Michael Brown (UK politician)

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Michael Russell Brown (born 3 July 1951) is a British former Conservative Party politician and is now a newspaper and broadcast political journalist.

[edit] Biography

Brown was educated at the Andrew Cairns Secondary Modern School, Sussex, and the University of York, later studying for a year at the Middle Temple. He worked as a graduate management trainee for Barclays Bank from 1972 to 1974 then as a lecturer and tutor at Swinton Conservative College from 1974 to 1975. From 1975 to 1976 he was a part-time research assistant to Michael Marshall MP, working for Nicholas Winterton MP from 1976 to 1979.

Brown was selected for the marginal constituency of Brigg and Scunthorpe and was unexpectedly elected at the 1979 general election.

In 1983, following favourable boundary changes, he was elected for the new seat of Brigg and Cleethorpes. This followed a bitter selection battle between Brown and Michael Brotherton, who was MP for the Louth constituency, which included the towns of Immingham and Cleethorpes. Brown's robust style is considered to be the factor which swung the party members to support him over Brotherton. Big Brother 6 contestant Derek Laud served as Brown's research assistant for a considerable time as an MP.

Brown threatened to resign from parliament when the village of Killingholme, in the centre of his constituency was marked as a potential site for nuclear dumping.

Brown served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Douglas Hogg, Minister of State at the Department of Trade and Industry, from 1989 to 1990, and then at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1990 to 1992. From 1992 to 1993 he was a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Patrick Mayhew, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. He was appointed as an Assistant Government Whip in 1993.

Brown was the first openly gay Conservative MP following his 'outing' by the News of the World in 1994. The story showed Brown on holiday in Barbados with a 20-year-old man at a time when the age of consent for gay sex was 21, and the News of the World's headline read "lawmaker is lawbreaker"^{[citation needed]}. Brown resigned as a junior government whip but the story nevertheless ran on for some time, at a period when the Major government was embroiled in a series of sex and financial scandals. He was also tarnished by his involvement in the 'cash for questions' allegations.

[edit] After Westminster

Brown lost the election for the new Cleethorpes seat at the general election on 1 May 1997. Initially he struggled to find employment, working for David Evans contract cleaning firm but in April 1998 he submitted a piece for The Independent on how he was looking forward to being canvassed by the Labour Party candidates for his area in the Westminster City Council elections, which would give him an opportunity to play the kind of tricks voters often play on election candidates.

The piece was published and was well-received. It led to a regular commission as a political sketchwriter for The Independent, and Brown also began to write political commentary for other newspapers. He regularly appears as a commentator and newspaper reviewer on British television, particularly on BBC News 24 and Sky News.

He has recently conducted interviews for Conservative Party Parliamentary Selection meetings and regularly appears as a speaker at various media and political events around the country. Brown is a regular attendee and speaker at the Heslington Group, an informal drinking group for alumni of the University of York Conservative and Unionist Association.

Brown continues to support Grimsby Town Football Club and is a regular match or ball sponsor.

Michael Brown openly campaigned for David Davis during the 2005 Conservative Party leadership election.

[edit] References

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by John Ellis	Member of Parliament for Brigg and Scunthorpe 1979–1983	Succeeded by (constituency abolished)
Preceded by (new constituency)	Member of Parliament for Brigg and Cleethorpes 1983–1997	Succeeded by (constituency abolished)