Stuart Andrew

Stuart James Andrew (born 25 November 1971) is a Welsh politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Pudsey constituency in West Yorkshire since 2010. He has been a member of the Conservative Party since 2000.

Stuart Andrew

MP
Andrew in 2020
Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Commons
Treasurer of the Household
Assumed office
13 February 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byAmanda Milling
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
In office
28 July 2019 – 13 February 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byCraig Whittaker
Succeeded byMarcus Jones
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Procurement
In office
19 July 2018 – 28 July 2019
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byGuto Bebb
Succeeded byAnne-Marie Trevelyan
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales
In office
9 January 2018 – 19 July 2018
LeaderTheresa May
Preceded byGuto Bebb
Succeeded byMims Davies
Member of Parliament
for Pudsey
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byPaul Truswell
Majority3,517 (6.5%)[1]
Leeds City Councillor
for Guiseley & Rawdon Ward
Aireborough (2003–2004)
In office
2003 – 7 September 2010
Preceded byMichael Dunn
Succeeded byPaul Wadsworth
Personal details
Born (1971-11-25) 25 November 1971
Isle of Anglesey, Wales
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative (pre 1998, 2000–present)
Labour (1998–2000)
ResidenceGuiseley, West Yorkshire, England
Websitestuartandrew.org.uk
parliament..stuart-andrew

Early life

Andrew was born on the 25 November 1971 in Anglesey. He grew up on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, and was state educated at Ysgol David Hughes in Menai Bridge. After leaving school he worked for the then Department of Social Security. In 1994 he took a job with the British Heart Foundation, before roles at Hope House Children's Hospice and East Lancashire Hospice. Before being elected to parliament he led the fundraising team for Martin House Hospice.[2]

Political career

Before elected to Parliament

Andrew was first elected as a Conservative councillor in Wrexham in 1995. He then stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate in the 1997 Parliamentary election in Wrexham. In 1998, whilst still serving as a councillor he defected to the Labour Party, citing issues with the "direction of the party".[3]

Two years after losing his council seat, he rejoined the Conservative Party and moved to Leeds. He served as a Leeds City Council Councillor from 2003 to 2010, initially representing the Aireborough ward, and following boundary changes representing the Guiseley & Rawdon ward. He was elected as Member of Parliament for Pudsey in the 2010 general election, taking the seat from Labour with a majority of 1,659 votes.

Backbencher

On 22 February 2012 Andrew was headbutted and punched in a House of Commons bar during a disturbance created by Scottish Labour MP Eric Joyce,[4] but tweeted the next day that, "I'm OK."[5] Joyce was charged with common assault,[6] A fourth charge was added on 9 March.[7] fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £1,400 in compensation to Andrew and other victims, but not given a custodial sentence.[7] In a statement before the House of Commons on 12 March 2012, he apologised personally to his victims, stated that he had resigned from the Labour Party, and that he intended to complete his current term as an MP but not seek re-election.[8]

In 2012, Andrew brought forward a bill that would create a new power for Governors to "Destroy or otherwise dispose of any unauthorised property found within a prison or an escort vehicle". The bill was supported both by the Coalition and also the Labour Party with Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Sadiq Khan saying he backed the bill.[9]

During the debates on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, which he subsequently voted for, Andrew responded to comments from Gerald Howarth about "aggressive homosexuals" by telling of a time when he had been attacked in the street and beaten unconscious "because of who and what I am".[10]

At the 2015 general election, the Pudsey seat was considered to be one of the most marginal in the country. However, Andrew retained the seat through increasing his majority to 4501.

In January 2016, Andrew was one of 72 MPs who voted down an amendment in Parliament on rental homes being "fit for human habitation" who were themselves landlords who derived an income from a property.[11]

Andrew was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party, with particular responsibility for cities, on 23 September 2016.[12]

Andrew supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum.[13]

At the 2017 general election, Andrew was re-elected with an increased vote share, but saw his majority cut to just 331.[1]

In Government

In Parliament, Andrew served on the Welsh Affairs Committee between November 2010 and November 2012, before becoming Assistant Whip (HM Treasury) in June 2017 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office) in January 2018 before moving on to be Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence).[14][15] From there he moved back to the Whips Office, holding the office of Vice Chamberlain of the Household.[16]

