Harold Elletson

Harold Daniel Hope Elletson (born 8 December 1960) is a British Conservative Party politician.

Elletson unsuccessfully contested Burnley in the 1987 general election, before becoming Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackpool North in 1992. However, in his 1997 bid for re-election in the new Blackpool North and Fleetwood constituency, he lost to Labour's Joan Humble by 8,946 votes.

On 22 December 1996 The Observer newspaper claimed Elletson moonlighted as an MI6 agent: the headline read "Pro-Serb Tory MP was MI6 Agent". The newspaper said he was recruited before he entered the House of Commons, working for the intelligence agency in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia:

"After visiting Yugoslavia in 1992, Mr Elletson notified his MI6 handlers that donations were reaching the Conservative Party from Serbia. MI6 received special sanction from the Prime Minister (John Major) for Mr Elletson to continue his secret role after his election in 1992. He carried out his unpaid intelligence work in Eastern Europe while representing the electors of Blackpool: he also ran an extensive network of private business interests in the region, while using his public position to mount a controversial defence of the Serb regime.".[1][2]

He joined the Liberal Democrats in 2002.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Pro-Serb Tory MP was MI6 Agent", The Observer, 22 December 1996
  2. ^ Article in Private Eye, 29 November 2002
  3. ^ Andrew Grice, "Leading Lib Dem warns of more defections to Tories", The Independent, 26 January 2006.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Norman Miscampbell		 Member of Parliament for Blackpool North
1992–1997		 Succeeded by
Joan Humble
(Blackpool North and Fleetwood)