Neil Carmichael (Conservative politician)

Neil Carmichael
Chair of the Education Select Committee
In office
18 June 2015 – 3 May 2017
Preceded by Graham Stuart
Succeeded by Robert Halfon
Member of Parliament
for Stroud
In office
7 May 2010 – 3 May 2017
Preceded by David Drew
Succeeded by David Drew
Personal details
Born (1961-04-15) 15 April 1961[1]
Hexham, Northumberland, England
Nationality English
Political party Conservative
Alma mater University of Nottingham
Website www.neilcarmichael.info

William Neil Carmichael[2] (born 15 April 1961[3] in Hexham) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Stroud constituency in Gloucestershire from the 2010 general election to 2017.

Earlier activities in politics

Carmichael began his political career after being elected to Northumberland County Council in 1989 on which he served four years,[4] during this time he was an unsuccessful parliamentary candidate in the 1992 General Election in the seat of Leeds East.[5]

In 1999, he moved to Gloucestershire where he was selected to stand for the Conservatives in the parliamentary seat of Stroud, losing to Labour's David Drew in 2001 and in 2005.[6]

Parliamentary career

Neil Carmichael gained the seat of Stroud from Drew in the 2010 General Election, with a 2% swing to the Conservatives from Labour and a majority of 1,299.[6] He made his maiden speech on 2 June 2010[7] and became a member of the Environmental Audit Committee,[8] whose task is to monitor the worthiness of all government department activity from the perspective of cutting carbon emissions.

Carmichael's consistent policy interest is in education; he was a member of the Education Select Committee of the House of Commons[9] with the duty to scrutinise the Department for Education and provide oversight on behalf of Parliament, before being elected as its chair in June 2015.[10] Earlier, in 2011, he founded the All Party Group on Education, Governance and Leadership[11] after coauthoring a report seeking to influence the reform of school governing boards.[12] He proposed a bill on the issue under the Ten Minute Rule in late 2014, but it made no further progress.[13]

In 2012, he founded the All Party Parliamentary Group on Vascular disease to raise awareness and encourages further research into vascular disease.[14] As Chair of the group. he co-authored reports which highlighted the regional differences in amputation rates throughout England and which found there could be over 5,000 unnecessary leg amputations a year .[15][16][17] He also served as the Secretary of the Associate Parliamentary Health Group.[18]

In 2013 Carmichael successfully piloted his Bill through Parliament for the UK to fulfil its international environmental obligations in the Antarctic.

Neil Carmichael was one of the most active participants in parliamentary debates during his time in the House of Commons; the BBC reported in July 2011 that he ranked fourth amongst more than 200 MPs who were first elected in 2010 in the number of debates attended.[19] As of 14 September 2011, he has voted in over 88% of divisions since becoming an MP, far above the average.[20] Though being an active debater, he has always voted exactly in line with the Conservative whip,[21] and on just one occasion he has voted in the opposite direction to the majority of voting Conservatives in a motion to bring a bill for a ban on smoking in private vehicles where there are children present.[22]

He was re-elected in 2015 with his majority increased to 4,886; however he lost the seat in 2017 to David Drew of the Labour Party by 687 votes, who had been the MP for the seat before 2010.[23]

Carmichael was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 European membership referendum.[24]

Controversies

In May 2016, it emerged that Carmichael was one of a number of Conservative MPs being investigated by police in the United Kingdom general election, 2015 party spending investigation, for allegedly spending more than the legal limit for his constituency in his election campaign.[25][26][27] As of 16 March 2017, it was clear that the Gloucester police force had passed files to the Crown Prosecution Service for a possible prosecution, but not whether those pertained to Carmichael, to Cheltenham MP Alex Chalk, or to both.[26] The CPS have confirmed that no further action will be taken.

In 2010, Carmichael was accused of hypocrisy over wind farms[28][29] by locals in Northumberland unhappy over his support for a wind farm development on land that he owns at Bavington Hill Head Farm in Northumberland, while as a Conservative candidate describing a single turbine proposed at Nympsfield as a “monstrosity”, and pledging to work to protect Gloucestershire’s rural landscapes from “excessive” developments. Carmichael's argument is that many proposed schemes in Gloucestershire border on, or are in, the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty whereas the proposed scheme in Northumberland has no such concerns.