In July 2019, Andrew wrote to Bradford Council to oppose plans to introduce a new link road in south-east Bradford, impacting the Pudsey constituency.[17]

In 2019, on both 14 October and 19 December, Andrew was ceremonially taken hostage by The Queen at Buckingham Palace for the duration of her speeches to Parliament.[18]

In the February 2020 reshuffle Andrew was appointed Deputy Chief Whip and promoted to Treasurer of HM Household.[19]

In May 2020, Andrew voted against the Agricultural Bill Amendment, which attempted to "ensure products imported into the UK under those arrangements comply with World Trade Organisation safety rules and the UK's own standards".[20] This was heavily referenced by the UK media as the bill that prevented chlorinated chicken imports into the UK post-Brexit.[21]

On 10 September 2020, Andrew stood in for Jacob Rees-Mogg as acting Leader of the House of Commons in Business Questions as Rees-Mogg was self isolating awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test on his son.[22][23]

Campaign expenses investigation

In May 2016, it emerged that Andrew 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 on constituency election campaign expenses.[24] However, in May 2017, the Crown Prosecution Service said that while there was evidence of inaccurate spending returns, it did not "meet the test" for further action.[25]

Personal life

Andrew lives in Guiseley, and in London.[26][27] Andrew is openly gay and is a patron of the LGBT+ Conservatives.[28][29]

References
  1. "Election 2017: Pudsey". BBC News. 9 June 2017. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  2. "Hospices (Children and Young People) Volume 572: debated on Wednesday 18 December 2013". Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  3. "Tory battling in marginal criticised for switching sides". Yorkshire Post. 9 April 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  4. Watt, Nicholas; Mulholland, Helene (24 February 2012). "Eric Joyce stripped of Labour whip after allegations of Commons assault". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  5. Joe Murphy, "MP goes berserk in Commons bar brawl" Archived 27 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Evening Standard, 23 February 2012.
  6. "MP Eric Joyce charged with assault". BBC News. 24 February 2012. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  7. "Falkirk MP Eric Joyce escapes jail after admitting assault charges in Commons brawl". BBC News. 9 March 2012. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  8. "MP Eric Joyce apologises to MPs over bar brawl". BBC News. 12 March 2012. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  9. "MP bids to allow prisoners' mobile phones to be sold off". BBC News. 14 September 2012. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  10. Blanchard, Jack (22 May 2013). "Leeds MP beaten unconscious in homophobic attack hits out at Tory gay marriage rebels". Yorkshire Post. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  11. Stone, Jon (13 January 2016). "Tories vote down law requiring landlords make their homes fit for human habitation". The Independent. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  12. McIntyre, Annette (23 September 2016). "Horsforth and Aireborough's MP is appointed to key role in charge of cities". Wharfedale Observer. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  13. Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  14. "Stuart Andrew MP". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  15. "Yorkshire Tory MP on Welsh Affairs Committee". Wales Online. 28 October 2010. Archived from the original on 3 November 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  16. "About Stuart". Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  17. "Pudsey MP objects to 'green belt' link road proposal | West Leeds Dispatch | News. Views. Get involved!". West Leeds Dispatch. 1 July 2019. Archived from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  18. "Conservative MP Stuart Andrew taken hostage by The Queen at Buckingham Palace". Royal Central. 14 October 2019. Archived from the original on 14 October 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  19. "Ministerial Appointments: February 2020". UK Government. 13 February 2020. Archived from the original on 14 February 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  20. "Stuart Andrew Voting Record Agricultural Bill Amendment". They Work For You. 13 May 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  21. "Farmers urge UK government to protect food standards in post-Brexit trade bill". The Guardian. 13 May 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  22. "The Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg self-isolating as he waits for child's Covid-19 test result". NottinghamshireLive. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  23. "Business of the House". UK Parliament Hansard. 10 September 2020.
  24. "Election Expenses Exposed". Channel 4 News. 23 June 2016. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  25. "No charges over 2015 Conservative battle bus cases". BBC News. BBC. 10 May 2017. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  26. "About Stuart". Personal website. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  27. "IPSA record". IPSA. Archived from the original on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  28. "Updated: Out gay Tory shadow ministers retain seats". Pink News. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original on 8 May 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
  29. "Patrons". LGBTory. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Paul Truswell		 Member of Parliament for Pudsey
2010–present		 Incumbent
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