaction. An instance of this is when Byers briefed journalists in 1996 saying that the party might sever its links with the trade unions. Byers was swiftly appointed to Shadow ministerial posts and became the Minister for School Standards with the title of Minister of State
at the Department of Education and Employment following the victorious 1997 general election
. While at this post Byers first drew attention to himself when he said 8 times 7 was 54 in a BBC interview promoting a Government numeracy drive.
His Wallsend constituency
was abolished in 1997 and he was elected for the equally safe North Tyneside constituency
with a 26,643 vote majority.
and became a Member of the Privy Council
. After the sudden resignation of Peter Mandelson
, Byers was appointed as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
in December 1998. After the 2001 general election
, he was made Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government & the Regions
.
. Byers, as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
, advocated the 2000 deal with the Phoenix Consortium instead of the bid from Alchemy Partners
, a successful turnaround private equity investor that would have slimmed down the business. Although this deal prolonged the existence of the group for five years, it ultimately collapsed at extensive cost to the British tax payers while giving large profits from a dowry given by the seller BMW to the Phoenix Consortium. Byers responded to this criticism in his submission to the Trade and Industry committee, stating that his actions had largely been in line with government policy and that the long slow collapse of MG Rover Group
had been preferable to a short sudden collapse.
incident was the decision, taken at short notice with disregard for the regulator Tom Winsor
, and implemented over a weekend, to ask the High Court to put the privatised railway infrastructure company Railtrack
into railway administration, on 7 October 2001. This ultimately led to the creation of Network Rail
, which effectively renationalised Britain's railway infrastructure company. Although the British Office for National Statistics
insisted that the placement of Network Rail in the private sector was correct, Byers, in Parliament on 24 October 2005, said that he made "no apology for [his decision to apply for the administration order] and for unwinding the Tory privatisation that was Railtrack".
Byers' decision angered those private investors who had lost money, and under pressure from The City
, the government eventually had to offer compensation. The action also led to the largest class legal action ever seen in the British courts.
, had sent an email on 11 September 2001, suggesting that the September 11, 2001 attacks
made it "a very good day to get out anything we want to bury". Moore and Byers survived the resulting outrage, but, in February 2002, the public uproar broke out again. A leaked email from the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions's head of news, Martin Sixsmith
, a former BBC
news reporter, seemed to warn Moore not to "bury" any more bad news on the day of Princess Margaret's funeral, implying that she was attempting to do so. On 15 February, the resignations of both Moore and Sixsmith were announced. Later on, however, Sixsmith stated that he had not agreed to go, but rather that Byers had insisted on the head of news' departure as his price to pay for losing Moore. In May it was confirmed by the Department that Byers had announced Sixsmith's resignation prematurely, though the Government said that this was due to a misunderstanding, and he had done nothing wrong.
Byers' troubles continued over the following months. The Labour-dominated House of Commons Transport Select Committee criticised the party's transport strategy, and a long-running row over Byers' decision as Trade Secretary to allow pornographic-magazine publisher Richard Desmond
to buy the Daily Express
newspaper returned to the limelight. The pressure on Byers was too much, and he resigned on 28 May 2002 to be replaced by Alastair Darling. The BBC announced the change with the comment "It's bye-bye Byers, hello Darling".
From May 1997, when the Department of Transport
had been merged into the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
, many had argued that Transport should have retained its separate cabinet representation from the outset; in the Summer 2002 reshuffle, Transport was demerged with Local Government and the Regions thereby becoming a part of the remittance of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Transport portfolio retained by a full time Secretary of State for Transport
.
, should discard the inheritance tax
in order to prove his "New Labour" credentials to Middle England
. This suggestion was widely criticised by many MPs, who claimed that the publicity surrounding Byers' plan would "frighten constituents in the high-priced south into believing they would have to pay death duties, when most won't".
On 14 November 2009, he announced that he would be stepping down from Parliament
at the 2010 general election.
