Hazel Blears
Hazel Blears
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The Right Honourable Hazel Blears | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government | |
In office 27 June 2007 – 5 June 2009 | |
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Preceded by | Ruth Kelly |
| Succeeded by | John Denham |
| Minister without Portfolio | |
In office 5 May 2006 – 27 June 2007 | |
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | Ian McCartney |
| Succeeded by | The Baroness Warsi (2010) |
| Labour Party Chair | |
In office 5 May 2006 – 24 June 2007 | |
| Leader | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | Ian McCartney |
| Succeeded by | Harriet Harman |
| Minister of State for Policing | |
In office 13 June 2003 – 5 May 2006 | |
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | John Denham |
| Succeeded by | Tony McNulty |
Member of Parliament for Salford and Eccles Salford (1997–2010) | |
In office 1 May 1997 – 7 May 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Stanley Orme |
| Succeeded by | Rebecca Long-Bailey |
Salford City Councillor for Eccles ward | |
In office 3 May 1984 – 7 May 1992 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1956-05-14) 14 May 1956 Salford, England |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | Michael Halsall |
| Alma mater | Trent Polytechnic College of Law |
| Website | Official website |
Hazel Anne Blears (born 14 May 1956) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Salford and Eccles from 2010 to 2015, when she stood down. Prior to the creation of the Salford and Eccles constituency, she was the MP for Salford from 1997.
She served in the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio and Labour Chair between 2006 and 2007, and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2007 to 2009, when she resigned.
Commenting on the announcement, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that Blears had made an "outstanding contribution" to public life even after refusing to pay back expenses which were claimed in breach of Parliamentary rules.[2][3]
Contents
1 Early life and education
2 Early career
3 Parliamentary career
3.1 Ministerial career
3.1.1 Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
3.1.2 Deputy Leadership candidate
3.1.3 Resignation from the cabinet
3.2 Ethnic minorities
3.3 Hospital closures
3.4 Expenses scandal
3.5 2010-2015: In opposition
4 Later career
5 Personal life
6 References
7 External links
Early life and education[edit]
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 Worsley Wardley Grammar School in Wardley, Worsley and then Eccles College on Chatsworth Road in Ellesmere Park, Eccles. She went to Trent Polytechnic in Nottingham (now known as Nottingham Trent University), graduating with a BA (Hons) degree in Law, and later, the Chester College of Law in 1977.[6][7]
Early career[edit]
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Hazel Blears started her career in Salford as a trainee solicitor with Salford City Council in 1978. After two years, she went into private practice for a year, before joining Rossendale Borough Council as a solicitor in 1981 and in the same year she was elected as a Branch Secretary in NALGO.
In 1983 she became a solicitor for Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council and later became Manchester City Council's education solicitor. In the following year, she was elected as a councillor to Salford City Council and she served on the council until 1992. She was Chair of the Salford Community Health Council for several years.
Parliamentary career[edit]
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Described by journalist Michael White as a "ferociously effective networker",[5] Blears stood in Tatton in 1987 against Neil Hamilton and in 1992 in Bury South where she lost by 788 votes. At the 1997 general election she was elected as the Labour MP for Salford, her home seat.
After the election she became the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Minister of State at the Department of Health Alan Milburn until 1998. She spent ten months in 1999 as PPS to then Chief Secretary to the Treasury Andrew Smith.
In the run-up to the 2001 General Election, Blears was a member and later deputy head of the Labour Party campaign team, a group of backbenchers tasked with campaigning around the country. This raised her national profile.
At the 2010 general election, parliamentary constituencies for Salford and Eccles were restructured, with Blears's constituency being abolished. She defeated Ian Stewart in the selection contest to be the Labour Parliamentary Candidate for the new parliamentary constituency of Salford and Eccles, and was elected.
