Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 17:04, 4 November 2008

For the Cornish rugby player see Andy Reed (rugby player)

Andrew John Reed (born 17 September 1964) is a British Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament (MP) for the Loughborough constituency.

Background

He spent the first two years of his life living on the Netherhall Estate in Leicester before moving to Birstall in 1966 where he became involved in the Boys' Brigade and the local Methodist Church. In 1983–1987 he studied at De Montfort University (then called Leicester Polytechnic) where he completed a BA (Hons) degree in Public Administration. Reed joined the Labour Party in 1983/84, and in 1987, he was elected as a Parish Councillor, a position he held until 1991. Between 1988 and 1994, he served as a governor at his old school, Stonehill High. In 1991 he moved to Sileby where he stayed until 1997, becoming a governor at Highgate Primary School in 1994. Reed worked on the John Smith leadership campaign in 1992 as a coordinator for the East Midlands. He was elected to the Sileby Ward of Charnwood Borough Council in May 1995. Reed now lives in Quorn with his wife Sarah, whom he married in 1992, and their two children.

Reed worked as a Parliamentary assistant to Keith Vaz from 1987 until 1988 when he joined Leicester City Council, working in Urban Regeneration on the Inner Area Programme and later as a Project Officer for Recreation & Arts. He joined Leicestershire County Council in 1990 as an Employment Officer in the Employment Initiatives Team. He then joined the Economic Development Section where he dealt with voluntary sector employment projects before becoming the European Affairs Officer for the County Council in 1994–1997.

Career as an MP

Although he first stood for Parliament in Loughborough in 1992, Andy Reed was not elected until the subsequent election in 1997 when the previous MP, Conservative Health Secretary Stephen Dorrell, moved with his key rural voters to the newly created Charnwood constituency after a boundary change. Prior to the 2001 election Reed served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Culture, Media and Sport ministerial team, working with Chris Smith, Alan Howarth, Janet Anderson and Minister for Sport Kate Hoey. In 2001 he was returned with an increased majority and became the PPS to Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett, but resigned in 2003 in protest at the Government's decision to support a US-led invasion of Iraq without a United Nations resolution. He retained his seat in the 2005 election but with a reduced majority, and was recalled to the Government to be a PPS to the Treasury ministerial team, working with the Paymaster-General Dawn Primarolo.

Party loyalty

Reed has hardly ever rebelled against his party in the current parliament.

Iraq

On 18 March 2003, he was one of a majority of MPs who voted to declare war on Iraq, the motion stating that the Government "should use all means necessary to ensure the disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction".. On 9 March 2004 he voted to reject the motion that all advice prepared by the Attorney-General on the legality of the war in Iraq should be published in full. He has since (25 March 2008) voted against an Iraq inquiry.

Identity Cards

Reed has voted strongly for introducing Identity cards in the UK. On 20 December 2004 Reed voted with the majority of Labour Party members to send the Identity Card Bill into the next stage of the Parliamentary progress, the Standing Committee. On 13 March 2006 he voted to reject the change to the Identity Cards Bill by the House of Lords which would make the application for an ID Card voluntary when obtaining a "designated document" such as a passport.

Other interests

Reed is a member of various All–Party Parliamentary Groups and is an officer in the following: Bermuda–Britain (Secretary), Christians in Parliament (Vice–Chair), Debt, Aid & Trade (Secretary) and Sports (Secretary). He is also Chair of the Sports Caucus, a small group of MPs with a common interest in sport and captained the winning House of Commons swimming team in the Lords vs. Commons swimming gala in 2000, 2002 and 2004.

A keen sportsman, Reed is the President of Birstall Rugby union Football Club and Chaired East Midlands Sport in 2000–2003, has been Chair of the Shadow Board of the County Sports Partnership for Leicestershire since 2004 and also Chairs the National Strategic Partnership for Volunteers in Sport. He is active on matters relating to the church as well as international development and Fair trade.

Notes

1. "Voting Record - Andy Reed MP, Loughborough" (HTML). The Public Whip. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
2. "'Iraq — Declaration of War' Andy Reed MP, Loughborough" (HTML). The Public Whip. 18 March 2003. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
3. "'Iraq — Attorney-General's Advice' Andy Reed MP, Loughborough" (HTML). The Public Whip. 9 March 2004. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
4. "'Iraq Inquiry — Not the right time' Andy Reed MP, Loughborough" (HTML). The Public Whip. 25 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
5. "Andy Reed compared to 'Identity cards - Against introduction'" (HTML). The Public Whip. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
6. "'Identity Cards Bill' Andy Reed MP, Loughborough" (HTML). The Public Whip. 20 December 2004. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
7. "'Identity Cards Bill — Voluntary registration when applying for a passport' Andy Reed MP, Loughborough" (HTML). The Public Whip. 13 March 2006. Retrieved 2008-07-02.

External links

• Andy Reed MP – official site
• Andy Reed on YouTube
• BBC News – MP speaks of resignation 'regret'
• Christians in Parliament
• Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Andy Reed MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com – Andy Reed MP

• 1964 births
• Living people
• Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
• Labour Co-operative MPs (UK)
• Councillors in the East Midlands
• Alumni of De Montfort University
• UK MPs 1997-2001
• UK MPs 2001-2005
• UK MPs 2005-