Norman Baker

For other people named Norman Baker, see Norman Baker (disambiguation).
The Right Honourable
Norman Baker
Minister of State for the Home Office
In office
7 October 2013 – 3 November 2014
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Jeremy Browne
Succeeded by Lynne Featherstone
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
In office
15 May 2010 – 7 October 2013
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Paul Clark
Succeeded by Robert Goodwill
Member of Parliament
for Lewes
In office
1 May 1997 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by Tim Rathbone
Succeeded by Maria Caulfield
Personal details
Born (1957-07-26) 26 July 1957
Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Nationality British
Political party Liberal Democrat
Alma mater Royal Holloway, University of London

Norman John Baker PC (born 26 July 1957) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewes in East Sussex from the 1997 general election to his defeat in 2015.

On 7 October 2013, Baker was appointed Minister of State at the Home Office in the coalition government of 2010-15.[1] Baker resigned from his role as Minister for the Home Office on 3 November 2014.

Early life

Baker was born in Aberdeen, but his family moved to Hornchurch in East London in 1968.[2] He was educated at the Royal Liberty School in Gidea Park, near Romford, and at Royal Holloway College, University of London, graduating in 1978 with a BA degree in German & History.[3][4]

Baker was a regional director for Our Price Records for five years from 1978. He worked at Malling Street Service Station, Lewes, from 1983 to 1985. He taught English as a foreign language from 1985–97,[3] with a spell as a Liberal Democrat environment researcher in the House of Commons in 1989–90.[5] In 1987, he was elected as a councillor on the Lewes District Council, and two years later was also elected to the local county council of East Sussex. He became the Leader of Lewes District Council in 1991, a position he held until his election as an MP.[3]

Parliamentary career

Baker contested Lewes at the 1992 general election, but the sitting Conservative Party MP Tim Rathbone retained the seat.[6] He stood again at the 1997 election, and this time gained the seat with a majority of 1,300 votes over Rathbone,[7] becoming Lewes's first non-Conservative MP since 1874.[3]

Baker prided himself on "uncovering scandals and conflicts of interest among MPs and the government". His consistent questioning of Peter Mandelson may have helped lead to Mandelson's second resignation from government,[8][9] and he has also raised issues about Lord Birt and his role as Tony Blair's adviser. After compiling figures in 2002 which revealed that the government's fleet of ministerial cars had grown to its largest ever size,[10] he began in January 2005 to campaign to force disclosure of the details of MPs' expenses under the Freedom of Information Act, finally succeeding in February 2007.[11] His success enabled The Daily Telegraph to publish details of his own expense claims, which included £3,000 for "office rental". In October 2001 he won a test case in the High Court, when the National Security Appeals panel ruled that the Data Protection Act required the security service MI5 to allow him access to information which he believed the security service holds on him, the first time this had happened in the 92-year history of MI5.[12][13] The Daily Mail described him as having "consistently been a thorn in the Government's side".[14] In 2001 he was named "Inquisitor of the Year" in The Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Awards and, in February 2002, he won the Channel 4 Opposition MP of the Year Award.[15]

Baker is regarded as coming from the left-wing of the party, and until losing his seat was a member of the Beveridge Group within the Liberal Democrats.[16] A staunch republican, he is also well known for his vocal support for animal rights groups, and he is a strong proponent for greater protection of animals under law.[17] Described in 1997 by The Times columnist Matthew Parris as a "classic House of Commons bore",[17] his speeches were compared by Labour MP Stephen Pound with "root canal surgery without anaesthetic",[18] but Parris added in 2001 "You underestimate him at your peril. He has a habit of being right."[17] He asked two parliamentary questions of the Ministry of Defence in 2006 and 2007 on the subject of what the Ministry calls "unexplained aerial phenomena" including: "To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department's unidentified flying objects project is extant; and if he will make a statement."[19]

Front bench career

In the 2001–05 Parliament, Baker was a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, and was appointed as Shadow Environment Secretary in 2002, a post he held until his resignation in 2006 following the election of Sir Menzies Campbell as party leader.