Following the criticism of the Prime Minister
over the budget
of 2007, which dismissed the ten percent starting rate of income tax
as well as that of 2008, which included a planned two percent rise in fuel duties
, Byers accused Gordon Brown
of manipulating the tax system for "tactical advantage" and urged an "immediate halt" to proposals to increase taxes on motorists. He also condemned the government's proposed inheritance tax reforms that had been launched in response to Opposition
proposals to reform the tax. He went on to urge the government to carry out a fundamental rethinking of tax policy.
and filming for a Channel Four investigatory series called Dispatches
. He was shown describing himself as a "cab for hire" and offering to lobby his parliamentary contacts in support of the fictitious company for a financial payment of between £3,000 and £5,000 per day. Byers claimed to have influenced outcomes for National Express
and Tesco
through his relationships with Lord Adonis
, Transport Secretary
, and Lord Mandelson
, Business Secretary, respectively. He claimed that he had he phoned Mandelson to put a stop to “massively bureaucratic” food labelling regulations after he had been contacted by Tesco. He later withdrew his name for consideration by the fictitious lobbying company via email, claiming he had over-stated his role, writing, "I have not spoken to Andrew Adonis or Peter Mandelson about the matters I mentioned". When the story broke, National Express and Tesco also denied there was any truth in Byers' statements. Byers referred himself to John Lyon
, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
, saying that he was confident that Lyon would clear his name. On 22 March 2010, Byers' administrative suspension from the membership of the Parliamentary Labour Party
was announced alongside, alongside those of Patricia Hewitt
, Geoff Hoon
and Margaret Moran
. Although all four remained members of the Labour Party itself.
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British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
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...
politician who was 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 North Tyneside
North Tyneside (UK Parliament constituency)
North Tyneside 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.-Boundary review:...
from 1997
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...
to 2010; in the previous parliament, from 1992
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
, he represented Wallsend
Wallsend (UK Parliament constituency)
Wallsend was a parliamentary constituency centred on Wallsend, a town on the north bank of the River Tyne in North Tyneside.It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until it was abolished for the 1997 general election.It was...
. He did not contest the 2010 general election.
During Byers' ministerial career he was Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is the third most senior ministerial position in HM Treasury, after the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer . In recent years, the office holder has usually been given a junior position in the British Cabinet...
, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
in the 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....
.
Early career
Stephen Byers was born in Wolverhampton. He was educated at Wymondham CollegeWymondham College
Wymondham College is a state boarding school, located in Norfolk, England, which was the largest in Europe when it opened in 1951.-Admissions:...
, a state-run day and boarding school; the City of Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
Grammar School
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
; and the Chester College of Further Education. He then gained a law degree
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
at Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool John Moores University is a British 'modern' university located in the city of Liverpool, England. The university is named after John Moores and was previously called Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts and later Liverpool Polytechnic before gaining university status in 1992, thus...
and became a law teacher
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
at Northumbria University
Northumbria University
Northumbria University is an academic institution located in Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England. It is a member of the University Alliance.- History :...
from 1977 until his election to Parliament
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
in 1992.
Said to be a one time a supporter of the Militant tendency
Militant Tendency
The Militant tendency was an entrist group within the British Labour Party based around the Militant newspaper that was first published in 1964...
which he denies, an entrist
Entryism
Entryism is a political tactic by which an organisation or state encourages its members or agents to infiltrate another organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, or take over entirely...
group within 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...
which was based upon Trotskyist political ideals, Byers rejected the group's approach by 1986. He was elected as a councillor to the North Tyneside
North Tyneside
The Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England and is part of the Tyneside conurbation. Its seat is Wallsend Town Hall....
District Council in 1980 and was its deputy leader from 1985 until he became an Member of Parliament in 1992. In the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
, he contested the Conservative stronghold seat of Hexham
Hexham (UK Parliament constituency)
- Elections in the 2000s :- Elections in the 1990s :- Elections in the 1980s :- Elections in the 1970s :-Notes and references:...
, finishing in third place and some 14,000 votes behind the former Cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
minister Geoffrey Rippon
Geoffrey Rippon
Geoffrey Frederick Rippon, Baron Rippon of Hexham, PC, was a British Conservative politician. He was Chairman of the European-Atlantic Group....
