Martin Callanan

The Right Honourable
The Lord Callanan
Minister of State for Exiting the European Union
Assumed office
27 October 2017
Prime Minister Theresa May
Sec. of State David Davis
Dominic Raab
Preceded by The Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Aviation, International and Security
In office
14 June 2017 – 27 October 2017
Prime Minister Theresa May
Sec. of State Chris Grayling
Chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists
In office
11 December 2011 – 12 June 2014
Preceded by Jan Zahradil
Succeeded by Syed Kamall
Leader of the Conservative Party in the European Parliament
In office
23 November 2010 – 1 March 2012
Preceded by Timothy Kirkhope
Succeeded by Richard Ashworth
Member of the European Parliament
for North East England
In office
10 June 1999 – 2 July 2014
Preceded by Constituency established
Succeeded by Jonathan Arnott
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
24 September 2014
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born (1961-08-08) 8 August 1961
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
Political party Conservative
Alma mater Newcastle Polytechnic

Martin John Callanan, Baron Callanan (born 8 August 1961) is a British Conservative Party politician and UK Government Minister. He was Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North East England from 1999 to 2014 and Chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists group from 2011 to 2014.[1] Callanan failed his bid to win re-election in the 2014 European Parliament elections, becoming the first sitting chairman of a European parliamentary group to lose his seat.[2] On 8 August 2014, it was announced that he would be made a Conservative life peer in the House of Lords.[3]

Following the 2017 general election, Lord Callanan was appointed as a Government Minister and Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Transport.[4] In October the same year, he was then made Minister of State in the Department for Exiting the European Union.[4]

Early life

Callanan was born on 8 August 1961 in Newcastle upon Tyne.[5] In 1985,[5] he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree (BSc) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Newcastle Polytechnic.[6]

Political career

Local Councillor

Callanan was a Conservative Councillor on Tyne and Wear County Council between 1983 and 1986 (when the council was abolished) and Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council between 1987 and 1996. He worked as a project engineer at Scottish and Newcastle breweries from 1986 to 1998, when he was elected to the European Parliament.[5]

He unsuccessfully stood as a parliamentary candidate for Washington (in the 1987 election), Gateshead East (in the 1992 election), and Tynemouth (in the 1997 election).[7]

Member of European Parliament

He was a Member of the European Parliament for the North East England constituency from 1999, re-elected in 2004 and 2009.[8] In December 2011, he became the leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the Parliament; as a leader of a parliamentary group, he had a seat in the political leadership of the European Parliament, the Conference of Presidents.[9]

He was a member of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, and was also member of the two European Parliament's committee on the environment, public health and food safety (ENVI).[9] Callanan was a regular contributor to ConservativeHome, writing a monthly report.[10]

Callanan failed to win re-election in the 2014 European Parliament elections, becoming the first sitting chairman of a European parliamentary group to lose his seat.[2]

Peer and government minister

Callanan was created a Life Peer on 24 September 2014, taking the title Baron Callanan, of Low Fell in the County of Tyne and Wear.[11]

Following the 2017 general election, Lord Callanan was appointed as a Government Minister and Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Transport.[4] In this role he introduced the Space Industry Bill.[12]

In October 2017 he was made Minister of State in the Department for Exiting the European Union.[4] The following month he was forced to apologise for incorrectly stating in the Lords that the Supreme Court had ruled Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union was irreversible.[13]

Personal life

Callanan vehemently opposed the erection of the "Angel of the North" sculpture by Antony Gormley.[14] He has a wife, Jayne and a son, Joe.

References

  1. ↑ "Conservative MEPs elect new Chairman". Conservative Party. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  2. 1 2 "ECR leader out of Parliament". EUObserver. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "Michael Cashman becomes lord". European Voice. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Lord Callanan". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 "Martin CALLANAN". MEP Biographies. European Parliament. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  6. ↑ "Profile at martincallanan.com".
  7. ↑ "Martin Callanan MEP at conservatives.com". Archived from the original on 3 August 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
  8. ↑ "European Election 2009: North East". BBC News. 7 June 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  9. 1 2 "Martin CALLANAN - History of parliamentary service - MEPs - European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  10. ↑ "Martin Callanan MEP". Conservative Home.
  11. ↑ "No. 61002". The London Gazette. 30 September 2014. p. 18966.
  12. ↑ "Introduction of Space Industry Bill shows UK's commitment to commercial spaceflight". www.gov.uk. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  13. ↑ "Brexit minister apologises for incorrectly saying Supreme Court had ruled Article 50 was irreversible", The Independent, 21 November 2017
  14. ↑ "Why the nation needs an Angel of the South", The Guardian, 29 January 2008
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