James Purnell
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| The Right Honourable James Purnell MP |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 24 January 2008 |
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| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
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| Preceded by | Peter Hain |
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| In office 28 June 2007 – 24 January 2008 |
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| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Preceded by | Tessa Jowell |
| Succeeded by | Andy Burnham |
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Member of Parliament
for Stalybridge and Hyde |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 7 June 2001 |
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| Preceded by | Tom Pendry |
| Majority | 8,348 (24%) |
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| Born | 2 March 1970 London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Profession | Politician |
| Website | www.jamespurnell.org.uk |
James Mark Dakin Purnell (born 2 March 1970, London) is a British politician and the current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. He has been the Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde since the 2001 general election.
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[edit] Early life
He received most of his education in France, returning to study his A Levels at the Royal Grammar School, and going on to gain a first in PPE at Balliol College, Oxford.
While still a student he worked in the summer holidays as a researcher to Tony Blair from 1989 to 1992. After graduating he worked as a Research Fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research before moving to the BBC to become Head of Corporate Planning. In 1997 Purnell returned to work as a special advisor for the former Prime Minister Tony Blair until 2001. He also served as a board member of the Young Vic theatre.
[edit] Member of Parliament
Purnell was selected for the seat of Stalybridge and Hyde in 2001, and went on to win the election with a majority of 8,859. As a Labour Member of Parliament, he was a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee in the House of Commons 2001-03, the Chair of the All Party Group on Private Equity and Venture Capital 2002-03, and the Chair of Labour Friends of Israel 2002-04.[1]
[edit] In government
In 2003 James became Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Ruth Kelly in the Cabinet Office, and in December 2004 he joined the Government as a Whip in the government changes following the resignation of David Blunkett.
Following the Labour General Election victory in 2005, he was appointed to the position of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Creative Industries and Tourism in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport where he was in charge of seeing through the legislation that liberalised England and Wales' alcohol licensing laws and modernized film industry tax breaks.
In May 2006 he was promoted to be Minister of State for Pensions in the Department for Work and Pensions, replacing Stephen Timms.
In 2007 he was named Consumer Champion Of The Year by Which? Magazine for his work on pensions. Which? Magazine cited his "commitment to consumers in the development of the national pensions saving scheme", particularly for listening to stakeholders and for his contributions to the personal accounts for low and middle earners.[2]
In June 2007, he was promoted to the Cabinet as the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, he is the youngest member of the current Cabinet.
He was appointed as Work and Pensions Secretary following the resignation of Peter Hain on 24 January 2008.
[edit] Controversies
In 1996 Purnell was one of three Islington councillors who were sued for libel by fellow Labour councillor Liz Davies.[3] Davies had previously been selected as the Labour Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Leeds North East, but the selection had been vetoed by the party's National Executive Committee. Part of the evidence to the NEC had centred around Davies' willingness to abide by the Labour Whip in Parliament, with reference to her time as a member of the Labour group in Islington. Liz Davies claimed that, in their evidence before the NEC, the three councillors had claimed she incited violence during a committee meeting. This led to an out-of-court settlement, under which the three apologised for the allegations they had made and made contributions to the general election campaign of the local MP, Jeremy Corbyn.
Paul Diggett, one of James Purnell's political researchers was convicted in January 2004 of downloading child pornography from Purnell's PC, without the MP's knowledge. Diggett was Labour's candidate for Cheadle in 1997, and was suspended from the party following his arrest.[4]
In May 2006, Purnell auctioned off a signed copy of the Hutton Report signed by Alastair Campbell. Stewart Jackson, a Conservative MP complained over the insensitive nature of how the report was auctioned to raise funds for the Labour Party.
In January 2007, it was reported by the Daily Mail that James Purnell was given an "easy ride" in an interview with Jeremy Paxman on BBC's Newsnight because he was having a relationship with one of the producers, Thea Rogers. The BBC found no wrongdoing, while Purnell has also denied inappropriately using his government car. [5]
In September 2007, a photograph of James Purnell was faked and released by the press office at Tameside General hospital as part of a press release for the Tameside Hospital Private Finance Initiative (PFI) rebuilding deal.[6] The Tameside Trust claimed that Purnell agreed to the amalgamation of the two photographs, [7] as he was late for the original photo call, but Purnell denied this. Another Labour MP, Tom Levitt, present for the photoshoot stated that he and other Labour MPs deliberately left a gap for Purnell when the original photograph was taken, knowing that Purnell's image would be superimposed onto their photograph. [8] Critics described the photograph as being "misleading"; it was especially damaging as it came at a time when Purnell has criticised the media for misleading the public over telephone phone-in scams and over news stories that were not true.
Prior to becoming a cabinet minister, Purnell has repeatedly been one of the most expensive MPs in the United Kingdom and being confirmed as the most expensive in Greater Manchester, with expenses in 2004 of more than £120,000.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ Letters, Prospect, February 2005
- ^ Which? awards for the best of the best revealed.
- ^ Liz libel latest, Labour Left Briefing, July 1996
- ^ Paedo shame of ex-Labour politician
- ^ Your guide to the James Purnell fake photo non-scandal. BBC NEWS.
- ^ NHS trust faked MP visit picture
- ^ Purnell 'optimistic' on TV's future
- ^ Hastings, Chris; Laura Donnelly. "Labour MPs admit plan to fake Purnell photo", column, The Daily Telegraph, 2007-10-01. Retrieved on 2007-10-02. "James Purnell, the Culture Secretary, came under increasing pressure over a fake photo last night, after two Labour MPs revealed they planned in advance for it be altered."
- ^ MPs defend £120k expenses.
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Department for Work and Pensions - James Purnell's Pensions Reform blog
- The Guardian: Purnell's progress
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: James Purnell MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - James Purnell MP
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tom Pendry |
Member of Parliament for Stalybridge and Hyde 2001 – present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Tessa Jowell |
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 2007-2008 |
Succeeded by Andy Burnham |
| Preceded by Peter Hain |
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2008 – present |
Incumbent |
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