Andy Reed

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For the Cornish rugby player, see Andy Reed (rugby player). For the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, see Andy Reid.

Andy Reed MP
Member of Parliament for Loughborough
Incumbent
Assumed office  1 May 1997
Preceded by	Stephen Dorrell
Majority	1,996 (4.3%)
Born	17 September 1964 (1964-09-17) (age 44) Kettering, Northamptonshire
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour Co-operative
Alma mater	De Montfort University
Religion	Church of England

Andrew John Reed (born 17 September 1964) is a British Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament (MP) for the Loughborough constituency.

Contents 1 Background 2 Career as an MP 3 Party loyalty 3.1 Iraq 3.2 Identity Cards 4 Expenses claims 5 Other interests 6 Personal life 7 Notes 8 External links 8.1 Video clips 8.2 News items

[edit] Background

He spent the first two years of his life living on the Netherhall Estate in Leicester before moving to Birstall in 1966 where he became involved in the Boys' Brigade and the local Methodist Church. He went to Riverside Junior School (now called Riverside Primary School), Stonehill High School and Longslade Community College, all in Birstall (in the Charnwood district). From 1983–7 he studied at Leicester Polytechnic (now called De Montfort University) where he completed a BA (Hons) degree in Public Administration. Reed joined the Labour Party in 1983/84, and in 1987, he was elected as a Parish Councillor, a position he held until 1991. Between 1988 and 1994, he served as a governor at his old school, Stonehill High. In 1991 he moved to Sileby where he stayed until 1997, becoming a governor at Highgate Primary School in 1994. