| The Right Honourable Eric Pickles MP |
|
|---|---|
| Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 12 May 2010 |
|
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | John Denham |
| Chairman of the Conservative Party | |
| In office 19 January 2009 – 12 May 2010 |
|
| Leader | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Caroline Spelman |
| Succeeded by | The Baroness Warsi |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government | |
| In office 27 June 2007 – 19 January 2009 |
|
| Leader | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Caroline Spelman |
| Succeeded by | Caroline Spelman |
| Member of Parliament for Brentwood and Ongar |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 9 April 1992 |
|
| Preceded by | Robert McCrindle |
| Majority | 16,920 (33.4%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 April 1952 Keighley, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Irene Coates |
| Alma mater | Leeds Polytechnic |
| Website | Official website |
Eric Jack Pickles (born 20 April 1952) is a British Conservative Party politician. Pickles was appointed Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government of the coalition government headed by Prime Minister David Cameron on 12 May 2010.
He was the Chairman of the Conservative Party until being replaced by Baroness Warsi in May 2010 and has been Member of Parliament for Brentwood and Ongar in Essex since 1992. He was Co-Chairman of the Joint Committee Against Racism between 1982 and 1987.
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Born in Keighley, Yorkshire, he went to Greenhead Grammar School (which became Greenhead High School and is now University Academy Keighley) on Greenhead Road in Utley, north Keighley, then Leeds Polytechnic. He was born into a Labour supporting family – his great grandfather was one of the founders of the Independent Labour Party, and described himself as 'massively inclined' towards communism as a boy[1] – but he joined the Conservative Party in 1968 after the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia.[2]
Pickles soon became the chairman of the local Young Conservatives association and later became chairman of the national organisation.[2]
Pickles was first elected to Bradford Council in 1979.[2] Between 1988 and 1990, he served as leader of the Conservative group on the council. In September 1988 the Conservative Party gained control by using the Conservative mayor's casting vote to become the only inner-city council to be controlled by the Conservatives.
When Bradford Council was hung, Pickles opted to break the agreement that the position of Lord Mayor is rotated between the parties, when he put a Conservative mayor in place again.[3] This effectively gave the Conservatives a majority due to the Lord Mayor's casting vote. To do this, they also broke the tradition that the Lord Mayor kept the status quo.
Whilst at Bradford, Pickles announced a five-year plan to cut the council's budget by £50m, reduce the workforce by a third, privatise services and undertake council departmental restructures, many of which proved controversial.[3] A book, The Pickles Papers by Tony Grogan, was written about this period in Pickles's life.[4]
Pickles has been Member of Parliament for Brentwood and Ongar since 1992. He is currently the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in the coalition government headed by Prime Minister David Cameron , following his appointment to the role on 12 May 2010. Previously he has served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from January 2009 to May 2010 and Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, having held that post since June 2007. Prior to this he served as Shadow Minister for Local Government from June 2002. Before that Pickles was Shadow Minister for Transport (September 2001 – June 2002) and Shadow Minister for London.
At the 2001 general election, the independent candidate Martin Bell, who had previously won Tatton from Neil Hamilton, stood against him due to accusations that the Peniel Pentecostal Church had infiltrated the local Conservative branch. Pickles's majority was severely reduced, but he retained his seat by a margin of 2,821 votes (6.5%) becoming elected with only 38% of the votes against Martin Bell's 31.5%.
At the 2005 general election Pickles retained the seat with an increased majority of 11,612 (26.3%), nearly as many as the total votes cast for the second place candidate, and making this the second safest seat in Eastern England, and Pickles the MP with the third-highest share of the vote cast[5] in this region. Pickles polled a total of 23,609 votes (53.5%).
On 2 July 2007 David Cameron appointed Pickles to a reshuffled Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary. On 30 December 2008, according to reports in The Times, Pickles unveiled plans to "purge town hall 'fat cats'". The Times reported that under the plans "dozens of council chiefs who earn more than Cabinet ministers would lose their jobs as clusters of councils merged their frontline services and backroom operations to provide better value for money."[6] Of the eight highest earning chief executives listed in The Times' report, six are employed by councils run by the Conservative party, one by Labour and one by the Liberal Democrats.
