Andrew George (politician)

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For other persons named Andrew George, see Andrew George (disambiguation).
Andrew George MP
Andrew George (politician)
Member of Parliament
for St Ives
Incumbent
Assumed office 
1 May 1997
Born 2 December 1958 (1958-12-02) (age 49)
Nationality British
Political party Liberal Democrat


Andrew Henry George (born 2 December 1958) British politician. He is the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for St Ives, in Cornwall.

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[edit] Early life

He was born in Mullion near The Lizard, Cornwall, one of eight children born to a horticulturalist father and music teacher mother, and was educated locally at the Helston School, before attending the University of Sussex where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in cultural and community studies in 1980. He finished his education at the University College, Oxford where he was awarded a master's degree in agricultural economics in 1981.[citation needed]

He worked in local government initially as a rural officer with the Nottinghamshire Rural Council in 1981, until he became the deputy director of the Cornwall Rural Council in 1985, where he remained until his election to the House of Commons. He contested the seat of St Ives at the 1992 general election where he finished second, just 1,645 votes behind the sitting Conservative MP David Harris. Harris stood down at the 1997 general election and George won the seat with a majority of 7,170 and has remained the MP there since. He made his maiden speech on 22 May 1997.[1]

[edit] In Parliament

In the House of Commons, he was made a spokesman on agriculture, fisheries and food by Paddy Ashdown in 1997, and was moved under the new leadership of Charles Kennedy in 1999 to speak on Department of Social Security. Following the 2001 General Election he became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Liberal Democrats Kennedy. He was promoted to the Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet in 2002 as the Shadow Rural Affairs and Food Secretary.[citation needed] He has been the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development since the 2005 general election.[citation needed]

In July 1997 George attempted to raise a question concerning the Duchy of Cornwall in the House of Commons but was prevented from doing so by an injunction that disallows MPs raising any questions in Parliament that are in any way related to the Duchy.[2]

On 12 May 2005, George became the first MP to swear his oath of allegiance to the Queen in Cornish.[3] Before joining the Liberal Democrats he was a member of Mebyon Kernow, and was one of the founder members of the Cornish Constitutional Convention, campaigning for a Cornish Assembly. He has been married to Jill Elizabeth Marshall, a nurse, since 1987 and they have a son (Davy) and a daughter (Morvah, born 1987) and live in Hayle.[citation needed]

On 6 January 2006 he was one of the first members of the Liberal Democrat frontbench team to threaten to resign his post if Charles Kennedy had not stood down as leader by 9 January 2006. He was sacked from the frontbench on March 8 by Kennedy's successor, Sir Menzies Campbell.[citation needed]

In 2007 Andrew George and the four other Cornish Lib-Dem MPs were criticised for not supporting locals and backing the bid to stop Cornwall becoming a Unitary Authority. Local polls commissioned by the District Councils indicated that approximately 80% of the public were opposed to the formation of the Cornish Unitary Authority.[4]

On 29 October 2007 Andrew George issued a press statement which said:- "Just because the Government has approached the whole Regional Devolution agenda in entirely the wrong way, does not mean to say that the project itself should be ditched. If Scotland is benefiting from devolution then Cornwall should learn from this and increase the intensity of its own campaign for devolution to a Cornish Assembly."[5]


[edit] Publications

  • The Natives are Revolting Down in the Cornwall Theme Park by Andrew George, 1986
  • Cornwall at the Crossroads by Bernard Deacon, Andrew George et al, 1989 CoSERG, Redruth ISBN 0-9513918-0-1
  • A Vision of Cornwall by Andrew George, 1995
  • A View from the Bottom Left-Hand Corner by Andrew George, 2002, Patten Press, Penzance ISBN 1-872229-40-9

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hansard 22 May 1997 : Column 880-883. House of Commons (22 May 1997). Retrieved on 2007-12-25.
  2. ^ "Letter from the House of Commons Library to Andrew George MP", 16 July 1997. Retrieved on 2007-12-25. 
  3. ^ "Local MP swears oath in Cornish", BBC News online, 12 May 2005. Retrieved on 2007-12-24. 
  4. ^ "Cornish council shake up approved", BBC News online, 25 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-25. 
  5. ^ Andrew George press statement 29 October 2007

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


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