Tim Loughton

Tim Loughton
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families
In office
13 May 2010 – 4 September 2012
Prime Minister David Cameron
Succeeded by Edward Timpson[1]
Member of Parliament
for East Worthing and Shoreham
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 May 1997
Preceded by Constituency Created
Majority 11,105 (22.9%)
Personal details
Born 30 May 1962
Eastbourne, Sussex, England
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Elizabeth Juliet MacLauchlan
Children 3
Alma mater University of Warwick
Clare College, Cambridge
Religion Church of England
[2]

Timothy Paul Loughton (born 30 May 1962) is a British Conservative Party politician, and has been Member of Parliament (MP) for East Worthing and Shoreham since the 1997 general election. Loughton was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families from 2010-2012.

Education

Born in the south coast town of Eastbourne in East Sussex, Loughton was educated at Priory School, a state comprehensive school in Lewes in East Sussex, followed by the University of Warwick (where he was secretary of the University of Warwick Conservative Association), gaining a first class BA in classical civilisation in 1983. This was followed by Clare College at the University of Cambridge, where he researched Mesopotamian archaeology from 1983-4.

Life and career

Loughton followed a career in the City of London as a fund manager from 1984 for Fleming Private Asset Management, becoming a director from 1992-2000.

Registrable shareholdings are Classwatch Limited and the Mindful Policy Group Trading Ltd. [3]

Parliamentary career

Loughton's first attempt at election to the House of Commons in the 1992 general election, when he stood against David Blunkett in the Sheffield Brightside constituency. Although unsuccessful, he was chosen in 1995 by the local party board as a candidate for his current constituency, then newly formed.

Loughton polled 43.9% of the vote in the 2005 general election, increasing his majority to 8,183. He finished the parliament as Shadow Minister for Children. In the 2010 general election he got 48.5% of the vote with a majority of 11,105.[4] On 13 May 2010 he was appointed as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families.

In 2001 Loughton referred to then leader of the Conservative Party William Hague as "baldy and he has a funny accent" and compared him to former Labour Leader Neil Kinnock. [5]

Andrew Roth in The Guardian said of him that he was an "assiduous debater, although specialist opponents can consider his viewpoints complete and utter rubbish". During Prime Minister's Questions on 13 July 2011, the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow told Loughton - following considerably loud cheers from the government benches and loud jeers from the opposition benches - that if he couldn't behave like an adult, then he ought to leave the chamber. [6]

In 2010, Loughton appeared in the Channel 4 documentary series, Tower Block of Commons.[7]

In February 2012 Loughton was part of a ministerial working group on how the law should be changed regarding how to amend the Children Act 1989. According to The Guardian newspaper of 3 February 2012 the working group aimed to include in the new Children's Act one "presumption of shared parenting" for children's fathers and mothers after cases of divorce or spousal break up.[8]

In May 2012, he said marriage was a religious institution that should remain between one man and one woman.[9] On 5 February 2013 Loughton voted against the Second Reading of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill.[10]

Loughton was sacked as children's minister in the government reshuffle of September 2012. [11]

In January 2013 Loughton was involved in a political dispute involving his earlier work as a minister in the Department of Education when he compared the role of Education Secretary Michael Gove to 'Young Mr Grace' from the British sitcom Are You Being Served?, suggesting there was little interaction between ministers and staff in the department[12] The next day Loughton was described in a briefing from the Department of Education to The Spectator as a "lazy, incompetent narcissist obsessed only with self-promotion".[13] The following month Loughton tabled "hostile" parliamentary questions to the Department of Education on the subject of complaints by staff, which the Independent described as "a significant escalation of hostilities" between Loughton and some of his old colleagues[14]

In September 2013, Loughton was forced to apologise to former children's minister Sarah Teather after he was recorded at an event saying the Department of Education as a result of Teather was a "family free zone" and that Teather "did not believe in family" as "she certainly didn't produce one of her own". The comments made by Loughton were branded "disgusting" by Jo Swinson the Liberal Democrat minister for Women and Equalities.[15]

