Alan Haselhurst, Baron Haselhurst

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Haselhurst
PC
Official portrait, 2022
Chair of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
In office
27 July 2011 – October 2014
DeputyNafisa Shah
Preceded byShafie Apdal
Succeeded byShirin Sharmin Chaudhury
Chairman of the Administration Committee
In office
27 July 2010 – 30 March 2015
Preceded byFrank Doran
Succeeded bySir Paul Beresford
Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
Chairman of Ways and Means
In office
14 May 1997 – 8 June 2010
SpeakerBetty Boothroyd
Michael Martin
John Bercow
First DeputyMichael Martin
Sylvia Heal
Nigel Evans
Second DeputyMichael Lord
Dawn Primarolo
Preceded byMichael Morris
Succeeded byLindsay Hoyle
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
3 July 2018
Life Peerage
Member of Parliament
for Saffron Walden
In office
8 July 1977 – 3 May 2017
Preceded bySir Peter Kirk
Succeeded byKemi Badenoch
Member of Parliament
for Middleton and Prestwich
In office
18 June 1970 – 8 February 1974
Preceded byDenis Coe
Succeeded byJim Callaghan
Personal details
Born (1937-06-23) 23 June 1937 (age 86)
South Elmsall, Yorkshire, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Angela Bailey
​
(m. 1977)​
Children2 sons, 1 daughter
Alma materOriel College, Oxford
OccupationPolitician
Websitewww.siralanhaselhurst.net

Alan Gordon Barraclough Haselhurst, Baron Haselhurst, PC (born 23 June 1937), is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden from 1977 to 2017, having previously represented Middleton and Prestwich from 1970 to 1974.[1][2] Haselhurst was Chairman of Ways and Means from 14 May 1997 to 8 June 2010,[3] and later Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association between 2011 and 2014. The oldest Conservative MP to stand down at the 2017 general election,[4] he was created a Life Peer in May 2018, sitting in the House of Lords as Baron Haselhurst.[5]

Early life and career[edit]

Insignia of a Knight Bachelor

Haselhurst was born at South Elmsall, near Hemsworth, Yorkshire, and educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, then Cheltenham College in Gloucestershire, before going up to Oriel College, Oxford.

Elected President of the Oxford University Conservative Association in 1958, for two years,[6] he also served as Secretary and Treasurer of the Oxford Union from 1959. Before his election to parliament, Haselhurst worked in management in the chemicals industry and became an unremunerated director when his father's pharmacy was incorporated.

Haselhurst was the election agent to Robin Balniel, Conservative MP for Hertford, at both the 1964 and 1966 general elections. Haselhurst was elected Chairman of the National Young Conservatives in 1964, serving for two years, later becoming Chairman of the Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council (1978–1981).[7]

Parliamentary career[edit]

1970–1997[edit]

Haselhurst was elected to the House of Commons at the 1970 general election for the Lancashire seat of Middleton and Prestwich, defeating the sitting Labour MP Denis Coe by 1,042 votes. In parliament, he briefly served from 1973 as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Home Secretary Robert Carr, before losing his seat in February 1974. Haselhurst lost the seat to Labour by only 517 votes; he then served as the Chairman of the Manchester Youth and Community Service[8] from 1974 until 1977 upon re-entering the Commons; the Conservative MP for the Essex seat of Saffron Walden, Sir Peter Kirk, died on 17 April 1977. Haselhurst was selected to contest the resulting by-election on 7 July. Haselhurst retained the seat for the Conservatives with a majority of 12,437, and was returned as the constituency's MP at every following election until his retirement in 2017.

Following the Conservatives' return to power at the 1979 general election, Haselhurst was appointed as PPS to the Secretary of State for Education and Science Mark Carlisle and served for two years from 1979. He served on the European Legislation Select Committee for fifteen years from 1982, and was a member of the Transport Select Committee from 1992 to 1997. He was invited to ask the first question in Margaret Thatcher's final Prime Minister's Questions on 27 November 1990.[9]

1997–2017[edit]

Following the 1997 general election, Haselhurst was elected Chairman of Ways and Means (Deputy Speaker), remaining in that post under successive Speakers Betty Boothroyd, Michael Martin, and John Bercow until May 2010. Haselhurst was a nominated candidate to succeed Michael Martin after Martin's resignation as Commons Speaker on 19 May 2009. However, Haselhurst was among those who became embroiled in the MPs' expenses controversy being highlighted by The Daily Telegraph for claiming £12,000 in gardening expenses over four years, in the sum of £249 every month,[10] despite receiving advice from the Fees Office to simplify the submission of his expenses in this way;[11] he made endeavours to wipe the slate clean by refunding his gardening expenses "out of respect to his constituents",[12] withdrawing from the Commons Speakership election having received 66 votes in the first round of voting, and 57 in the second.[13]

Haselhurst chose not to seek re-election as a Commons Deputy Speaker after the 2010 general election, since, by convention, the Chairman of Ways and Means should come from a different party affiliation than that of the Speaker, he would only have been eligible to stand for First Deputy Chairman, junior to his previous office. Nevertheless, his fellow parliamentarians entrusted him to continue as Interim Deputy Speaker chairing debates in the House of Commons during the period between the State Opening of Parliament and its election of new Deputy Speakers. On 27 July 2010, Haselhurst was elected Chairman of the House of Commons Administration Committee,[14][15] having been defeated in the election for Chairman of the Backbench Business Committee by Natascha Engel.[16]

