Eleanor Laing
Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities | |
---|---|
In office 15 March 2004 – 2 July 2007 | |
Leader | Michael Howard David Cameron |
Preceded by | Caroline Spelman |
Succeeded by | Theresa May |
Member of Parliament for Epping Forest | |
Assumed office 1 May 1997 | |
Preceded by | Steven Norris |
Majority | 22,173 (44.1%) |
Personal details | |
Born | Eleanor Fulton Pritchard 1 February 1958 Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse |
Alan Laing (div. 2002) |
Children | 1 |
Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
Dame Eleanor Fulton Laing,
Early life
Laing was born in
Parliamentary career
1987–2013
Laing contested
When Laing was first elected as the MP for Epping Forest at the 1997 general election, the previously safe seat was reduced to marginal status by the Labour landslide. Laing achieved a hugely reduced majority of 5,252, winning 45.5% of the vote, but at the expense of a 13.3% swing away from the Conservatives to Labour.[8]
Following the election, she was selected for the
She was an opponent of devolution, and criticised the Blair government on many of the details of the transfer of power. In December 2000, she was appointed as opposition Scottish spokeswoman.
At the 2001 general election, Epping Forest returned to safe seat status, with Laing winning a majority of 8,426 and 49.1% of the vote.[9]
Laing first entered the
At the
Deputy Speaker (2013–present)
In May 2013, the First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means, Nigel Evans, was arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual assault. He was acquitted of those charges, but resigned from his position in the Chair on 10 September 2013. On 16 October, Laing was elected to succeed Evans as the First Deputy Chair, the holder of which post is one of the Deputy Speakers of the House.[15] Evans would return to the Chair as Second Deputy Chairman in 2020.
At the 2015 general election, Laing was again re-elected with an increased majority of 17,978 and an increased vote share of 54.8%.[16][17]
In January 2016, Laing publicly criticised Tulip Siddiq, who was seven months pregnant at the time, for breaking the customs of the House by leaving a debate shortly after speaking. Siddiq had already been in the debate for two hours and left at 14:30 to eat. According to witnesses, Laing told Siddiq not to use her pregnancy as an excuse for her behaviour.[18]
Laing voted leave in the
Laing stood in the
Laing took a leave of absence from December 2022 after undergoing surgery, and returned to the chair during the week of 6 March 2023.[1] Her leave of absence has been extended until 31 March 2024, but Laing has continued in her duties in the Chair.[2] Roger Gale has served as deputy speaker while she has been absent.[1]
In June 2023, former prime minister Boris Johnson called for Bernard Jenkin to resign from his participation in the Commons Select Committee of Privileges, the Select Committee which investigated whether Johnson had misled parliament, when it was reported by the Guido Fawkes website that Jenkin had attended an event on 8 December 2020 in parliament. This was a "drinks party" held by Laing in her office, while such events were banned under the current guidelines.[26] In November 2023, the police investigation into the "drinks party" attended by Laing was closed, with the "threshold for fines not being met".[27]
Since November 2023, she has been under investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Daniel Greenberg, for "actions causing significant damage to the reputation of the House as a whole, or of its Members generally".[28]
LGB rights
Laing sponsored the motion for lowering the homosexual age of consent to 16 in June 1998: "Nothing that is being proposed tonight is in any way encouraging physical sexual activity among young people before they are sufficiently mature". She differed with many of her Conservative colleagues: "It is nonsense to say that there cannot be equality between 16-year-old boys and 16-year-old girls. Young people need protection, but young people are not protected by being made into criminals". She opposed fellow Conservatives such as Nicholas Winterton, who said that "a homosexual act is unnatural", by replying that the Bill did not challenge Christian teaching, and that it would not legalise anything that did not already happen. Labour MPs paid tribute for Laing for speaking against the majority view of the then Parliamentary Conservative Party, of whom 110 of their 165 MPs voted against the measure.[29]
Laing voted against the repeal of Section 28 in 2003.[30] Laing criticised the manner in which the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 was introduced by arguing "social change should come about by evolution, not by diktat from the top of government" and subsequently abstained from voting on it.[31]
Expenses
After details of MPs' expense claims were released by the press in 2009 it was shown that Laing had avoided paying £180,000 capital gains tax on the sale of her Westminster flat by declaring it as her primary residence. This was due to its having a higher value than her constituency home, making it her primary residence under capital gains tax rules. However she had registered the flat as her second home with the Parliamentary Fees Office, and by doing so had claimed through her Additional Costs Allowance some of the interest due on her mortgage. Laing's constituency is Epping Forest, which neighbours London and less than an hour's journey by tube. When questioned, she said that prior to the sale of the flat she had sought the advice of her solicitor.[32] Laing was cleared by the Legg Inquiry; nonetheless, she voluntarily repaid £25,000 as a "moral gesture".[33] As a result of the issue over her expenses, an unsuccessful attempt was made to deselect her by her constituency party, led by the Leader of Epping Forest District Council.[34]
Personal life
Laing is divorced with one son, born in 2001.[35]
Laing is a supporter of Rangers F.C., and is a vice-chairman of the Westminster Parliamentary Rangers Supporters' Club.[36]
She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the
References
- ^ On leave from 19 December 2022 to 6 March 2023,[1] and from 26 October 2023 to 31 March 2024, during which Roger Gale served in her absence.[2] Laing did make appearances in the Commons during this period and was presiding for the budget debates in 2024.
