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Ivor Keith Caplin (born 8 November 1958) is a British former Labour Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hove from 1997 until 2005.

Early life

Caplin was born in Brighton into a Jewish family and educated at the independent King Edward's School, Witley and the Brighton College of Technology. He had a career in marketing with the Legal & General Assurance Society.

In 1991 he was elected to Hove Borough Council. In 1995, he led Labour's successful campaign to win control of the council and became its Leader until April 1997, when it merged with Brighton. He was elected to the new Brighton and Hove Council in 1996 and was Deputy Leader until he resigned from the Council in March 1998.

Parliamentary career

Caplin was elected as Member of Parliament for Hove in 1997. He became Parliamentary private secretary to Margaret Beckett in 1998.

Following re-election in 2001 he became an Assistant Government Whip and later Parliamentary under-secretary of state and Minister for Veterans at the Ministry of Defence.

During his term as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, he introduced the Veteran's Badge for those who had served in HM Armed Forces. He stood down from the House of Commons at the 2005 general election.

In 2010 Sir Thomas Legg conducted an independent audit of MPs expenses in which he determined that Caplin should repay £17,865 representing mortgage interest payments claimed on his second home, after Caplin failed to provide paperwork to establish his entitlement to claim the money. Caplin appealed, stating that Legg's letters had gone to an old address and had not been forwarded. On 1 April 2011 his appeal was upheld and the amount of repayment reduced to £1,178.43 (which Caplin had overclaimed due to interest rate fluctuations of which he was unaware); Caplin accepted the finding and agreed to repay the money.

Post parliamentary career

Caplin now runs his own company Ivor Caplin Consultancy Ltd. which has various clients including Foresight Communications, a political lobbying firm whose clients include EADS, EDS and Sodexho. He founded a new company, International Infrastructure Development Consultancy Ltd, which specialises in advice and support for non-EU Governments and the private sector overseas.

With effect from August 2009, he was appointed as Chief Executive of Mayfair Capital Management a private group of UK companies based in London with executive responsibility for the construction, energy and property divisions of the group.

He was the Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement for 2018–19.

Suspension and arrest

In June 2024 Caplin was suspended from the Labour Party due to "serious allegations" made about him. The allegations were not made public.

In January 2025 Caplin was arrested by Sussex Police on suspicion of committing a sexual offence against a child, after being involved in a sting operation carried out by a group of anti-paedophile activists.

References

1. William D. Rubinstein, Michael Jolles, Hilary L. Rubinstein, The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History, Palgrave Macmillan (2011), p. 140
2. "RBL – Veterans' Lapel Badge". support.britishlegion.org.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
3. Rosa Prince (5 February 2010). "MPs' expenses: former MPs may refuse to pay up". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 February 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2018. In January 2014 Ivor Caplin was appointed as the Head of Public Affairs for English Uk.
4. "Review of past ACA payments: further supplementary report" (PDF). House of Commons Members Estimates Committee. 1 April 2011.
5. "National Executive Committee". Jewish Labour Movement. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
6. "Former Hove MP suspended from party". Brighton and Hove News. 11 June 2024.
7. le Duc, Frank (11 January 2025). "Former Hove MP arrested". Brighton and Hove News. Archived from the original on 11 January 2025. Retrieved 11 January 2025.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Ivor Caplin
• Caplin links to Brighton Development Company

• 1958 births
• Living people
• People educated at King Edward's School, Witley
• Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
• UK MPs 1997–2001
• UK MPs 2001–2005
• Councillors in East Sussex
• Jewish British politicians
• Politicians from Brighton and Hove
• English gay politicians
• Gay Jews
• LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Jewish English activists