. He was first elected to Parliament in the 1992 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
in Wallsend
Wallsend (UK Parliament constituency)
Wallsend was a parliamentary constituency centred on Wallsend, a town on the north bank of the River Tyne in North Tyneside.It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until it was abolished for the 1997 general election.It was...
, a Labour stronghold, following the retirement of Ted Garrett
Ted Garrett
William Edward Garrett, known as Ted Garrett, was a British Labour Party politician.Garrett was educated at the London School of Economics and was an engineer and maintenance fitter...
, and secured a majority of 19,470.
In 1993 Byers joined the influential Home Affairs
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
Select Committee. He became an ally of 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...
, a fellow northeastern Labour MP, who was also in favour of 'modernising' the Labour Party. Blair gave him a job as soon as he became the Leader of the Opposition, placing Byers in the Whips Office
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...
. He became a spokesman for the Department for Education and Employment in 1995, and he identified himself as an "outrider" for the New Labour project, regularly floating radical ideas on Blair's behalf to test reaction. An instance of this is when Byers briefed journalists in 1996 saying that the party might sever its links with the trade unions. Byers was swiftly appointed to Shadow ministerial posts and became the Minister for School Standards with the title of 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 Education and Employment following the victorious 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...
. While at this post Byers first drew attention to himself when he said 8 times 7 was 54 in a BBC interview promoting a Government numeracy drive.
His Wallsend constituency
Wallsend (UK Parliament constituency)
Wallsend was a parliamentary constituency centred on Wallsend, a town on the north bank of the River Tyne in North Tyneside.It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until it was abolished for the 1997 general election.It was...
was abolished in 1997 and he was elected for the equally safe North Tyneside constituency
North Tyneside (UK Parliament constituency)
North Tyneside 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.-Boundary review:...
with a 26,643 vote majority.
Cabinet appointment
He joined the Cabinet in July 1998, as Chief Secretary to the TreasuryChief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is the third most senior ministerial position in HM Treasury, after the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer . In recent years, the office holder has usually been given a junior position in the British Cabinet...
and became a Member of the Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
. After the sudden resignation of Peter Mandelson
Peter Mandelson
Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, PC is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004, served in a number of Cabinet positions under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and was a European Commissioner...
, Byers was appointed as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills is a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. Its secondary title is the President of the Board of Trade...
in December 1998. After 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 made Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government & the Regions
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
.
MG Rover
Byers was heavily criticised for his part in the collapse of the MG Rover GroupMG Rover Group
MG Rover was the last domestically owned mass-production car manufacturer in the British motor industry. The company was formed when BMW sold the car-making and engine manufacturing assets of the original Rover Group to the Phoenix Consortium in 2000....
. Byers, as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills is a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. Its secondary title is the President of the Board of Trade...
, advocated the 2000 deal with the Phoenix Consortium instead of the bid from Alchemy Partners
Alchemy Partners
Alchemy Partners is a British private equity firm, which specialises in leveraged management buyouts, management buy-ins and the provision of later stage development capital.Alchemy was founded in 1997 by Martin Bolland and Jon Moulton...
, a successful turnaround private equity investor that would have slimmed down the business. Although this deal prolonged the existence of the group for five years, it ultimately collapsed at extensive cost to the British tax payers while giving large profits from a dowry given by the seller BMW to the Phoenix Consortium. Byers responded to this criticism in his submission to the Trade and Industry committee, stating that his actions had largely been in line with government policy and that the long slow collapse of MG Rover Group
MG Rover Group
MG Rover was the last domestically owned mass-production car manufacturer in the British motor industry. The company was formed when BMW sold the car-making and engine manufacturing assets of the original Rover Group to the Phoenix Consortium in 2000....
had been preferable to a short sudden collapse.
