Phil Hope

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Philip Ian Phil Hope (born April 19, 1955) is a British politician as is the Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament for Corby. He is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education and Skills.

Phil Hope was born in London, the son of a Metropolitan Police commander, and was educated at the Wandsworth Comprehensive School and St Lukes College, Exeter where he was awarded a Bachelor of Education degree in 1978. On leaving university in Exeter he taught science for a year at Kettering Boys School, before joining the National Council for Voluntary Organisations in 1979 as a youth policy advisor. He was appointed as the head of the young volunteers resource unit at the National Youth Bureau in 1982, before becoming a management consultant in 1985.

He joined the Labour Party in 1978, and the Co-operative party in 1982. He was elected as a councillor to the Kettering Borough Council in 1983, becoming the deputy Labour group leader in 1986, before leaving the council in 1987. He unsuccessfully contested Kettering at the 1992 General Election where he came second to the sitting Conservative Party transport minister Roger Freeman by 11,154 votes. He was elected to the Northamptonshire County Council in 1993, becoming the chairman of the Labour group in the same year, before standing down in 1997. He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1997 General Election for Corby, defeating the Conservative MP William Powell by 11,860 votes and has remained the MP there since. He made his maiden speech on May 14, 1997.[1]

In parliament he was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Minister of State at the former Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions Nick Raynsford in 1999, and after the 2001 General Election he became the PPS to the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. He was promoted to the government of Tony Blair in 2003 as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State under his old boss at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. He has served as the under secretary at the Department for Education and Skills since the 2005 general election as the minister for vocational education.

He has been married to Allison Butt since 1980 and they have a son and a daughter. He once appeared on the 1970s television drama series Z-Cars and can also both tap dance and juggle. Phil has recently been diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease. This is a cancer of the lymph system and requires treatment which includes 4 months of chemotherapy followed by 4 weeks of radiotherapy. The prognosis is good and treatment has started and will be completed by Summer 2007. He will be able to carry on his work as MP and his role as Minister for Skills as far as treatment will allow.

[edit] Publications

Ideas into Action: Handbook on Project Planning for Youth and Community Workers by Philip Hope, 1987, National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, ISBN 0-907518-29-X
Making the Break: Choices and Decisions Facing Young People Leaving Home by Philip Hope, 1989, CVS Advisory Service, ISBN 0907829570
Education for Citizenship: Resource Pack for Schools" by Philip Hope, 1991, The Children's Society, ISBN 0-907324-59-2
View to Learn by Philip Hope and Warren Feek, 1991, ITV and Channel Four Community Education
Making Best Use of Consultants by Philip Hope, 1992, Financial Times Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-582-09824-6
Diagnosis, Data Collection and Feedback in Consultancy by Philip Hope, 1994, Open University
Education for Parenthood: A Resource Pack for Young People by Philip Hope, 1994, The Children's Society, ISBN 0-907324-75-4
Analysis and Action on Youth Health by Philip Hope, 1995, Commonwealth Youth Programme
Performance Appraisal: A Handbook for Managers in Public Organisations by Philip Hope and Tim Pickles, 1995, Russell House Press, ISBN 1-898924-45-7
Tomorrow's Parents: Developing Parenthood Education in Schools by Philip Hope and Penny Sharland, 1997, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, ISBN 0-903319-79-9
User Involvement by Philip Hope and Sarah Hargreaves, 1997, Framework in Print
Education for Parenthood: A Resource Pack for Young People by Philip Hope, 1998, ISBN 1-899783-10-5