Laurence Robertson

Laurence Anthony Robertson (born 29 March 1958, Bolton, Lancashire) is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire since 1997. In May 2005, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland, a controversial choice given his opposition to the Good Friday Agreement.

Career

Early life

His father was a miner, a postman, a delivery man then a milkman. His mother was an office worker in Manchester. He was educated at St James's C.E. Secondary Modern School on Lucas Road; Farnworth Grammar School on Manchester Road in Farnworth and Bolton Institute of Higher Education (now the University of Bolton), gaining a diploma in Management Services. His working life has also included him working as a charity fund-raising (where he claims to have raised over £1 million), public relations consultant, company director, factory owner from 1987-8, industrial management consultant from 1983-9, and work study engineer from 1977-83.^[1][2]

Political Life

He was a candidate in Makerfield in the 1987 General Election and Ashfield in 1992.^[1][2]

Following his 1997 Election to the House of Commons, he courted controversy in 2001 by offering support for John Townend over his controversial remarks about race;^[3] he later apologised for any offence caused by offering this support.^[4]

In September 2001, he was appointed an Opposition Whip. In June 2003, was made Shadow Minister for Trade & Industry. In November 2003, he was appointed a Shadow Minister for Economic Affairs. From May 2005, he has served as the Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland.^[2] He was not given a ministerial position in the 2010 Parliament, but served as chair of the Northern Ireland Committee^[5]

In 2005, he advanced a Private Member's Bill to outlaw abortion altogether, making it an imprisonable offence except where the mother's life was at risk or where conception was due to rape.^[6]

Following widespread flooding in Tewkesbury throughout the 2000 decade, Robertson spoke out against building on flood plains.^[7]

Robertson voted against the legislation for same-sex marriage in 2013. ^[8]

In 2014 Robertson along with six other Conservative Party MPs voted against the Equal Pay (Transparency) Bill which would require all companies with more than 250 employees to declare the gap in pay between the average male and average female salaries.^[9]

Politically, he is a confirmed Eurosceptic and active in the EU pressure group Better Off Out and he is interested in the following areas: Law and Order, Education, European Policy, the Constitution, Small Businesses, the Economy and Rural Issues. He is also a member of the right-wing pressure group The Freedom Association.

Personal life

He married Susan Lees in May 1989 in Bolton, but they have since divorced and on the 7th February 2015 he married his long term girlfriend Annie Adams.

He has been actively involved in sports, especially golf, bowling,horses and marathons, of which he has completed 6, including the 1994 New York Marathon.

Between 1988-1991, he has been Chairman of Governors of a primary school, a Visitor for Victim Support Scheme, and the Area Chairman for the Campaign for Law and Order.^[1][2]

External links

• Robertson's website
• Laurence Robertson MP Biography at the site of the Conservative Party
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Laurence Robertson MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Laurence Robertson MP
• Tewkesbury Conservatives
• The Public Whip - Laurence Robertson MP voting record
• BBC News - Laurence Robertson profile 10 February 2005
• Ordered out of the Commons in March 2005
• Naming an irish bomber in October 2004

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Laurence Robertson MP: Personal In Detail". laurencerobertsonmp.com. Retrieved 2010-01-13. 
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "People: Laurence Robertson". conservatives.com. Retrieved 2010-01-13. 
3. ↑ "Laurence Robertson: MP in the spotlight". BBC News. 2001-05-01. Retrieved 2010-01-13. 
4. ↑ "Second Tory says sorry in race row". BBC News. 2001-05-01. Retrieved 2010-01-13. 
5. ↑ "Laurence Robertson". Parliament UK. Retrieved 30 March 2015. 
6. ↑ "Private Member’s Bill to ban abortion - extreme and outrageous". Abortion Rights. 2005-05-22. Retrieved 2010-01-13. 
7. ↑ "Flood plain homes scheme deferred". BBC News. 2007-09-18. Retrieved 2010-01-13. 
8. ↑ "Gay marriage how did your mp vote Map". guardian.com. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2015. 
9. ↑ "Equal Pay: Seven male Tory MPs vote against bill to make big companies reveal gender pay gap". independent.co.uk. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2015.