- ^ a b c D'Arcy, Mark (3 March 2023). "What's happening in Parliament this week?". BBC News. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
senior deputy speaker Dame Eleanor Laing will be back in the chair this week, after several weeks recovering from surgery
- ^ a b "Votes and Proceedings Thursday 26 October 2023". House of Commons of the United Kingdom. 26 October 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
- ^ "Deputy Speaker / Chairman of Ways and Means – UK Parliament". Retrieved 8 December 2023.
- ^ "Mrs Eleanor Laing (Hansard)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
- ^ "The Columbian" (PDF). St-columbus.org. December 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- ^ "David (Anthony Andrew)" (PDF). internetserver.bishopgate.org.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "BBC News | Election 2010 | Constituency | Epping Forest". news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "House of Lords Reform Bill (Division 47: held on Tuesd – Hansard – UK Parliament". Retrieved 8 December 2023.
- ^ "Tributes to Baroness Thatcher – Hansard – UK Parliament". Retrieved 8 December 2023.
- ^ "Deputy Speaker election: Eleanor Laing elected". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Epping Forest parliamentary constituency - Election 2017" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ Swinford, Steven; McCann, Kate (8 January 2016). "Heavily pregnant MP allegedly accused of 'bringing down womankind' by leaving debate to eat". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
- ^ "Hard work needed after 'pleasing' EU result, says Eleanor Laing". East London and West Essex Guardian Series. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
- ^ "Epping Forest Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- ^ "Epping Forest Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- ^ "Epping Forest parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". Retrieved 7 January 2020.
- ^ a b "Eleanor Laing: It's time to restore trust in the House of Commons". PoliticsHome.com. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
- ^ "Deputy Speaker Eleanor Laing takes swipe at John Bercow's 'impartiality' in plea for Brexit calm". PoliticsHome.com. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
- ^ ""It's time to do things a bit differently": could Eleanor Laing be the next speaker?". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
- ^ Allegretti, Aubrey (14 June 2023). "Boris Johnson calls for Tory MP on privileges committee to resign". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ "Police close investigation into MPs' Covid event". BBC News. 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
- ^ "Allegations currently under investigation by the Commissioner". UK Parliament. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ^ "REDUCTION IN AGE AT WHICH CERTAIN SEXUAL ACTS ARE LAWFUL (Hansard, 22 June 1998)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
- ^ "The Public Whip — Voting Record – Eleanor Laing MP, Epping Forest (10348)".
- ^ Watt, Nicholas (1 March 2013). "Cameron's 'social change by diktat' hurting Conservatives, Tory warns". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ^ MPs expenses: Eleanor Laing didn't pay capital gains tax on second home, The Telegraph, 30 May 2009
- ^ Hamilton, Fiona. "MPs expenses repaid". The Times. London.(subscription required)
- ^ Swaine, Jon (27 October 2009). "MPs expenses: Eleanor Laing reselected". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- ^ "Pregnant Women (Discrimination) (Hansard, 25 March 2004)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 6 September 2021. Laing refers to her son being born 'exactly one week' after the 'last general election', in this context being the 2001 election.
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: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ "MPs form Rangers supporters' club at Westminster". The Herald. 5 March 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
External links
- Eleanor Laing MP official constituency website
- Profile at the Conservative Party
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou