Bob Blackman (politician)

Robert Blackman
MP
Member of Parliament
for Harrow East
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded by Tony McNulty
Majority 3,403 (7.1%)
Member of the London Assembly
for Brent and Harrow
In office
10 June 2004 – 1 May 2008
Preceded by Toby Harris
Succeeded by Navin Shah
Personal details
Born 26 April 1956[1]
Kensington, London, England
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Nicola Blackman
Alma mater University of Liverpool

Robert John Blackman (born 26 April 1956), better known as Bob Blackman, is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harrow East since 2010. He was also a member of the London Assembly, and the Conservative Friends of Israel group.

Biography

Blackman was Head Boy at Preston Manor High School, where he now serves as a school governor; and was president of University of Liverpool Students Union. He joined the sales team of Unisys on graduation. He worked in various sales and management positions for BT and worked at their training school in Milton Keynes as a tutor[2] and later as a Regulatory Compliance Manager for BT[3] until his election to Parliament.

Political career

Blackman was a council member in the London Borough of Brent from 1986 to 2010, representing Preston Ward.[4] He was the leader of the Conservative group on the council from 1990 to 2010, having been council leader between 1991 and 1996. He stood as a parliamentary candidate for Brent South at the 1992 election, for Bedford at the 1997 election, and for Brent North at the 2005 election.

He was elected as a member of the London Assembly at the 2004 assembly elections, taking the constituency seat of Brent and Harrow, beating Toby Harris who had beaten him for the seat at the 2000 elections. He was elected Conservative Group Whip on the London Assembly.

In the 2008 elections, Blackman lost his seat back to the Labour candidate, Navin Shah by a slim margin.[5] In 2012, Navin managed to secure the seat by almost 30,000 votes.

From June 2006 to May 2010, he was also been Deputy Leader of Brent Council, the Conservatives having formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

In the General Election of May 2010 Blackman took the Harrow East constituency from Labour's Tony McNulty.

In 2010 he was appointed as a member to the Communities and Local Government Select Committee.[6]

He called for the adoption of plain packaging legislation for cigarettes,[7] and supported Cameron's plan calling for energy companies to provide simplified energy bills to their customers.[8]

In December 2012, Prime Minister David Cameron announced his approval for same-sex marriage.[9] In response, on Friday 7 December 2012, Blackman told the BBC News Channel that David Cameron’s backing of religious same-sex marriages was wrong on "principle" and that marriage had to be "between one man and one woman".[10][11] As a response to this, Brent councillor Carol Shaw called Blackman an "absolute hypocrite" to "preach about the sanctity of marriage", alleging that she and the married Blackman had had an 11-year affair when both were local councillors in Brent.[12][13]

On 5 February 2013 MP Bob Blackman voted against in the House of Commons Second Reading vote on marriage equality in Britain.[14]

Blackman has been part of a number of delegations of the Conservative Friends of Israel group,[15] including during the Operation Defensive Shield conflict when he visited for an Israeli military briefing on the Iron Dome defense system.[16]

Expenses

In 2015, the Compliance Officer for The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) made a judgement that Blackman had submitted 732 inaccurate mileage claims, for example claiming 10 miles worth of petrol for a journey of 2 miles [17] He was subsequently ordered to pay back £1,006.20. [18]

Personal life

Blackman is married to former councillor Nicola Blackman, and the couple live in Wembley.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Bob Blackman MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  2. ↑ "Biography". Bob Blackman. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "Blackman responds to statement on the Leveson Inquiry". DeHaviland. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  4. ↑ http://www.brent.gov.uk/Democracy.nsf/0/f06a9ad95e81514280256a960056bc6a?OpenDocument
  5. ↑ "Brent & Harrow 2008 Election Result". BBC News. BBC. 2008-06-11. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
  6. ↑ "Bob Blackman". UK Parliament Website. UK Parliament. Retrieved 2012-01-08.[]
  7. ↑ Emma Innes (Nov 30, 2012). "Harrow MP calls for cigarettes to be sold in plain packets (From Harrow Times)". Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  8. ↑ Emma Innes (Nov 21, 2012). "Harrow East MP supports government energy plans (From Harrow Times)". Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  9. ↑ "Gay marriage: David Cameron backs church role". BBC News (BBC). 2012-12-06. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
  10. ↑ Joe Murphy, "Anti-homosexual Section 28 was right for schools, says Tory MP", London Evening Standard, 10 December 2012
  11. ↑ "Tory MP Bob Blackman: Cameron should be re-introducing Section 28 not letting gays marry". Pink News (Pinknews.co.uk). 2012-12-06. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
  12. ↑ Scott Roberts, "Anti-gay marriage Tory MP, who supports Section 28, exposed as a love cheat", Pink News, 16 December 2012.
  13. ↑ Emma Innes, "Harrow East MP Bob Blackman at heart of national newspaper storm", Harrow Times, 17 December 2012.
  14. ↑ {http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm130205/debtext/130205-0004.htm} The House of Commons.2013.Marriage (Same Sex Couples)Bill 2012-2013.
  15. ↑ http://www2.cfoi.co.uk/Delegations/RecentDelegations/
  16. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/30/tory-mps-visit-israel-condemned-bad-timing
  17. ↑ Datoo, Siraj (17 March 2015). "Tory MP Pays Back His Expenses After Making 734 “Inaccurate” Claims". BuzzFeed.
  18. ↑ "Tory MP Bob Blackman's 'inaccurate mileage claims'". BBC News. 4 February 2015.
  19. ↑ http://www.bobblackmanmp.com/about/biography

External links