James Purnell

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The Hon James Purnell MP
Constituency Stalybridge and Hyde
Born October 2, 1970 (age 36)
London, England
Political party Labour
Website www.jamespurnell.org.uk

James Mark Dakin Purnell (born 2 March 1970, London) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He is Labour Party member of Parliament for Stalybridge and Hyde, first being elected at the 2001 general election. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, obtaining first class honours.

Contents

[edit] Councillor Work

In 1996 he was one of three Islington councillors who were sued for libel by fellow councillor Liz Davies. [1] The evidence centred around the willingness of Liz Davies to abide by the Labour Whip in Parliament, with reference to her time as a member of the Labour group in Islington, if selected as the Labour candidate in Leeds North East. Liz Davies believed that in their evidence her fellow Labour councillors had claimed she incited violence during a committee meeting. This led to a settlement whereby the three apologised for any misunderstanding that had occurred and made contributions to the general election campaign of their local Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn [2]. Following a bitter selection battle which saw severa interventions by the party leadership, Liz Davies' selection for Leeds North East was not upheld by the party's National Executive Committee. Davis was elected to the NEC in 1998 but subsequently left the Labour Party to join the Socialist Alliance in 2001.

[edit] Parliamentary Career

From 2002 to 2004 James Purnell was Chair of Labour Friends of Israel. [3]

In 2004, in the government changes following the resignation of David Blunkett, he was appointed an Assistant Government Whip. Following the Labour Party's third successive General Election victory in 2005, he was appointed to the position of Minister (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State) for Creative Industries and Tourism (covering broadcasting, film, creative industries, tourism and licensing) in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. He was the minister 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 for Pensions (Minister of State) in the Department for Work and Pensions, replacing Stephen Timms.


[edit] Pre-Parliament

Before entering Parliament, he had for many years worked as a special advisor to Number 10.

James Purnell is a leading member of the new generation of Labour MPs, often referred to as the "Primrose Hill Gang". Other prominent members include the Miliband brothers, Ed and David, Douglas Alexander, Ed Balls and Pat McFadden.[citation needed] Despite being a leading Blairite, Purnell is popular amongst supporters of Gordon Brown too, and his pre-ministerial CV includes a stint as a PPS at the Treasury.

As the MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, Purnell has consistently supported plans for the Longdendale Bypass in his constituency.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Liz libel latest, Labour Left Briefing, July 1996
  2. ^ Don't Wait Up, Red Pepper, May 2001
  3. ^ Letters, Prospect, February 2005

[edit] External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Tom Pendry		 Member of Parliament for Stalybridge and Hyde
2001 – present		 Incumbent
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