Keith Hill (politician)

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Keith Hill MP
Keith Hill (politician)
Member of Parliament
for Streatham
Incumbent
Assumed office 
9 April 1992
Preceded by William Shelton
Born 28 July 1943 (1943-07-28) (age 64)
Nationality British
Political party Labour
Alma mater Corpus Christi College, Oxford, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

Trevor Keith Hill, known as Keith Hill, (born 28 July 1943, Leicester) is a politician in the United Kingdom who has served in a variety of Government roles as a Whip and a junior minister.

He is Labour Member of Parliament for Streatham, where he was first elected in 1992. As well as the suburb of Streatham, his south London constituency also includes the southern parts of Clapham and Brixton and the area of Balham within Lambeth (between Cavendish Road and Thornton Road).

Keith Hill announced on 23 May 2007 that he would be standing down as an MP at the next UK general election. [1]

Contents

[edit] Biography

T. Keith Hill was educated at City Boys' Grammar School in Leicester, from where he won a scholarship to Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He went on to complete a Diploma in Education at University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.

He was then a politics lecturer, firstly in the University of Leicester and at the University of Strathclyde from 1969–1973. He worked as a research officer for the Labour Party's International Department from 1974–1976 before becoming a political officer for the National Union of Railwaymen, subsequently amalgamated into the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers(RMT). In the 1979 general election he stood unsuccessfully as Labour Candidate in Blaby.

In the 1992 election, Hill outperformed Labour's national performance by being the first Labour MP ever elected for the Streatham constituency. He defeated the incumbent Conservative MP Sir William Shelton by a convincing margin. This partly reflected changing demographics in the constituency, which includes a large swathe of Brixton. However, it also reflected Hill's assiduous personal campaign in the years before the election, which contrasted favourably with Shelton's neglect of his constituency duties.

Following his election as an MP, he sat on the Select Committee for Transport from 1992 to 1997. His first Government appointment was as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Hilary Armstrong in 1997. He became an Assistant Government Whip from 1998 to 1999.

Keith Hill's ministerial career started when he was appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary for Transport (as well as Minister for London) at the then Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) in 1999. During his time at DETR, he was responsible for local transport and transport in London.

As Minister for London, Keith Hill was closely involved in preparing the way for London mayoral elections. This was a task that he took to with clear relish - regional television viewers saw Mr Hill doing a rap in the middle of Trafalgar Square with a baseball hat on back to front to try and encourage young Londoners to vote in the elections[1].

In the ministerial appointments following the 2001 election, Keith Hill moved to the position of Deputy Chief Whip.

In the 13 June 2003 reshuffle, Hill was promoted to Minister of State rank and joined the Privy Council. He served as Minister for Housing and Planning at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister until the 2005 General Election. During this period he had lead responsibility for housing, planning, the Thames Gateway, urban policy and liveability issues, and was Minister for London and the Dome.

In the reshuffle following the 2005 general election, Keith Hill was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Rt Hon Tony Blair MP. He returned to the backbenches on Gordon Brown becoming Prime Minister in June 2007.

Keith Hill is married and his interests include walking, reading (modern European literature), films, music and surfing[citation needed]. He is reputed to have enquired jokingly to a constituent who had complained at how Streatham had gone downhill, "Why else do you think you've got a Labour MP?" He also used to share a flat with the comedian Eddie Izzard.[2] He was described by Routledge's Almanac of British Politics as "One of the government's insufficiently sung heroes".

[edit] Voting record

How Keith Hill voted on key issues since 2001 (They Work For You):

  • Voted against a transparent Parliament.
  • Voted for introducing a smoking ban.
  • Voted for introducing ID cards.
  • Voted for introducing foundation hospitals.
  • Voted for introducing student top-up fees.
  • Voted for Labour's anti-terrorism laws.
  • Voted for the Iraq war.
  • Voted against investigating the Iraq war.
  • Voted for replacing Trident.
  • Voted for the hunting ban.
  • Voted for equal gay rights.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Newsroom Southeast (BBC Television) 14 February 2000
  2. ^ Transcript of Eddie Izzard interviewing Tony Blair at Labour Party conference with Keith Hill present - 25 September 2005

[edit] External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir William Shelton		 Member of Parliament for Streatham
1992–present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Keith Bradley		 Treasurer of the Household
2001–2003		 Succeeded by
Bob Ainsworth