Mike Weatherley

Michael Richard Weatherley (born 2 July 1957) is a British Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hove in East Sussex from the 2010[1][2][3] to the 2015 general election.

For the American actor, see Michael Weatherly.

Mike Weatherley
Mike Weatherley, July 2010
Member of Parliament
for Hove
In office
6 May 2010 – 30 March 2015
Preceded byCelia Barlow
Succeeded byPeter Kyle
Personal details
Born (1957-07-02) 2 July 1957
Clevedon, Somerset, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Alma materLondon South Bank University

Early life

Weatherley was born on 2 July 1957.[4] He was educated at Kent College, an independent school near Canterbury, Kent, and read business studies at London South Bank University. A chartered management accountant, professing a keen interest in live music, he was finance director of record producer Pete Waterman's group of businesses.[5] In 2007, Weatherley became Vice-President (Europe) for the Motion Picture Licensing Company.[6]

Political career

Weatherley's first parliamentary candidacy was at the 2001 general election in the safe Labour seat of Barking in east London. Two years later, he unsuccessfully stood for a council seat in Brighton and Hove in 2003. In the next Westminster election, he was Conservative parliamentary candidate for Brighton, Pavilion,[7] the seat adjacent to Hove. In the event, the seat was held by the incumbent Labour MP, David Lepper with a majority of over 5,000.

Weatherley then secured a seat on his local Crawley Borough Council, [8][9][10] defeating the Labour candidate, 2005 Big Brother contestant Eugene Sully. In 2006, Weatherley was selected by the Hove Conservative Association as their candidate for the next election.[10] He was finally successful in entering parliament in the 2010 general election when he defeated sitting Labour MP Celia Barlow, with a majority of 1,868.

In Parliament

Following his election, Weatherley campaigned to have squatting in residential properties criminalised, with the backing of Justice Minister Kenneth Clarke.[11] The campaign was successful and led to a provision in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 creating a new offence. In November 2012, he was attacked with vegetables by a group of pro-squatting protesters ahead of a debate on the legislation at the University of Sussex. Weatherley and his staff were eventually led to safety by police.[12] Weatherley rejected claims in March 2013 that, as originator of the legislation, he was responsible for the death of a homeless man who had frozen to death while sleeping outside an empty bungalow.[13]

Weatherley has an interest in protecting intellectual property rights and is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Intellectual Property Group.[14] one of the main objectives of which is to highlight intellectual property rights. The campaign has gained support from musicians such as Alice Cooper.[15] In April 2014, he called on David Cameron to commit to the permanent funding of the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit to extend its existence beyond 2015.[16]

Weatherley campaigned against the repeal of the Hunting Act 2004,[17] stating that "hunting foxes with hounds is a cruel and inhumane practice,"[18] and pledging to vote against any measure which would lead to the ban being overturned. He also campaigned against the implementation of the proposed ban on the retail display of tobacco products,[19] arguing that it would damage trade for small businesses.[20] Weatherley wrote to David Cameron in favour of same-sex couples gaining equal marriage rights, also advocating that religious organisations should be forced to register such ceremonies, which caused controversy.[21][22][23]

Weatherley was the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Business and Retail Crime, along with various other APPGs.[24] He is also a Vice-President of the Debating Group.[25] He is a supporter of the Free Enterprise Group.[26]

After a period suffering from cancer of the oesophagus, Weatherley stood down at the 2015 general election.[27]

Personal life

Weatherley has two sons and a daughter with his first wife.[4][5] He subsequently remarried. In February 2010, he separated from his second wife, Brazilian-born Carla Weatherley.[28]

His main passion outside work and politics is rock music. In his spare time, he watches bands perform live in local venues and, in his maiden speech, he pledged that he would wear an Iron Maiden T-shirt in the Chamber.[29] On 15 December 2011, Weatherley announced that he was unable to fulfil his pledge, explaining, "It's not allowed in the Commons, I asked the Speaker if he'd give me permission and he said no."[30]

Weatherley is a keen cyclist, having participated in the London to Brighton bike ride and, along with 44 other cyclists, raising £230,000 for Childline and Nordoff Robbins by participating in a 100 mi charity bike ride along the Nile in Egypt.[6] He is also a qualified ski instructor and football referee, and former centre-forward of the Martha Gunners.[6]

References
  1. "TheyWorkForYou.com". TheyWorkForYou.com. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  2. "Election results in The Argus". Theargus.co.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  3. "BBC Election 2010". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  4. "The Argus candidate profile". Theargus.co.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20061014044735/http://www.mikeweatherley.org.uk/mike_weatherley_selected_as_cons.htm. Archived from the original on 14 October 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. "Biography". Mike Weatherley MP. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  7. Archived 2 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Crawley Borough election results 2007". Crawley.gov.uk. 5 May 2011. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20061014044423/http://www.mikeweatherley.org.uk/fgintouch.doc. Archived from the original on 14 October 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20081202044849/http://www.mikeweatherley.org.uk/hoveselection.htm. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. https://web.archive.org/web/20111010180841/http://www.mikeweatherleymp.com/2011/10/04/667/. Archived from the original on 10 October 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. Hastings, Ron (14 November 2012). "'Violent thugs' hurl rocks and tomatoes at Conservative MP Mike Weatherley ahead of squatting debate in Brighton". The Independent. London. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  13. Hern, Alex (7 March 2013). "Anti-squatting MP denies responsibility for death of homeless man". New Statesman. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  14. "House of Commons - Register Of All-Party Groups as at 30 March 2015: Intellectual Property". Publications.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2015.In 2010, he launched a national music competition, "Rock the House",
  15. https://web.archive.org/web/20120212163905/http://www.mikeweatherleymp.com/2011/10/24/alice-cooper-and-mike-weatherley-mp-meet-to-%E2%80%98rock-the-house%E2%80%99/. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. "UK Prime Minister Asked for Permanent Police Anti-Piracy Unit Funding". TorrentFreak. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  17. Bowcott, Owen (28 October 2010). "Foxhunting ban likely to remain thanks to new generation of Tory MPs | UK news". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  18. "Mike Against Fox Hunting". Mike Weatherley MP. 28 October 2010. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  19. "ConservativeHome's Platform: Mike Weatherley MP: Listen to our nation of shopkeepers - and don't force through a tobacco display ban". Conservativehome.blogs.com. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  20. "Hove MP to fight tobacco display ban (From The Argus)". Theargus.co.uk. 25 October 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  21. https://web.archive.org/web/20111031121616/http://www.mikeweatherleymp.com/2011/09/05/same-sex-couples-should-have-exactly-the-same-marriage-rights/. Archived from the original on 31 October 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  22. Caldwell, Simon (8 September 2011). "Tory MP urges Cameron to crack down on churches that refuse to hold same-sex ceremonies". CatholicHerald.co.uk. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  23. Jessica Geen, 'Tory MP calls for churches to be banned from holding marriages if they refuse gay couples', in Pink News, 2 September 2011
  24. "Parliamentary Posts". Mike Weatherley MP. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  25. "The Debating Group". Debatinggroup.org.uk. 24 March 2014. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  26. "Welcome | Free Enterprise Group". Freeenterprise.org.uk. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  27. "Hove MP to stand down at next election". Brightonandhovenews.org. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  28. "Hove MP shock over wife "prostitute" allegations". The Argus. 6 September 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  29. "European Affairs: 3 Jun 2010: House of Commons debates". TheyWorkForYou.com. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  30. "MP banned from Maiden T-shirt in House of Commons". BBC News. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Celia Barlow		 Member of Parliament for Hove
2010–2015		 Succeeded by
Peter Kyle
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