Nick Brown
Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend (1997–2010) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Assumed office 9 June 1983 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Mike Thomas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Majority | 15,463 (35.7%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chair of the Finance Committee | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 26 May 2021 – 7 March 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Lilian Greenwood | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Sharon Hodgson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 21 July 2015 – 17 October 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | John Thurso | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Rosie Winterton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Nicholas Hugh Brown 13 June 1950 Hawkhurst, Kent, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Independent (since 2023) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other political affiliations | Labour (until 2023) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Residence(s) | Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | University of Manchester (BA) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nicholas Hugh Brown (born 13 June 1950) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne East since 1983. A member of the Labour Party until his resignation in 2023, he sits as an independent in Parliament. He attended the Cabinet of the United Kingdom as Chief Whip from 1997 to 1998, and again from 2008 to 2010, and Agriculture Minister from 1998 to 2001.
Brown is the fifth-longest-serving MP in the
Early life
Nicholas Hugh Brown was born in Hawkhurst, Kent,[1] and brought up in Tunbridge Wells. He was educated at Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys and the University of Manchester.[2] After graduating from university, Brown worked in the advertising department of Procter & Gamble. He then[when?] became a legal adviser to the Northern Region of the GMBATU, later GMB, based in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Political career
Early political career: 1980–1997
In 1980, Brown was elected to Newcastle City Council as a Labour councillor, representing the Walker ward.
Brown was chosen as the new Labour Party candidate for the parliamentary seat after Mike Thomas, the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne East, defected to the SDP. Brown easily retained the seat for Labour at the 1983 general election. Originally elected to the Commons in the same year as Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, Brown was initially close to both men, but over time became his namesake Brown's staunchest ally, though the two are unrelated.
Brown was first appointed to Labour's frontbench team in 1985 as a shadow solicitor general. In 1988, he was moved to the position of Treasury spokesperson before briefly becoming shadow spokesperson for health between 1994 and 1995.
In the 1994 Labour leadership election, he supported Gordon Brown and acted as his unofficial campaign manager and, according to biographer Paul Routledge, advised against his withdrawing from the contest in Blair's favour.
In 1995, Brown was appointed as Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Commons and played a central role in Parliament in trying to defeat the Conservative government's parliamentary agenda.
Government: 1997–2010
Following Labour's election victory in 1997, he was appointed as Government Chief Whip in the House of Commons, but stayed there only for just over a year, to then be moved to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in Tony Blair's first ministerial shuffle in July 1998. This change, which followed the publication of the Routledge biography earlier that year, was widely seen as a demotion, and ascribed to his close connection with Gordon Brown.
His tenure as the
In 2004, he was one of the organisers of a backbench rebellion against the government's proposals for the introduction of tuition fees, but hours before the vote announced that he had received significant concessions from the Government and would now support it. Some suspected that the Chancellor had placed considerable pressure on him to back down and the affair cost Brown some credibility.
On 29 June 2007, Gordon Brown became Prime Minister and immediately appointed Nick Brown as the
Following a government reshuffle in 2008, Gordon Brown returned Nick Brown to his original government position of Government Chief Whip, whilst retaining his position as Minister for the North East.
In 2009, Brown was appointed to investigate the legitimacy of expense claims by Labour MPs between 2004 and 2008. According to The Daily Telegraph in this period Brown himself claimed a total of £87,708 for his constituency home.[3]
Brown's mortgage interest repayments for 2007–8 totalled £6,600, but he also claimed a total of £23,068, just £15 below the maximum allowable amount for the year. The claim included £4,800 for food – the maximum allowable amount – £2,880 for repairs and insurance, £2,880 for services, £897.65 for cleaning, £1,640 for phones and £1,810 for utilities. Brown, however, has said that he saved the taxpayer a considerable amount of money by turning down a Government car and driver upon being made Chief Whip, the annual cost of which would have been around £100,000.[4]
Opposition: 2010–present
On 29 September 2010, newly elected Labour Party leader Ed Miliband asked Brown to stand down as Chief Whip due to the need for a "break from the past".[5]
On 29 January 2011, during the
In 2014, Brown publicly opposed his party's proposal to scrap the position of
Ahead of the 2016 EU membership referendum, Brown stated he supported remaining in the European Union.[citation needed]
On 6 October 2016, Brown was appointed by Jeremy Corbyn as Chief Whip of the Labour Party, and thus became Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Commons.[8]
Brown was reappointed as Labour Chief Whip by Sir
In September 2022, Brown was suspended from the Labour Party following allegations concerning an event 25 years previously, details of which were not made public.[11][12] On 12 December 2023, he resigned from the Labour Party in protest at the unresolved disciplinary process. He also announced that he would not be contesting the next election.[11]
Personal life
Brown is a holder of the freedom of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne award,
In 2011, Brown
From 2012 until 2022, he was a Non-Executive Director of the Mariinsky Theatre Trust (the
Notes
References
- ^ a b "Honorary Freedom of the City" (PDF). Newcastle.gov.uk. March 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
- ^ "Nicholas Brown – Parliamentary candidates". Ukpolitics.telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ^ Rayner, Gordon; Swaine, Jon (19 May 2009). "MPs' expenses: Nick Brown claims £18,800 for food without receipts". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
- ^ Green, William (12 May 2009). "MPs' expenses: North East Minister opens up". Evening Chronicle. Newcastle upon Tyne. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ^ "Ed Miliband asks chief whip Nick Brown to step aside". BBC News. 29 September 2010. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ^ a b Milmo, Cahal (29 January 2011). "My landline was bugged as papers tried to 'out' me, says Nick Brown". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 29 January 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
- ^ Walker, Jonathan (17 October 2014). "Labour MP Nick brown Urges Party Not to Scrap Police and Crime Commissioners". Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner.
- ^ Bush, Stephen (13 October 2016). "Watch out Corbynsceptics, Nick Brown is Coming to Get You". New Statesman. London. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
- ^ Bartlett, Nicola; Bloom, Dan; Milne, Oliver (6 April 2020). "Keir Starmer's new Labour shadow cabinet unveiled LIVE – with Corbyn allies out". Mirror. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ "Rt Hon Nicholas Brown Elected Chair of the Finance Committee". UK Parliament. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ a b Walker, Peter (12 December 2023). "Nick Brown resigns from Labour over 'complete farce' disciplinary process". The Guardian.
- ^ "Veteran MP Nick Brown suspended from Labour Party". BBC News. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ "Rt Hon Nick Brown MP". humanism.org.uk. 22 October 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
- ^ "National Secular Society Honorary Associates". National Secular Society. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
- ^ Hencke, David (3 October 2008). "Government reshuffle: Profile: Nick Brown". The Guardian.
- ^ "LFI Supporters in Parliament". Labour Friends of Israel. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
- ^ "My landline was bugged as papers tried to 'out' me, says Nick Brown". The Independent. 29 January 2011.
- ^ "Nick Brown MP biography". Nick Brown MP. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- ^ "UK Parliament: Register Of All-Party Groups (as at 30 July 2015): Motorcycle Speedway". Retrieved 5 February 2021.
External links
- Nick Brown MP official constituency website
- Profile at the Labour 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