He was also criticised by CAMRA for voting with the Government against an amendment to allow licensees to choose a non-tied pub lease after reportedly promising them that he would support the amendment in a photoshoot the day before.[30]

He has publicly opposed Grammar schools and selective education, yet was accused of hypocrisy after it was revealed that he sent his children to selective grammar schools.[31]

He has also expressed scepticism regarding the importance of religion. On BBC Newsnight on 30th August 2017 he said that British is now 'a secular liberal nation' and that religion, along with race, should not be a significant factor in determining the choice of foster parents.

2017 - Present

Following the 2017 General Election Carmichael has pursued a number of initiatives in education policy. Carmichael runs a consultancy Dunshiel Education, bringing together senior education policy experts to provide strategic advice on emerging public policy. He was appointed honorary professor of Politics and Education at Nottingham University in December 2017 and regularly lectures on Brexit and education issues. Carmichael also chairs the Commission on Sustainable Learning for Work, Life and a Changing Economy supported by Pearson Education. He is President of Conservatives for a People's Vote.

References

  1. ↑ "Who's Who". www.ukwhoswho.com.
  2. ↑ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8742.
  3. ↑ "UK Political Database – Neil Carmichael". London: Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 July 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  4. ↑ http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/neil-carmichael/35481
  5. ↑ Leeds East
  6. 1 2 Stroud
  7. ↑ Westminster, Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons,. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 02 Jun 2010 (pt 0016)". www.publications.parliament.uk.
  8. ↑ "Environmental Audit Committee membership at the end of Parliament 2015-17 - News from Parliament". UK Parliament.
  9. ↑ "Education Committee membership at the end of Parliament 2015-17 - News from Parliament". UK Parliament.
  10. ↑ "Winning candidates for select committee Chairs announced". UK Parliament. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  11. ↑ Commons, The Committee Office, House of. "House of Commons - Register Of All-Party Groups as at 30 March 2015: Education Governance and Leadership". www.publications.parliament.uk.
  12. ↑ "Neil Carmichael MP and Edward Wild: How to improve school governance".
  13. ↑ "School Governors (Appointment) Bill 2014-15School Governors (Appointment) Bill 2014–15". Parliament UK. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  14. ↑ "All Party Parliamentary Group for Vascular Disease :: Home". appgvascular.org.uk.
  15. ↑ "Diabetic people 'having unnecessary amputations'". Guardian. 19 March 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  16. ↑ Tackling peripheral arterial disease more effectively: Saving limbs, Saving Lives”
  17. ↑ "Putting Vascular Disease at the Centre of Government Thinking”
  18. ↑ http://www.healthinparliament.org.uk/people/neil-carmichael-mp
  19. ↑ "MPs' Class of 2010: End of term report". BBC News. 11 July 2011.
  20. ↑ "Voting Record — Neil Carmichael MP, Stroud (24840) — The Public Whip". www.publicwhip.org.uk.
  21. ↑ "Voting Record — Neil Carmichael MP, Stroud (24840) — The Public Whip". www.publicwhip.org.uk.
  22. ↑ "Ban on Smoking in Private Vehicles — 22 Jun 2011 at 12:46 — The Public Whip". www.publicwhip.org.uk.
  23. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000980
  24. ↑ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  25. ↑ Jamie Wiseman, 'Tory election expenses: Neil Carmichael could be among MPs investigated by police for alleged election fraud', Stroud News & Journal, 11 May 2016.
  26. 1 2 Rowena Mason and Holly Watt, 'Two Tory MPs reveal CPS is reviewing their election spending', The Guardian (16 March 2017).
  27. ↑ Rajeev Syal, 'Theresa May backs MPs investigated over 2015 election spending' (19 April 2017).
  28. ↑ Black, David (4 May 2010). "Tory accused of hypocrisy over wind farm plans".
  29. ↑ "Carmichael hits back at wind turbine 'hypocrite' accusations". Stroud News and Journal.
  30. ↑ http://www.stroudlife.co.uk/MP-branded-treacherous-scumbag-pub-vote-U-turn/story-24668993-detail/story.html
  31. ↑ "Tory MP opposed to selective education admits sending his children to grammar schools".
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
David Drew		 Member of Parliament for Stroud
2010 – 2017		 Succeeded by
David Drew
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