Eric Joyce
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Major Eric Joyce (born October 13, 1960, in Perth, Scotland) is a British politician and Member of Parliament for the Scottish constituency of Falkirk representing the Labour Party.
He was first elected to parliament in Falkirk West by-election, 2000, which was prompted by the resignation of Dennis Canavan. Joyce retained this seat in the 2001 General Election, and was elected to the enlarged Falkirk constituency in the 2005 General Election.
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[edit] Early life
He lived in Perth with his family for most of his infant and teenage years before joining the army in 1978. Initially a private in the Black Watch, he went on to attend the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and was commissioned into the Adjutant General's Corps in 1987. During his time in the army he served in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Germany and Central America.
[edit] Education
Between 1981 and 1987, he took time away from the army to attend technical college and university where he gained a BA (Hons) in Religious Studies from Stirling University. After being commissioned as an army officer in 1987 he continued his studies part-time and has an MA in Education from Bath University and an MBA from Keele University.
[edit] Army
He left the army amid controversy[1] in 1999 after dubbing the armed forces "racist, sexist and discriminatory"[2], before going on to serve as the Public Affairs Officer at the Commission for Racial Equality (Scotland). He was elected MP for Falkirk West in the narrowly-won by-election of December 2000.
[edit] Parliamentary career
Joyce served as a member of the Scottish Affairs and the Procedures select committees at Westminster. He also served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Mike O'Brien MP, when O'Brien was the Minister for Energy at the Department of Trade and Industry. Joyce is currently Parliamentary Private Secretary to Margaret Hodge MP, Minister for Industry and the Regions at the Department of Trade and Industry.
[edit] Trivia
- He is currently a member of the Fabian Society Executive Committee and is the author of the Fabian pamphlet 'Arms and the Man'.
- He is married to Rose, a teacher, and they have twin girls, Megan and Angharad.
- He has made an appearance in the top ten of each of the last five parliamentary expenses lists, amassing £151,791 in expenses to become the highest-spending MP in the UK for the 2002-2003 session [3] and again in the 2005-2006 session with £174,811 in expenses [4].
- A keen traveller, Mr Joyce currently sits atop the list for highest-spending MP's, with a recent freedom of information request revealing he spent £30,000 on air fares - more than any other MP[5]
[edit] Criticisms
- Mr Joyce has been dubbed an "embarrassing sycophant" by ex-Labour deputy leader Roy Hattersley [6].
- In the published MP expense accounts for 2005-2006, he spent more on travel than any other MP, claiming over £40,000. [7]