During her parliamentary career, she has acquired the nickname "Chipmunk".[1]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.[8]
Ministerial career[edit]
After the 2001 General Election, Blears entered Tony Blair's government as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health, responsible for Public Health. In this job she launched the Government's "5-a-day" campaign to get people to eat more fruit and vegetables.
Blears was promoted in 2003 to Minister of State at the Home Office, with responsibilities for policing, crime reduction and counter terrorism. She was elected to the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party in 2003. After the 2005 General Election, on 7 June 2005 she became a Member of the Privy Council. In a cabinet reshuffle following Council Elections on 4 May 2006 Tony Blair appointed her Party Chair replacing Ian McCartney.
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government[edit]
Blears in 2013
On 28 June 2007 the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown appointed Blears as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, replacing Ruth Kelly.[9] In April 2008 it was rumoured that Brown was planning a summer reshuffle in which Blears would be demoted.[10] However, when the reshuffle occurred in the autumn, it was confirmed she was to retain her position.[11]
In May 2008 Blears mistakenly commented on BBC's Question Time that there were 3 million people unemployed in the United Kingdom when Labour came to power in 1997 (the official figure was 1,602,500).[12]
Deputy Leadership candidate[edit]
On 24 February 2007 she announced her candidacy for the election for Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, making her one of six candidates for the job formerly held by John Prescott.[13] She came last out of six candidates. Harriet Harman won the election on 24 June 2007.[14]
Resignation from the cabinet[edit]
On 3 June 2009, the day before the 2009 European and local elections, Blears announced she would resign from the cabinet at the next reshuffle.[3] The media noted how, on the day her resignation was announced, she wore a brooch bearing the message "rocking the boat"[15][16] On 12 June 2009, she expressed her regret at the manner and timing of her resignation in an interview with the Manchester Evening News.[17] Her resignation was one of several from the Labour cabinet that summer, with the government's difficulties compounded by poor results in the European elections and poor opinion poll results which were largely blamed on the recession and rising unemployment.[18]
Ethnic minorities[edit]
In March 2005, while Home Office minister with responsibility for counter-terrorism, Blears implied that section 44 of the terrorism act would disproportionally affect Muslims. In response to this and to her seeming endorsement of it, Ray Powell, President of the National Black Police Association, described the minister's language as "intemperate and inconsiderate". "I think it is wrong of her to say they should accept it is used disproportionately. That comment would not be helpful and does not instill confidence within the Muslim community".[19]
In August 2005 Blears said the 'rebranding' of ethnic minorities in favour of adopting US-style hyphenated titles such as Asian-British or Indian-British was "among a range of ideas" brought up in meetings with Muslim and other community groups.[20] This proposal was quickly withdrawn by the Home Office, as the government moved to distance itself from the idea.
Hospital closures[edit]
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 'not in my back yard'"?[21]
Expenses scandal[edit]
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, £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 – many thought it was outrageous 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.[22]
On 12 May she volunteered to pay the £13,332 capital gains tax she had avoided on the sale of her second home.[23] It was subsequently claimed that Gordon Brown had ordered her to repay the sum.[24]
In Salford she was met by a number of angry protesters and stayed in a local hotel rather than at home.[25]
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.[26]
2010-2015: In opposition[edit]
Blears was a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament from September 2010 to March 2015.[27] Blears presented the committee's report on privacy and security, carried out following Edward Snowden's revelations about global surveillance by the security agencies, to the media.[28][29]
In 2013 Hazel 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 16–24 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.[30]
On 31 August 2014 Blears proposed an idea to tackle extremism before it is too late. She also criticised British Government for focusing on small threats rather than the big ones. She also said that targeting young Muslims and trying to save them before they turn into extremists should be the main key in fighting against terrorism.[31]
She stood down at the 2015 United Kingdom general election as she had announced.[32][33][34]
Later career[edit]
In May 2015 Blears became a director of The Co-operative Group and is a member of the Risk and Audit Committee and Nominations Committee, for which she was paid £60,000 a year for 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 Salford University, as an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society, and as a trustee of the Social Mobility Foundation.[38]
Personal life[edit]
She married solicitor Michael Halsall in the 1980s. They have no children. Halsall introduced Blears to motorcycling.[5]
In 2005 Blears was a member of a parliamentary tap-dancing troupe known as the Division Belles. Other members included Caroline Flint, Beverley Hughes, Laura Moffatt, Meg Munn, Joan Ryan and Dari Taylor.[5]
References[edit]
^ ab 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.