Sussex Police investigation

In March 2013 it was revealed that Loughton had been investigated by Sussex Police following a complaint lodged by a constituent over an email exchange.[16] Loughton had commented that a local councillor's description of the constituent's appearance as "unkempt" was "eminently accurate", which the constituent alleged that was a racist slur on his Romani gypsy origins[16] Loughton, who insisted he was unaware of the "serial complainant" constituent's background, was advised that no charges would be made some months after Sussex Police had interviewed him under caution.[17]

Loughton subsequently gave his account of the affair in a House of Commons speech, claiming the constituent had "worked tirelessly to try to make my life hell" and criticising the police response.[17] He announced that he had "sacked" the constituent and would not accept any further correspondence, adding "I hope that he gets the message without my having to resort to legal means". Loughton then mailed a Hansard copy of the speech to the constituent, an action he believed was covered by parliamentary privilege[18]

The constituent lodged another complaint about being sent the parliamentary papers, and Loughton was issued with a Police Information Notice (PIN) by Sussex Police. He then arranged an emergency parliamentary debate, during which he accused the police of violating parliamentary privilege by issuing the PIN. A motion for the Standards and Privileges Committee to investigate his claims was granted.[18]

At a hearing of the Standards and Privileges Committee in January 2014, Loughton said that by issuing the PIN the police had "exacerbated the situation out of all control".[19] Sussex Chief Constable Martin Richards apologised to the committee, claiming he was unaware the Parliamentary Papers Act 1840 gave full legal protection to all parliamentary papers and blamed conflicting legal advice.[19] Former deputy Chief Constable of Sussex Police Robin Merrett claimed he "could understand" the constituent being "alarmed" at receiving the copy of Hansard and "fully supported" the police actions.[19] In March 2014 the Standards and Privileges Committee found Sussex Police in contempt of Parliament, forcing Sussex Police to issue an apology to Loughton.[20]

Personal life

Loughton married Elizabeth Juliet MacLauchlan in 1992, and they have a son and two daughters.

References

  1. ↑ "Edward Timpson replaces Tim Loughton as Children’s Minister", Family Law Week, September 2012
  2. ↑ http://www.timloughton.com/hot-topics-archive/tims-thoughts-same-sex-marriage. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/150330/loughton_tim.htm
  4. ↑ "UK > England > South East > Worthing East & Shoreham". BBC News. 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  5. ↑ "'Baldy' Hague may cost votes, says Tory". BBC News. 27 March 2001. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  6. ↑ "PMQs: Speaker Bercow tells off 'disgraceful' minister Tim Loughton". BBC News. 13 July 2011.
  7. ↑ Tower Block of Commons - Channel 4, Channel 4
  8. ↑ Pearse, Damien (3 February 2012). "Divorced fathers to get more contact with their children". The Guardian (London).
  9. ↑ Tory ministers Philip Hammond and Tim Loughton come out against equal marriage for gay couples, Pink News, 13 May 2012
  10. ↑ {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.
  11. ↑ "David Cameron faces a fresh revolt as sacked ministers go on the attack". The Evening Standard. 11 September 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  12. ↑ Harrison, Angela (16 January 2013). "Ex-minister Tim Loughton says children's agenda sidelined". BBC. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "Michael Gove: I've no idea which of my staff called Tim Loughton a lazy, incompetent narcissist". The Daily Telegraph (London). 22 January 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  14. ↑ Wright, Oliver (26 February 2013). "Tory ex-minister, Tim Loughton, turns his sights on Michael Gove's adviser". The Independent (London). Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  15. ↑ "Tim Loughton to apologise for Sarah Teather family jibe". BBC News. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Marsden, Sam (3 March 2013). "Police investigate Conservative MP Tim Loughton for calling man 'unkempt'". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "MP Tim Loughton 'sacks' constituent after racism row". BBC News. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Tim Loughton accuses police chief of 'losing the plot'". BBC News. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 "No police apology for MP Tim Loughton in harassment row". BBC News. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  20. ↑ "Sussex MP gets apology from police". 14 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
(new constituency)		 Member of Parliament for East Worthing and Shoreham
1997–present 		Incumbent