Michael Brown (British politician)
Michael Brown | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Brigg and Cleethorpes Brigg and Scunthorpe (1979–1983) | |
In office 3 May 1979 – 8 April 1997 | |
Preceded by | John Ellis |
Succeeded by | constituency abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | 3 July 1951 |
Political party | Brexit Party |
Other political affiliations | Conservative (until 2019) |
Michael Russell Brown (born 3 July 1951) is a British
Early life
Brown was educated at the Andrew Cairns
After studying for a year at
From 1975 to 1976, he was a part-time research assistant to Michael Marshall MP, working for Nicholas Winterton MP from 1976 to 1979.[2]
Westminster
Brown was selected for the marginal constituency of Brigg and Scunthorpe and was elected at the 1979 general election.[citation needed] In 1983, following favourable boundary changes, he was elected for the new seat of Brigg and Cleethorpes.[citation needed] This followed a bitter selection battle between Brown and Michael Brotherton, who was MP for the Louth constituency, which included the towns of Immingham and Cleethorpes.[citation needed]
Brown threatened to resign from parliament when the village of
Brown served as
Right-wing activity
Brown was involved in the right-wing Conservative circles including the Monday Club and the Eldon League. Brown was a founding member of the No Turning Back group which included Michael Portillo, Peter Lilley and Neil Hamilton.[citation needed] Brown regarded Portillo as one of his closest friends in the early years of the 1980s claiming, "we hit it off right away." He accompanied Portillo on holidays with other friends including Laud.[4]
Southern Africa
Brown was a supporter of South Africa's ruling National Party during apartheid and visited that country with Neil Hamilton on a trip financed by the South African authorities in February 1988. Hamilton went on more than one tour of South Africa.[1]
In 1990, Brown's protégé Derek Laud became active in support of the
Cash for questions affair
During his parliamentary career, Andrew Roth's Parliamentary Profiles described Brown as "an assiduous free tripper who repays his hosts".[5] During the Cash for Questions parliamentary scandal, Brown admitted to, and apologised for, accepting money to lobby on behalf of US Tobacco without declaring it.[citation needed] He was alleged to have received £6,000 from Ian Greer Associates to lobby on behalf of US Tobacco, and to have failed to declare it in the Register of Members' Interests or to ministers.[citation needed]
He was further alleged to have not declared the income from Ian Greer Associates until the payments became publicly known.[citation needed]
The Parliamentary investigation found that Brown failed to register an introduction payment from Mr Greer on behalf of US Tobacco and that he "persistently and deliberately" failed to declare an interest in Skoal Bandits in his dealings with ministers over the issue. He did not immediately declare the payment to the Inland Revenue. Mr Brown also received a free flight to Connecticut to be briefed by the company, which he did record in the Register of Members' Interests.[6][7]
Resignation
Brown resigned in May 1994 after
After Westminster
Brown lost the election for the new Cleethorpes seat at the general election on 1 May 1997. Initially he struggled to find employment, working for David Evans' contract cleaning firm (a fellow Conservative MP who had also lost his seat).[citation needed] In April 1998 he submitted a piece for The Independent on how he was looking forward to being canvassed by the Labour Party candidates for his area in the Westminster City Council elections, which would give him an opportunity to play the kind of tricks voters often play on election candidates.[citation needed]
The piece was published and was well received.[
He joined Nigel Farage's
References
- ^ ISBN 1857026942
- ISBN 0-7230-0956-2
- ISBN 0-7190-3579-1
- ISBN 1-84275-026-7
- ^ Roth, Andrew; Parliamentary Profiles
- ^ Wolmar, Christian (9 April 1997). "Cash-for-questions row Tory adopted in secret". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
- ^ "The sleaze report: Five men who fell below the standards that Parliament demands from an MP". The Independent. 4 July 1997. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ^ Brown, Michael (30 July 2002). "Shock news: there are gay MPs in the Tory party". The Independent. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-8014-8374-5.
- ISBN 9780091908492. Archivedfrom the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2016 – via Google Books.
- ^ Brown, Michael (20 February 1999). "The Week in Westminster: Pinochet and policing prove tougher than yobs for Straw". The Independent. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
- ^ Brown, Michael (8 April 2019). "I was a Tory MP for 18 years, but I've been driven to join Nigel Farage's Brexit Party". Brexit Central. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.