In July 2010, Haselhurst became Chairman of the UK Commonwealth Parliamentary Association before in the following year at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference at London in July 2011 being elected Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association's Executive Committee,[17] serving until October 2014, and overseeing parliamentary procedure throughout the Commonwealth. He succeeded the Malaysian Datuk Seri Haji Shafie Apdal; the previous British parliamentarian to be elected to this post was Sir Colin Shepherd in 1996.[18]

Haselhurst was re-selected as the Conservative candidate for the next election at a meeting of the local party association on 13 February 2014, and re-elected at the 2015 general election.[19] Haselhurst was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.[20]

In April 2017, Haselhurst announced that he would not be contesting the 2017 general election, having initially announced his intention to stand. About his change of mind he commented: "I feel now that my initial instinctive response was premature... I have begun to recognize that it might test the friendship and goodwill of so many people whose support I have enjoyed if I sought to do so for a further five years!"[21]

A supporter of community-based projects he was for a time a Director of Turning Point, a charity working with socially-excluded young people. A europhile and ally of Kenneth Clarke, he is widely regarded as a one-nation Conservative.

House of Lords[edit]

Nominated for elevation to the peerage on 18 May 2018,[22] he was created a Life Peer on 22 June, as Baron Haselhurst, of Saffron Walden in the County of Essex,[23] entering the House of Lords where he sits on the Conservative benches.

Personal life[edit]

Alan Haselhurst married Angela Margaret Bailey on 16 April 1977; the couple have two sons and a daughter.

Knighted in 1995,[24] Haselhurst was sworn of the Privy Council in 1999. Having served as Secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cricket and as a Council Member of Essex County Cricket Club from 1996 to 2008, he is a member of Marylebone Cricket Club, well-known for writing cricketing stories.

Lord and Lady Haselhurst live in Essex.

Publications[edit]

  • Occasionally Cricket: The Unpredictable Performances of the Outcasts CC by Alan Haselhurst, 1999, Queen Anne Press, ISBN 1-85291-622-2
  • Eventually Cricket by Alan Haselhurst, 2001, Queen Anne Press ISBN 1-85291-637-0
  • Incidentally Cricket by Alan Haselhurst, 2003, Queen Anne Press ISBN 1-85291-655-9
  • Accidentally Cricket by Alan Haselhurst, 2009, The Professional & Higher Partnership, ISBN 978-1-907076-00-8
  • Unusually Cricket by Alan Haselhurst, 2011, The Professional & Higher Partnership

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Sir Alan Haselhurst". Hansard. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Parliamentary career for Lord Haselhurst – MPs and Lords". UK Parliament. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Commons Debates > Daily Hansard – Debate 8 June 2010". Hansard. UK Parliament. 8 June 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  4. ^ "Sir Alan Haselhurst steps down after 40 years as MP". ITV Anglia. ITV News. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  5. ^ www.debretts.com
  6. ^ www.ouconservatives.com
  7. ^ www.commonwealtheducation.org
  8. ^ www.manchester.gov.uk
  9. ^ "Margaret Thatcher's last Prime Minister's Questions: 27 November 1990". UK Parliament. 27 November 1990. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2020 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ Rayner, Gordon (12 May 2009). "MPs' expenses: Alan Haselhurst's £12,000 gardening bill". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 May 2009.
  11. ^ "About the House of Commons Enquiry Service". UK Parliament. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  12. ^ "MP to pay back Gardening Expenses". Saffron Walden Conservatives. May 2009. Archived from the original on 29 June 2009. The expense claims I made over recent years have been strictly in accordance with Parliamentary rules. The designation of my constituency home as my second home instead of my rented flat in London was obligatory on my becoming Deputy Speaker. In terms of total expense claims I currently rank 582nd out of 646 MPs. However, my claim for gardening help has caused concern. Out of respect to my constituents I am this week repaying the sum of £12,000
  13. ^ www.telegraph.co.uk
  14. ^ "Chair of Administration Committee elected". UK Parliament. 27 June 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  15. ^ "Sir Alan to head two committees". Saffron Walden Weekly News. 6 August 2010. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  16. ^ www.parliament.uk
  17. ^ "Commonwealth Parliamentary Association elects new chairperson". UK Parliament. July 2011. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  18. ^ "Chairpersons". Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  19. ^ Barrett, Hywel (8 May 2015). "Election: Conservative's Sir Alan Haselhurst retains Saffron Walden seat". Dunmow Broadcast. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  20. ^ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  21. ^ "General election 2017: Tory MPs Tyrie and Haselhurst to stand down". BBC News. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  22. ^ "Pickles and Lilley among former Tory ministers to get peerages". BBC News. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  23. ^ "No. 62338". The London Gazette. 28 June 2018. p. 11484.
  24. ^ "No. 54287". The London Gazette. 12 January 1996. p. 571.

External links[edit]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for
Middleton and Prestwich
1970 – February 1974 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for
Saffron Walden
1977–2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of Ways and Means
1997–2010 		Succeeded by
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gentlemen
Baron Haselhurst 		Followed by
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