As Shadow Environment Secretary, he joined in May 2005 with two former environment ministers, the Labour MP Michael Meacher and the Conservative John Gummer, to table a cross-party Early Day Motion No. 178[20] in support Climate Change Bill drafted by Friends of the Earth.[21][22] The motion called for a Bill to be "brought forward in this Parliament so that annual cuts in carbon dioxide emissions of 3 per cent can be delivered in a framework that includes regular reporting and new scrutiny and corrective processes" and attracted 412 signatures.[20] Baker also opposed nuclear power, describing it as "hopelessly uneconomic", and warning that new nuclear power stations "would generate vast quantities of nuclear waste and divert essential funding away from energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy."[23]

He returned to the front bench in July 2007, when he was appointed as Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.[24][25] In December 2007, after the election of Nick Clegg as party leader, Baker (who had supported Clegg in the leadership contest) returned to the front bench as Shadow Secretary of State for Transport.[26][27]

David Kelly

Cover of Baker's book The Strange Death of David Kelly

Baker announced on 19 May 2006 that his decision to step down from the shadow cabinet had been based on a decision to pursue a quest to establish the truth behind the death in 2003 of David Kelly,[28] an expert in biological warfare employed by the Ministry of Defence and a former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq. Kelly's discussion with BBC Today programme journalist Andrew Gilligan about the British government's dossier on weapon of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq inadvertently caused a major political scandal. Kelly had been found dead days after appearing before the Parliamentary committee investigating the scandal.

The Hutton Inquiry, a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death, ruled that he had committed suicide and that Kelly had not in fact said some of the things attributed to him by Gilligan. Baker said that Hutton had "blatantly failed to get to the bottom of matters", and that "the more I look into it the less convinced I am by the explanation and the more unanswered questions appear which ought to have been addressed properly by the Hutton inquiry or by the coroner."[28]

In July that year, Baker claimed that data had been wiped from the hard drive on one of his computers. Although some news reports suggested that this related to evidence showing David Kelly's death was not a suicide,[29][30] Baker maintained that none of his research on Kelly had been stored on that particular machine.[31] In April 2007 he announced his findings, telling a meeting in Lewes:

I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that this could not be suicide. The medical evidence does not support it and David Kelly's state of mind and personality suggests otherwise. It was not an accident so I am left with the conclusion that it is murder."[32]

His book, The Strange Death of David Kelly, was published in October 2007, and serialised in the Daily Mail. Some relatives of David Kelly have expressed their displeasure at the publication. The husband of Kelly's sister Sarah said "It is just raking over old bones ... I can't speak for the whole family, but I've read it all [Baker's theories], every word, and I don't believe it."[33] However, Baker writes in the book that other relatives of Kelly also think his death was suspicious.

Censure

In December 2007, Baker was criticised, but not fined by the House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges for a newsletter which contained an "advertising feature" about a Liberal Democrat MEP.[34] The Committee's report concluded: "We agree with the Commissioner that this element of Mr Donovan's complaint should be upheld, and we reiterate that the inclusion of material of a party political nature is not permissible in publications funded from parliamentary allowances."[35]

Tibet

Baker is President of the Tibet Society,[36][37] and was a member of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet.[38]

In February 2008 he released a statement to mark International Mother Language Day saying "The Chinese government are following a deliberate policy of extinguishing all that is Tibetan, including their own language in their own country. It may be obvious, but Tibetan should be the official language of Tibet."[38] Tibetan is an official language of Tibet and other Tibetan-inhabited areas in China. In school, the younger grades are taught in Tibetan for new ideas, but the rest is in Mandarin Chinese including for concepts in sciences and maths.[39]

On 18 March 2008 he addressed Tibetan protesters outside the Chinese embassy in London, and also delivered a letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown from six Tibetan students in the UK who were supporting Tibetans in the 2008 Tibetan unrest. The students' letter called for an end to the unrest's suppression, a UN investigation into it, and for unfettered media access in Tibet.[37]

In March 2010 the BBC ran an investigation detailing 37 occasions that Baker failed to declare a financial interest in Tibet during parliamentary debates and questions, despite receiving hospitality from the Tibetan Government in exile. Baker released a statement saying that it was an oversight.[40]

Coalition Government

At the 2010 general election, Baker was again returned as MP for Lewes. The Liberal Democrats entered a coalition agreement with the Conservative Party on 11 May 2010, and Baker was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Transport.

In 2013, Baker was quoted in saying that rail fares are "not that expensive" when compared to fares for rail travel in other countries, and that deals available reduce the price significantly. This was against fare increases of more than 50% for "the average season ticket" between 2003 and 2013.[41][42]

In the October 2013 reshuffle, Baker was appointed to the Home Office as Minister of State, overseeing issues relating to national security, replacing fellow Liberal Democrat Jeremy Browne.[1] In this role he repeatedly suggested changes to drug policy, saying that patients should have access to cannabis for cancer pain relief and multiple sclerosis[43] and that all options regarding legal highs were under consideration.[44][45] The Home Office repeatedly rejected progressive suggestions.[46]

