Karl Turner (British politician)

Karl Turner MP
Shadow Attorney General
In office 11 January 2016 – 26 June 2016
Leader	Jeremy Corbyn
Preceded by	Catherine McKinnell
Succeeded by	The Baroness Chakrabarti
Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull East
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2010
Preceded by	John Prescott
Majority	10,319 (29.4%)
Personal details
Born	Karl William Turner (1971-04-15) 15 April 1971 Hull, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Leanne Turner
Alma mater	Hull College University of Hull Northumbria University

Karl William Turner^[1] (born 15 April 1971)^[2] is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull East since 2010. He was appointed Shadow Attorney General in January 2016 by Jeremy Corbyn, before resigning in June.

Early life

Born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, Turner was educated at Bransholme High School from 1984 to 1987, and left school at the age of 16.^[3] From 1987 to 1989, he attended HCC Training to study Business Administration.^[4] Later, Turner became a self-employed antiques dealer.^[5] He returned to education in the late 1990s to study A-levels at Hull College, before he graduated with a law degree as a mature student from the University of Hull in 2004.^[3] He became a barrister in 2005 after passing the Bar Vocational Course at Northumbria University and went on to practise criminal law for the Max Gold Partnership in Hull.^[5]

Parliamentary career

Turner was selected by the Labour Party as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Kingston upon Hull East in March 2008 (although this was not confirmed by Labour Party HQ until August 2008) for the upcoming general election after John Prescott confirmed he would not stand.^[5][6] He was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull East at the 2010 general election by a majority of 8,597.^[7]

In April 2014, Turner referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after complaints were made in relation to invitations to a £45-a-head Labour Party fundraising event. The invitations were sent using parliamentary email accounts.^[8] The Commissioner for Standards concluded that there should be no inquiry.^[8] He was appointed Shadow Solicitor General by Labour leader Ed Miliband on 3 December 2014, and continued to serve as an opposition whip.^[9]

On 11 January 2016, Turner was appointed Shadow Attorney General to replace Catherine McKinnell who resigned following a reshuffle to the Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn.^[10] On 26 June 2016, Turner resigned from the Shadow Cabinet following the EU referendum, among dozens of his colleagues unhappy with Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.^[11][12]

On 14 October 2016, it was announced that Karl had returned to Labour's frontbench as a Whip.^[13]

Personal life

He is married to Leanne Turner.^[14]

References