Hazel Blears
Chairman of the Labour Party | |||||||||||||||
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In office 5 May 2006 – 24 June 2007 | |||||||||||||||
Leader | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Ian McCartney | ||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Harriet Harman | ||||||||||||||
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Stanley Orme | |||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Rebecca Long-Bailey | ||||||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||||||
Born | Hazel Anne Blears 14 May 1956 Trent Polytechnic College of Law | ||||||||||||||
Website | Official website | ||||||||||||||
Hazel Anne Blears (born 14 May 1956) is a
.One of
Blears was re-elected in 2010 and remained a backbencher, before standing down at the 2015 election.[3]
Early life and education
Hazel Blears was born in Salford, Lancashire on 14 May 1956, the daughter of Arthur Blears, a maintenance fitter.[4][5]
Blears was educated at
Parliamentary career
This section of a poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Hazel Blears" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2018) |
Described by journalist
After the election she became the
In the run-up to the
At the
During her parliamentary career, she has acquired the nickname "Chipmunk".[8] Fraser Nelson, writing in The Spectator, has subsequently dubbed her "the Iron Chipmunk", a play on the phrase "Iron Lady", often used to describe Margaret Thatcher.[9]
Ministerial career
After the
Blears was promoted in 2003 to
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
On 28 June 2007, the new Prime Minister
In May 2008, Blears mistakenly commented on BBC's
Deputy Leadership candidate
On 24 February 2007, she announced her candidacy for the
Resignation from the cabinet
On 3 June 2009, the day before the 2009
Ethnic minorities
In March 2005, while Home Office minister with responsibility for counter-terrorism, Blears implied that section 44 of the
In August 2005, Blears said that the adoption of hyphenated titles such as 'Asian-British' or 'Indian-British' as a means of 'rebranding' ethnic minorities was "among a range of ideas" brought up in meetings with Muslim and other community groups.[22] This proposal was quickly withdrawn by the Home Office, as the government moved to distance itself from the idea.
Hospital closures
In 2006, Blears joined in protests against the closure of hospital departments in her constituency, even though these closures were consistent with the policies of the government of which she was a senior member. Health Emergency's head of campaigns Geoff Martin said, "there are 29 hospitals up and down the country facing the immediate threat of cuts and closure to key services in 2007. Will Hazel Blears be joining demonstrators on the streets in each of those areas or is this just a classic case of '
Expenses scandal
In May 2009, The Telegraph reported that Blears had claimed the maximum allowable expenses, within one pound, for three properties, as well as for stays in hotels. She had also claimed £4,874 on furniture, £899 on a new bed and £913 on a new TV, the second such TV in under a year, and the maximum £400 a month in groceries, and many were said to be outraged that she was not prosecuted. Further, Blears had not paid capital gains tax on profit from the sale of a London flat. The property was registered as her main residence with HM Revenue and Customs, but Blears had been claiming MPs' second home expenses relating to the flat. She had made a £45,000 profit on its sale without paying capital gains tax.[24]
On 12 May, she volunteered to pay the £13,332 capital gains tax she had avoided on the sale of her second home.[25] It was subsequently claimed that Gordon Brown had ordered her to repay the sum.[26]
In Salford, her constituency, she was met by a number of angry protesters and stayed in a local hotel rather than at home.[27]
Following an investigation by Sir Thomas Legg, Blears was told to repay £225 in expenses in relation to a glass shelving unit for her London flat.[28]
2010–2015: In opposition
Blears was a member of the
In 2013, Blears launched the Kids without Connections work experience programme. The programme aims to encourage local businesses across Salford and Eccles to offer work experience to young people aged between 16 and 24 years. The placements were not paid but were a way of providing experience to people unemployed or seeking work. As a direct result of the project 16 of the 42 initial young people on the programme found a full-time job or apprenticeship immediately after the scheme had ended.[32]
She stood down at the 2015 United Kingdom general election, as she had announced.[3][33][34]
Later career
In May 2015, Blears became a director of The Co-operative Group and a member of the Risk and Audit Committee and Nominations Committee, for which she was paid £60,000 a year for which she was expected a minimum of one or two days' work per month.[35][36] In 2016 Blears was appointed Chair of the Social Investment Business.[37] She has also had roles as Chair of the Institute for Dementia at the University of Salford, as an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society, and as a trustee of the Social Mobility Foundation.[38] In September 2020, Blears was appointed as "Social Value Specialist" for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority[39]
Personal life
She married Michael Halsall in 1989. They have no children.[5]
In 2005 Blears was a member of a parliamentary
Notes
- ^ Office vacant between 28 June 2007 and 12 May 2010.