In December 2013 it was reported that Baker had encouraged the Director of Public Prosecutions to reopen or reconsider six cases involving female genital mutilation, as forbidden by the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985.[47] There had been a law on the books since 1985, but there had been no prosecution until February 2014, when it was announced that the first was scheduled soon thereafter.[48] It was estimated that 170,000 women had been subject to the assault until then.[48] A doctor was the first person charged with an offence contrary to the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 in March 2014.[49]

Baker resigned from the Home Office on 3 November 2014, citing conflicts with Home Secretary Theresa May.[50] Baker described being the only Liberal Democrat in the Home Office as like "the only hippy at an Iron Maiden concert".[51]

2015 General Election

On two occasions in the run-up to the election, the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg visited the towns of Seaford, Lewes and Newhaven (which are within the Lewes constituency) with Baker.[52][53][54] At the election Baker's seven thousand majority was overturned by the Conservative candidate Maria Caulfield, a local nurse.[55]

General Election 2015: Lewes
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Maria Caulfield[56] 19,206 38.0 +1.3
Liberal Democrat Norman Baker[56] 18,123 35.9 -16.1
UKIP Ray Finch[57] 5,427 10.7 +7.3
Labour Lloyd Russell-Moyle[56] 5,000 9.9 +4.9
Green Alfie Stirling[56] 2,784 5.5 +4.1
Majority 1,083 2.1
Turnout 50,540 72.7 -0.2

Life after Parliament

In 2015, Baker, a keen music enthusiast, re-formed his old band The Reform Club, which announced that it would be releasing an album of 15 original songs on 25 March. Baker is the chief lyricist with music written by Mike Phipps. The band also includes Geoff Smith on bass and vocals, Chris Dartnell on drums and vocals, Mike Phipps on guitars, keyboards and vocals, Brian Wiseman on lead guitar and vocals, with Maxwell Gardner on guitar for live appearances. A second album, Never yesterday, is awaiting release.[58] As Norman Baker and Friends, he released a four-track EP, Animal Countdown, in March 2015, which highlights the plight of endangered species.[59] He also presents two radio shows on the local community radio station [60] Seahaven FM, The Hidden 60s on a Monday evening and Anything Goes on a Sunday morning.

Baker's political memoir Against The Grain was published on 18 September 2015. In an interview with The Independent newspaper on 11 August he said he had no intention of seeking election again.[61]