Railtrack
The first source of controversy in the RailtrackRailtrack
Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from its formation in April 1994 until 2002...
incident was the decision, taken at short notice with disregard for the regulator Tom Winsor
Tom Winsor
Tom Winsor is a British lawyer and economic regulatory professional who was, from 5 July 1999 until 4 July 2004, the Rail Regulator and International Rail Regulator for Great Britain. He is a partner in international law firm White & Case LLP...
, and implemented over a weekend, to ask the High Court to put the privatised railway infrastructure company Railtrack
Railtrack
Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from its formation in April 1994 until 2002...
into railway administration, on 7 October 2001. This ultimately led to the creation of Network Rail
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
, which effectively renationalised Britain's railway infrastructure company. Although the British Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
insisted that the placement of Network Rail in the private sector was correct, Byers, in Parliament on 24 October 2005, said that he made "no apology for [his decision to apply for the administration order] and for unwinding the Tory privatisation that was Railtrack".
Byers' decision angered those private investors who had lost money, and under pressure from The City
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, the government eventually had to offer compensation. The action also led to the largest class legal action ever seen in the British courts.
Exit from the Cabinet
In late 2001, it was revealed that Byers' political adviser, Jo MooreJo Moore
Jo Moore served as a British special adviser and press officer . She was embroiled in scandal while working as advisor to Stephen Byers, the Transport, Local Government and Regions Secretary....
, had sent an email on 11 September 2001, suggesting that the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
made it "a very good day to get out anything we want to bury". Moore and Byers survived the resulting outrage, but, in February 2002, the public uproar broke out again. A leaked email from the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions's head of news, Martin Sixsmith
Martin Sixsmith
-Education:Sixsmith was born in Cheshire and educated at the Manchester Grammar School where he studied Russian to O-level, and subsequently A-level, then at Oxford, Harvard, the Sorbonne University in Paris, and in St. Petersburg , in Russia...
, a former BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
news reporter, seemed to warn Moore not to "bury" any more bad news on the day of Princess Margaret's funeral, implying that she was attempting to do so. On 15 February, the resignations of both Moore and Sixsmith were announced. Later on, however, Sixsmith stated that he had not agreed to go, but rather that Byers had insisted on the head of news' departure as his price to pay for losing Moore. In May it was confirmed by the Department that Byers had announced Sixsmith's resignation prematurely, though the Government said that this was due to a misunderstanding, and he had done nothing wrong.
Byers' troubles continued over the following months. The Labour-dominated House of Commons Transport Select Committee criticised the party's transport strategy, and a long-running row over Byers' decision as Trade Secretary to allow pornographic-magazine publisher Richard Desmond
Richard Desmond
Richard Clive Desmond is an English publisher and businessman. He is the owner of Express Newspapers and founder in 1974 of Northern & Shell, which publishes various celebrity magazines, such as OK! and New!, and British national newspapers Daily Star and Daily Express...
to buy the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
newspaper returned to the limelight. The pressure on Byers was too much, and he resigned on 28 May 2002 to be replaced by Alastair Darling. The BBC announced the change with the comment "It's bye-bye Byers, hello Darling".
From May 1997, when the Department of Transport
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...
had been merged into the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions was a UK Cabinet position created in 1997, with responsibility for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions ....
, many had argued that Transport should have retained its separate cabinet representation from the outset; in the Summer 2002 reshuffle, Transport was demerged with Local Government and the Regions thereby becoming a part of the remittance of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Transport portfolio retained by a full time Secretary of State for Transport
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
.
Return to backbenches
On the backbenches, Byers kept up pressure for the Labour Party to keep to the centre ground. In August 2006, he suggested that Labour heir-apparent, Gordon BrownGordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
, should discard the inheritance tax
Inheritance tax
An inheritance tax or estate tax is a levy paid by a person who inherits money or property or a tax on the estate of a person who has died...
in order to prove his "New Labour" credentials to Middle England
Middle England
The phrase "Middle England" is a socio-political and geographical term which originally indicated the central region of England, now almost always referred to as the "Midlands"....
. This suggestion was widely criticised by many MPs, who claimed that the publicity surrounding Byers' plan would "frighten constituents in the high-priced south into believing they would have to pay death duties, when most won't".