Pickles was the campaign manager for the successful Crewe and Nantwich by-election in May 2008. Following this, Pickles was promoted to Chairman of the Conservative Party in January 2009.
In early 2010, Pickles defended the first-past-the-post voting system as resulting in stable government. He attacked Prime Minister Gordon Brown saying he "... now wants to fiddle the electoral system" by wanting to look at a Preferential Voting system with a single transferrable vote, similar to that used in Australia and other countries.
Pickles was appointed as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government as part of David Cameron's new coalition Government on 12 May 2010,[7] and sworn as a Privy Counsellor on 13 May 2010.[8]
In his role as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on 30 July 2010, Pickles announced plans to hand powers where ministers can cap unreasonable increases in council taxes to local people. A consultation begun in August 2010 and the powers, which will require legislation, should be in force by March 2012. Pickles said he was determined to reverse the presumption that Whitehall knows best by making local councils directly accountable to the local taxpayer. He said: "If councils want to increase council tax further, they will have to prove the case to the electorate. Let the people decide". Residents would be asked to choose between accepting the rise or rejecting it and instead accepting a below inflation rise, but with reduced council services. The average council tax on a Band D property increased from £688 a year in 1997/98 to £1,439 for 2010.[9]
In late 2010, Sir Alan Sugar criticised Pickles; referring to him as "another pointless politician doing yet another menial administrative job that could be done by anyone that has been educated in any vague sort of half coherent English".[10]
Pickles is a self-proclaimed flag enthusiast,[11] and has taken a personal interest in ensuring that English County flags are regularly flown from the Department for Communities and Local Government.[12][13] He has urged people to fly the St George Cross of England more widely for St. George’s Day and encouraged public bodies to adopt a common sense approach to flying the flag.[14] On 14 May 2011, at the Flag Institute Spring Meeting, Pickles announced a consultation aimed at “Making it easier for people to celebrate an identity or an organisation that means something to them.”[15]
On 26 March 2009, Pickles appeared on the political debate programme Question Time in Newcastle upon Tyne. While discussing the controversy over Tony McNulty (who had recently admitted claiming expenses on a second home, occupied by his parents, only 8 miles away from his primary residence), Pickles admitted he claimed a second home allowance because he lived 37 miles from Westminster and needed to leave his constituency house in Brentwood at 5.30 am in order to get to Westminster for 9.30 am,[16][17] given that he tended to get home at midnight or 1 am, although the standard time for commuters from this region is usually ninety minutes.[18] He went on to say that it was "no fun" commuting into London from where he lived. In response to Pickles's comments that he "had to be there [the House of Commons] on time", Question Time host David Dimbleby, replied "Like a job, in other words?" prompting amusement amongst the audience.
There were also remarks from the audience about nurses and firemen etc. having to commute across London and get to their jobs on time and having to do without a second home.
Pickles was asked to pay back £300 following the MP's expenses scandal, which he had claimed for cleaning.[19]
Pickles also appeared as a radio presenter on local community radio station Phoenix FM together with the then Leader of Brentwood Council (and fellow Conservative) Brandon Lewis in a show titled The Eric and Brandon Show. The show was billed as non-party political, and involved the two politicians interviewing local personalities interspersed with music.
He married Irene Coates in 1976 in Staincliffe, a district of Batley in West Yorkshire.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Robert McCrindle |
Member of Parliament for Brentwood and Ongar 1992–present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Caroline Spelman |
Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 2007–2009 |
Succeeded by Caroline Spelman |
| Preceded by John Denham |
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 2010–present |
Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Caroline Spelman |
Chairman of the Conservative Party 2009-2010 |
Succeeded by The Baroness Warsi |
| Order of precedence in England and Wales | ||
| Preceded by Michael Gove as Secretary of State for Education |
Gentlemen as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government |
Succeeded by Justine Greening as Secretary of State for Transport |
| Order of precedence in Northern Ireland | ||
| Preceded by Michael Gove as Secretary of State for Education |
Gentlemen as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government |
Succeeded by Justine Greening as Secretary of State for Transport |
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