References
- ^ "Brown pressure as Blears quits". London: BBC News. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ a b "Hazel Blears Resigns". London: BBC News. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ a b "Ex-Cabinet minister Hazel Blears to step down as an MP". ITV News. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
- ^ Bright, Martin; Kampfner, John (12 March 2007). "Interview: Hazel Blears". New Statesman. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d White, Michael (5 August 2005). "Hazel Blears MP". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ Webster, Philip (4 May 2009). "Hazel Blears beats a retreat after criticism of Gordon Brown". The Times. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ "The Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP". www.communities.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 30 May 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ Pierce, Andrew (3 June 2009). "Hazel Blears resignation: brutal revenge of 'the chipmunk'". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 6 June 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "How they are trying to discredit Blears". The Spectator. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
- ^ Summers, Deborah (28 June 2007). "Brown appoints first female home secretary". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ Porter, Andrew (23 April 2008). "Gordon Brown planning summer reshuffle to halt Labour slump". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "Reshuffle changes". London: BBC News. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "Hazel's claim 'in shreds". Channel 4 News. 23 May 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2010.[dead link]
- ^ Wintour, Patrick (23 February 2007). "Blears to run for Labour deputy and admits party 'disengaged". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "Harman wins deputy leader contest". London: BBC News. 24 June 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "Brown pressure after Blears quits". London: BBC News. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ Webster, Philip (4 June 2009). "The plot thickens: Hazel Blears resigns, and MPs prepare to ask Brown to go". The Times. London. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "Blears to face confidence motion". London: BBC News. 13 June 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ Landale, James (11 May 2010). "Gordon Brown's political career". BBC News. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
- ^ "Muslims can expect the police to target them, minister says", The Times (2 March 2005), p. 2.
- ^ John, Cindi (9 August 2005). "The UK's ethnic name game". London: BBC News. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "Blears rejects hypocrisy claims over NHS protest". 24 dash.com. 28 December 2006. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ Hennessy, Patrick; Kite, Melissa (10 May 2009). "Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, facing fresh questions over flat sale in row over MPs' expenses". The Sunday Telegraph. London. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ Taylor, Matthew (13 May 2009). "Hazel Blears attempts to rebuild reputation with £13,332 cheque". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ Porter, Andrew (21 May 2009). "Gordon Brown 'pursuing a political vendetta' against Hazel Blears". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- ^ "Mark Thomas Visits Hazel Blears in Salford". Salford Star. Salford. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
- ^ Dan Thompson (14 October 2009). "Blears told to pay £225 in expenses row". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- ^ "Rt Hon Hazel Blears". UK Parliament. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ Crace, John (12 March 2015). "Nothing to see here: committee gives intelligence services all-clear". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ Legge, James (8 November 2013). "Hazel Blears says security committee did know the scope of GCHQ snooping". The Independent. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ "Young people find permanent jobs through Hazel Blears' work experience scheme". Manchester Gazette. 8 July 2013. Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ^ Christopher Hope (20 February 2014). "Expenses MP Hazel Blears to quit Commons in 2015". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ^ "Hazel Blears, MP for Salford and Eccles, to stand down". BBC News. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ^ "Ex-Salford MP Hazel Blears lands £60k Co-op director job". BBC News. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
- ^ "Hazel Blears". Co-operative Group. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
- ^ Kay, Liam (28 January 2016). "Hazel Blears appointed chair of the Social Investment Business". Third Sector. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ "Hazel Blears". Co-operative Group Limited. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
- ^ Crack, Cumbria (10 September 2020). "NDA announces Social Value Specialist". Cumbria Crack. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
External links
- 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
- "Home Office | Hazel Blears - Crime". Archived from the original on 13 February 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2005. Official biography
- "Hazel Blears MP - Corporate - Communities and Local Government". Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2007.
- Audio clips
- WPRadio Online interview on Women's Parliamentary Radio just before taking over role as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government