Michael Bates, Baron Bates
The Right Honourable The Lord Bates PC | |
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Minister of State at the Home Office | |
Assumed office 14 May 2015 | |
Prime Minister | David Cameron |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office | |
In office 6 August 2014 – 14 May 2015 | |
Prime Minister | David Cameron |
Preceded by | The Lord Taylor of Holbeach |
Succeeded by | The Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon |
Paymaster General | |
In office 21 November 1996 – 2 May 1997 | |
Prime Minister | John Major |
Preceded by | David Willetts |
Succeeded by | Geoffrey Robinson |
Member of Parliament for Langbaurgh | |
In office 9 April 1992 – 1 May 1997 | |
Preceded by | Ashok Kumar |
Succeeded by | Abolished |
Personal details | |
Born |
Gateshead | 26 May 1961
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse(s) |
Carole Whitfield (div. 2008), Xuelin Li |
Michael Walton Bates, Baron Bates (born 26 May 1961 in Gateshead) is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom serving in the House of Lords since 2008 having previously represented the constituency of Langbaurgh in the House of Commons from 1992 to 1997. Since 2014 he has been Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Criminal Information at the Home Office.
Early life and education
Born in Gateshead in 1961, Bates attended Heathfield Senior High School and Gateshead College. In 1987, he was part of a team who bid successfully for a City Technology College to be located in Gateshead and in 1990, Emmanuel College was formally opened.
Political career
Bates joined the Conservative Party in Gateshead in 1979, later becoming Chairman of Gateshead Conservative Association. He was a founder member of Gateshead Young Conservatives, Chairman of Northern Area Young Conservatives and a member of the National Advisory Committee of the Young Conservatives from 1984 to 1989.
He contested several elections to Gateshead Borough Council for the Conservative Party between 1983 and 1989. At the 1987 General Election, he stood for parliament for the first time, contesting the Tyne Bridge parliamentary constituency, which was won by the Labour Party. Bates contested the November 1991 by-election in Langbaurgh caused by the death of Conservative MP Richard Holt. He lost the election to Labour's Ashok Kumar.
House of Commons
Five months after his defeat in the by-election, a general election was held. Bates was elected for Langbaurgh, defeating Kumar. Bates was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Nicholas Scott, Minister of State at the Department of Social Security in October, 1992. In November 1993 he voted against a government proposal to increase MP's salaries at a time when other public sector employees were receiving no increase and as a result was forced to resign his junior post in the government as a ministerial aide.[1]
In May 1994, he returned to the government as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Sir John Wheeler, Minister of State in the Northern Ireland Office and two months later was appointed to his first full ministerial role as an Assistant Government whip. In 1995 he was promoted to be a Government Whip and Lord Commissioner to Her Majesty's Treasury and was appointed Paymaster General in the Cabinet Office and a Sponsor Minister for the north east of England in 1996. He held the latter posts until May 1997.
1997 to 2008
The Langbaurgh constituency was abolished for the 1997 general election, so Bates stood in the similar seat of Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, but lost to Kumar in the third contest between the two in less than six years. After losing the election Bates attended Saïd Business Business School, University of Oxford graduating from Wadham College, Oxford in 1998 with a Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA). Bates served as a member of SaÏd Business School's Business Advisory Forum from 1999 until 2011.
Between 1998 and 2005, Bates served as Director of Consultancy & Research at Oxford Analytica.[2] Between 2006 and 2008, Bates commenced a doctoral research degree (researching ethics and foreign policy) at the School of Government and International Affairs, University of Durham and served as a non-resident tutor at St John's College, University of Durham.
Campaign North
In 2006, Bates was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party with specific responsibility for the North of England. Bates served as a deputy to William Hague in his role as Chairman of the Northern Board of the Conservative Party and Head of Campaign North.
House of Lords
Bates was awarded a life peerage on 30 June 2008; his title was gazetted as Baron Bates, of Langbaurgh in the County of North Yorkshire.[3] Also beginning in 2008, he served as director of the Emmanuel Schools Foundation and a director of Bede Academy, Blyth; Trinity Academy, Doncaster and King's Academy, Middlesbrough, holding these posts until 2010.
In December 2008, Bates was appointed to the Opposition Front bench as Shadow Minister for Cabinet Office and Energy & Climate Change and he became a member of the Opposition Whips' Office. In March 2009, he became Shadow Minister for Communities & Local Government and in January, 2010 he became Shadow Minister for Children, Schools & Families.
In 2013, Lord Bates was appointed a Deputy Chairman and Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords. In October 2013, he was appointed a Government Whip/Lord in Waiting (Member of the Royal Household) and a Spokesman in the House of Lords for the government on Department of Work & Pensions; Department of International Development; Department of Culture Media and Sport (Broadcasting) and Department of Business Innovation and Skills (Universities & Science)
On 6 August 2014, Bates was named as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Criminal Information at the Home Office in a mini-reshuffle following the resignation of Baroness Warsi, succeeding Lord Taylor of Holbeach.[4]
Charity work
In 2009, Bates was appointed Patron of Tomorrow's People (North East) a charity specialising in getting 'hard to reach' young people into work or training. Bates undertook two sponsored walks called 'Walk for Tomorrow' for them in 2009 and 2010, raising over £25,000. In 2011, he was nominated for a Dods Charity Champion Award by Tomorrow's People and shortlisted.[5]
In 2013, Lord Bates embarked upon a 518.8 mile walk from London to Derry, Northern Ireland to raise funds for Save the Children's work in Syria. The walk which took 35 days to complete raised over £50,000 for Save the Children. www.walkforsyriaschildren.org In 2013 Lord Bates was shortlisted for 'International Campaigner of the Year' in the Dods Parliamentary Awards
In August 2014, Lord Bates will embark on a 1000 mile/two month walk www.walkforpeace.eu www.walkforpeace.eu from London to Berlin to raise funds for the German charity Fridensdorf International (Peace Village International) www.friedensdorf.de who provide emergency medical for child victims of conflict.
Olympic Truce
Bates campaigned for the Olympic Truce for the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games to be taken seriously by the signatories to the Olympic Truce Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly.[6] In April 2011 he set out on a 'Walk for Truce' from Olympia in Greece to Westminster, London to raise awareness of the truce and to secure support for its observance at the London 2012 Games.[7] In 2012 Lord Bates received the Open Fields Award from the Olympic Truce Foundation USA for his work in raising awareness for the truce.
Personal life
Bates married Carole (née Whitfield) in 1983 and the couple divorced in 2008. They have two sons, Matthew (born 1987) and Alex (born 1990).
Bates later married Xuelin (née Li) in 2012.[8] He currently lives in London and the North East of England.
References
- ↑ "Tory MP wins praise for stand on pay raise". The Independent. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ↑ I'm
- ↑ "London Gazette, Number 58756 of 4 July 2008, viewed 6 July 2008". Gazettes-online.co.uk. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ↑ "Lord Bates". Gov.uk. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ↑
- ↑ "House of Lords debates, 31 March 2011, 11:06 am". Theyworkforyou.com. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ↑ "Walk for Truce website". Walkfortruce.org. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ↑ "Love blossoms for former Teesside MP Michael Bates". Sunday Sun. 15 July 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
External links
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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Preceded by Ashok Kumar |
Member of Parliament for Langbaurgh 1992 – 1997 |
Constituency abolished |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by David Willetts |
Paymaster-General 1996 – 1997 |
Succeeded by Geoffrey Robinson |