References

  1. 1 2 Rowena Mason Norman Baker could be thorn in Theresa May's side at Home Office, The Guardian (7 October 2013)/
  2. ↑ Ben Quinn, Norman Baker life and times: poacher who eventually became gamekeeper, The Guardian (4 November 2014).
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Who's Who: Norman Baker MP". Liberal Democrats website. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  4. ↑ Election highs for Royal Holloway alumni, www.rhul.ac.uk
  5. ↑ "Norman Baker MP (subscription required)". DodOnline.
  6. ↑ "UK general election results, April 1992: Lewes". Richard Kimber's political science resources. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  7. ↑ "UK general election results, May 1997: Lewes". Richard Kimber's political science resources. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  8. ↑ Nigel Morris (15 February 2007). "Is Norman Baker the most hated man in Westminster?". The Independent. London. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  9. ↑ "Norman Baker's week in politics". BBC News online. London. 26 January 2001. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  10. ↑ David Hencke (18 December 2002). "Ministers' car fleet grows to record size". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  11. ↑ Will Woodward (14 February 2007). "From £16,000 on trains to £230 on a bike: politicians' travel expenses revealed". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  12. ↑ Philip Johnston (10 October 2001). "MP wins landmark test case over secrecy of MI5 files". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  13. ↑ "MP wins landmark battle over MI5 files". BBC News online. London. 1 October 2001. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  14. ↑ Newling, Dan (24 July 2006). "Why I believe David Kelly's death may have been murder, by MP". The Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  15. ↑ Davies, Trudi (7 December 2006). "Your call... your MP". BBC One. BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  16. ↑ "Norman Baker, Liberal Democrat MP". BBC News online. London. 22 October 2002. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  17. 1 2 3 ""I'm no bore" says Baker". BBC News online. London. 14 June 2002. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  18. ↑ "Hansard, 12 Jun 2002: Column 860". House of Commons. 12 June 2002. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  19. ↑ "Hansard, 28 Mar 2006 : Column 905W". House of Commons. 28 March 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  20. 1 2 "Early Day Motion 178: Climate Change". Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  21. ↑ "Climate Change Bill, 2005". Parliament of the United Kingdom. 13 July 2005. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  22. ↑ "Friends of the Earth secures Climate Change Bill". Friends of the Earth website. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  23. ↑ "Nuclear energy 'too uneconomic'". BBC News online. London. 17 January 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  24. ↑ "Menzies Campbell unveils new Shadow Cabinet". Liberal Democrats website. 4 July 2007. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  25. ↑ Wolverhampton Liberal Democrats (4 July 2007). "Sir Menzies reshuffles top team". Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  26. ↑ Rosa Prince (24 December 2007). "Charles Kennedy on Nick Clegg's front bench". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  27. ↑ "Nick Clegg reveals Shadow Cabinet". Liberal Democrats website. 20 December 2007. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  28. 1 2 Brian Wheeler (19 May 2006). "MP investigates Dr Kelly's death". BBC News online. London. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  29. ↑ "Files 'wiped' in Dr Kelly inquiry". BBC News online. London. 13 July 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  30. ↑ "MP says files into Kelly death have been wiped". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 14 July 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  31. ↑ The Strange Death of David Kelly Norman Baker
  32. ↑ Miles Godfrey And Katya Mira (13 April 2007). "Murder theory that just won't go away". The Argus. Retrieved 24 November 2007. The greatest British conspiracy theory of the modern age was unveiled this week. Lewes MP Norman Baker set out in detail for the first time why he believes the secret service murdered the Government scientist Dr David Kelly.
  33. ↑ Brian Brady and Rachel Shields (21 October 2007). "Kelly family appeals for calm after new murder claims by MP". The Independent. London. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  34. ↑ Katya Mira (16 December 2007). "MP criticised over spending". The Argus. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  35. ↑ "Select Committee on Standards and Privileges Second Report of Session 2007-08: Conduct of Mr Norman Baker, Mr Malcolm Bruce and Mr Sadiq Khan". House of Commons. 13 December 2007. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  36. ↑ "Tibet Society website". Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  37. 1 2 Iain Haddow (18 March 2008). "Tibetan exiles vent their anger". BBC News Online. London. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  38. 1 2 "Norman Baker MP speaks about threats to Tibetian language". Free Tibet Campaign. 21 February 2008. Archived from the original on 5 March 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
  39. ↑ Blanchard, Ben (13 July 2010). "Tibetans' mother tongue faces tide of Chinese". Shigatse. Reuters. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  40. ↑ "Norman Baker MP: Foreign trips and rule breaches". BBC News. 22 March 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  41. ↑ Hope, Christopher (2 January 2013). "New rail fares 'not as expensive as presented', says Norman Baker". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  42. ↑ Taylor, Matthew (2 January 2013). "'Rail an extravagance for many' after 50% fare rises in 10 years". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  43. ↑ "Drugs Minister Norman Baker calls for pain-relief cannabis to be legal". BBC News. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  44. ↑ "Minister 'open-minded' on legal high solutions". BBC News. BBC. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  45. ↑ "Sell danger drugs on the high street, says minister". The Times. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  46. ↑ "Home Office rules out licensing of 'legal highs' shops". BBC News. BBC. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  47. ↑ Barrett, David (12 December 2013). "FGM Female Genital Mutilation: Britain's first ever criminal charges could be brought as cases reopened - Telegraph". Telegraph.co.uk. London.
  48. 1 2 "FGM: 170,000 UK victims of this sickening procedure, yet no prosecution until now. Why?". News - Telegraph Blogs. London. 6 February 2014.
  49. ↑ Evans, Martin (21 March 2014). "Doctor becomes first person in Britain charged with performing a Female Genital Mutilation procedure". Telegraph.co.uk. London.
  50. ↑ "Norman Baker quits as Home Office minister". BBC News. 4 November 2014.
  51. ↑ Nicholas Watt. "Norman Baker resigns as Home Office minister with parting shot at May". the Guardian.
  52. ↑ http://www.evaclite.com/norman-baker-visits-evaclite/4584355909
  53. ↑ http://www.tatesgardencentres.co.uk/index.php/charity-and-community/362-nick-clegg-visits-paradise-park
  54. ↑ http://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/county-news/delight-about-easyart-being-based-in-newhaven-1-6021773
  55. ↑ "Election 2015: Lewes". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  56. 1 2 3 4 http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/lewes-2015.html
  57. ↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/lewes/
  58. ↑ "The Reform Club".
  59. ↑ "New EP launched by Norman Baker in Lewes".
  60. ↑ "Seahaven FM".
  61. ↑ "Norman Baker: Former minister says the UK is becoming a 'one-party state'".

Publications

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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Tim Rathbone		 Member of Parliament for Lewes
1997–2015 		Succeeded by
Maria Caulfield
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