Bob Marshall-Andrews

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Bob Marshall-Andrews MP
Bob Marshall-Andrews
Member of Parliament
for Medway
Incumbent
Assumed office 
1 May 1997
Preceded by Peggy Fenner
Majority 213 (0.5%)
Born April 10, 1944 (1944-04-10) (age 64)
Nationality British
Political party Labour
Alma mater University of Bristol
Occupation Politician
Profession Barrister

Robert Graham Marshall-Andrews, known as Bob Marshall-Andrews, QC (born 10 April 1944) is an English politician and barrister. He is Labour Member of Parliament for Medway in Kent. He is married to Gill Marshall-Andrews, chairperson of the Gun Control Network.

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[edit] Early life

Marshall Andrews attended Mill Hill School before entering the University of Bristol to study Law. Barrister (called 1970), Crown Court Recorder (1982), Queen's Counsel (1987), Bencher, Grays Inn (1996). Prosecuted and defended most forms of serious crime and serious criminals. Specialises in commercial fraud.[1]

[edit] Political career

Marshall-Andrews joined the Labour Party in 1971 and was PPC for the constituency of Richmond in 1974. He was asked to stand for the Medway Constituency in 1992 which he lost to the incumbent Conservative, Dame Peggy Fenner. He is a Member of Association of Labour Lawyers, Greenpeace, Woodland Trust.

Marshall-Andrews entered Parliament in the 1997 general election. He is perceived as being on the libertarian-left wing of the Labour Party, and is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group but unlike other members of this group is not a trade-unionist by background. In spite of this, however, he nominated Gordon Brown (rather than John McDonnell) for the Labour Party leadership and Peter Hain as deputy leadership in 2007. After a period of bedding down as a new MP where he aided in the drafting of the banning of handguns, he has become an irritant to the government front bench. He has rebelled against the government on multiple occasions since 2001 (20 of those rebellions being in the 2005 parliament), mainly on legal issues. He is often mentioned as a candidate for backbencher of the year and is widely respected in the Westminster media-circuit.

During the night of the 2005 general election, he appeared on national television commenting on his predicted defeat before it had been officially declared, as the only good news Tony Blair would get that night, and launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister. He then went on to hold the seat with a majority of only 213 votes.

His penchant for rebellion, combined with his friendliness with many Conservative MPs, has led him to become unpopular within parts of his own party. According to The Times, senior Labour MPs have demanded that the whip be withdrawn from him as an example to the 49 Labour MPs who rebelled against the government's plans to detain terror suspects for 90 days[2].

On July 17, 2007, he said he was to stand down as a Labour MP at the next election.[3]

[edit] Controversy

During a break of the Terror Bill debate on November 9, 2005, Marshall-Andrews was seen talking to Conservative MPs Andrew Mitchell, Greg Knight and Damian Green in the Commons lobby. Labour MP Barry Sheerman remonstrated with him. Fellow Labour MP Jim Dowd intervened and at one stage grabbed Marshall-Andrews by the lapels. Dowd and several observers[4] believed they heard him saying of Dowd "Here's another faggot"[5]. The near-scuffle was broken up by government whip Tom Watson, but was widely reported. Marshall-Andrews subsequently insisted that he had actually shouted faccio, an Italian word meaning a menial assistant, from which the public school slang 'fag' is thought to derive. The incident was mentioned by Marshall-Andrews on the satirical news quiz Have I Got News For You.

On 31 October 2006, Marshall-Andrews was one of 12 Labour MPs to back Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's call for an inquiry into the Iraq War.[6]

[edit] Social Views & Outside Interests

He is widely regarded as a social-libertarian.

He is an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association. He is also Founder and Trustee George Adamson Wildlife Trust, presently running Mkomazi Game Reserve, Tanzania. Trustee and Chair of Development Committee, Geffrye Museum, London. Chair of Governors, Grey Court School 1987 – 1994.

He is also an Occasional novelist – Palace of Wisdom (published by Hamish Hamilton and Penguin 1989, also published in USA, France and a best seller in Germany) – A Man Without Guilt (published by Methuen 2002). Regular articles in the nationals (Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, Sunday Times) and some periodicals (New Statesman, House Magazine, Tribune).

Mr Marshall-Andrews appeared in the Friday, April 18th 2008 episode of Have I Got News For You, on BBC1.

[edit] Environmentalism

He and his wife own an innovative grass-roofed house, known locally as the "Teletubby house", in Druidston, Pembrokeshire.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bob Marshall-Andrews QC, ePolitix
  2. ^ Chief Whip gets ready to punish dissenters. The Times (12 November 2005). Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
  3. ^ Blair critic to stand down as MP. BBC News (17 July 2006). Retrieved on 2007-09-13.
  4. ^ Isabel Oakeshott, "MPs in Terror Law Punch-up", Evening Standard, November 9, 2005, p. 1: "Witnesses say they heard Mr Marshall-Andrews, a practising barrister and part-time judge, call Mr Dowd a 'faggot'."; Toby Helm, George Jones, "Panic and a punch-up as Blair tumbles to defeat at the hands of his own party", Daily Telegraph, November 10, 2005, p. 4: "Witnesses said Mr Marshall-Andrews called Mr Dowd a 'faggot'."
  5. ^ "MPs pulled apart at Commons", Financial Times Europe Information Wire, November 9, 2005
  6. ^ Labour MPs who rebelled on Iraq. BBC News (31 October 2006). Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
  7. ^ More homes should be like Malator. Western Telegraph (11 August 2004). Retrieved on 2006-11-13.

[edit] External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Peggy Fenner		 Member of Parliament for Medway
1997 – present		 Incumbent