On 14 November 2009, he announced that he would be stepping down from Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
at the 2010 general election.
Following the criticism 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...
over the budget
United Kingdom budget
The United Kingdom budget deals with HM Treasury budgeting the revenues gathered by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and expenditures of public sector departments, in compliance with government policy.Adjustment is achieved with the GDP deflator....
of 2007, which dismissed the ten percent starting rate of income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
as well as that of 2008, which included a planned two percent rise in fuel duties
Hydrocarbon oil duty
Hydrocarbon oil duty is fuel tax levied on some fuels used by road vehicles in the United Kingdom. Between 1993 and 1999 the Government's Fuel Price Escalator led to significant rises in the cost of fuel which led to fuel tax protests in 2000, 2005 and 2007. In May 2008, UK fuel tax rates were one...
, Byers accused Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
of manipulating the tax system for "tactical advantage" and urged an "immediate halt" to proposals to increase taxes on motorists. He also condemned the government's proposed inheritance tax reforms that had been launched in response to Opposition
Opposition (parliamentary)
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state...
proposals to reform the tax. He went on to urge the government to carry out a fundamental rethinking of tax policy.
Expenses
As part of a series of reports highlighting MPs' expenses claims, on 10 May 2009, The Sunday Telegraph reported that Byers had claimed more than in second home allowances for a London flat owned by his partner, where the MP lived rent-free. Allegedly included in his expenses claims was £27,000 for redecoration, maintenance, and appliances for the property.Lobbyist investigation
In March 2010, Byers was among the politicians caught out by undercover journalists who were posing as lobbyists from an international company. The journalists were from The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
and filming for a Channel Four investigatory series called Dispatches
Dispatches (TV series)
Dispatches is the British television current affairs documentary series on Channel 4, first transmitted in 1987. The programme covers issues about British society, politics, health, religion, international current affairs and the environment, usually featuring a mole in an organisation.-Awards:*...
. He was shown describing himself as a "cab for hire" and offering to lobby his parliamentary contacts in support of the fictitious company for a financial payment of between £3,000 and £5,000 per day. Byers claimed to have influenced outcomes for National Express
National Express
National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...
and Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
through his relationships with Lord Adonis
Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis
Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis is a British academic, journalist, Labour Party politician and Life Peer, who was Secretary of State for Transport between 2009-2010....
, Transport Secretary
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
, and Lord Mandelson
Peter Mandelson
Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, PC is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004, served in a number of Cabinet positions under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and was a European Commissioner...
, Business Secretary, respectively. He claimed that he had he phoned Mandelson to put a stop to “massively bureaucratic” food labelling regulations after he had been contacted by Tesco. He later withdrew his name for consideration by the fictitious lobbying company via email, claiming he had over-stated his role, writing, "I have not spoken to Andrew Adonis or Peter Mandelson about the matters I mentioned". When the story broke, National Express and Tesco also denied there was any truth in Byers' statements. Byers referred himself to John Lyon
John Lyon (commissioner)
John Lyon, CB, is the current British Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. He commenced his appointment, which was for a period of five years, on 1 January 2008....
, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an officer of the British House of Commons.He or she is appointed by a Resolution of the House of Commons and works a four-day week.- Tasks :...
, saying that he was confident that Lyon would clear his name. On 22 March 2010, Byers' administrative suspension from the membership of the Parliamentary 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...
was announced alongside, alongside those of Patricia Hewitt
Patricia Hewitt
Patricia Hope Hewitt is an Australian-born British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Leicester West from 1997 until 2010. She served in the Cabinet until 2007, most recently as Health Secretary....
, Geoff Hoon
Geoff Hoon
Geoffrey "Geoff" William Hoon is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Ashfield from 1992 to 2010...
and Margaret Moran
Margaret Moran
Margaret Moran is a former Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. She was the Member of Parliament for Luton South from 1997 to 2010....
. Although all four remained members of the Labour Party itself.
External links
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Stephen Byers MP
- BBC News report on Stephen Byer's sacking from the UK Government by Tony Blair
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Stephen Byers MP
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