^ "Brown pressure as Blears quits". London: BBC News. 3 June 2009. Archived from the original on 7 June 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
^ ab "Hazel Blears Resigns". London: BBC News. 3 June 2009. Archived from the original on 7 June 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
^ Bright, Martin; Kampfner, John (12 March 2007). "Interview: Hazel Blears". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 6 June 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
^ abcd White, Michael (5 August 2005). "Hazel Blears MP". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
^ Webster, Philip (4 May 2009). "Hazel Blears beats a retreat after criticism of Gordon Brown". The Times. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. 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.
^ "How they are trying to discredit Blears". The Spectator. 3 June 2009. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
^ 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. Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
^ "Harman wins deputy leader contest". London: BBC News. 24 June 2007. Archived from the original on 20 December 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
^ "Brown pressure after Blears quits". London: BBC News. 3 June 2009. Archived from the original on 7 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. Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
^ Landale, James (11 May 2010). "Gordon Brown's political career". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 May 2010.
^ 'Muslims can expect the police to target them, minister says.' The Times (2 March 2005), p. 2.
^ Cindi John (9 August 2005). "The UK's ethnic name game". London: BBC News. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. 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. Archived from the original on 5 June 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
^ Taylor, Matthew (13 May 2009). "Hazel Blears attempts to rebuild reputation with £13,332 cheque". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 16 May 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
^ Porter, Andrew (21 May 2009). "Gordon Brown 'pursuing a political vendetta' against Hazel Blears". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
^ "Mark Thomas Visits Hazel Blears in Salford". Salford Star. Salford. 1 June 2009. Archived from the original on 25 May 2013. 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.
^ Caroline Wheeler (31 August 2014). "Exclusive: Hazel Blears wants to target young Muslims to prevent terrorism". Sunday Express. Archived from the original on 31 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
^ "Ex-Cabinet minister Hazel Blears to step down as an MP". ITV News. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
^ 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. Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. 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.
External links[edit]
 | Wikiquote has quotations related to: Hazel Blears |
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hazel Blears. |
Hazel Blears MP official constituency website
Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 2010–present- Contributions in Parliament during 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 at Hansard Archives
Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
Voting record at Public Whip
Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
Articles authored at Journalisted
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 February 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2005. CS1 maint: Unfit url (link) Official biography
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2007. CS1 maint: Unfit url (link)
- Audio clips
WPRadio Online interview on Women's Parliamentary Radio just before taking over role as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Stan Orme | Member of Parliament for Salford 1997–2010 | Constituency abolished |
New constituency | Member of Parliament for Salford and Eccles 2010–2015 | Succeeded by Rebecca Long-Bailey |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Ian McCartney | Minister without Portfolio 2006–2007 | Vacant Title next held by The Baroness Warsi |
| Preceded by Ruth Kelly | Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 2007–2009 | Succeeded by John Denham |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Ian McCartney | Labour Party Chair 2006–2007 | Succeeded by Harriet Harman |
Blair Cabinet | ||
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Secretaries of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government | ||
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Minister of State for Communities and Local Government 2005–06 |
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Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 2006–2018 |
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Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government 2018-Present |
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Categories:
- 1956 births
- Living people
- Alumni of Nottingham Trent University
- Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- Councillors in Greater Manchester
- Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- Female members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- People educated at Worsley Wardley Grammar School
- People from Salford, Greater Manchester
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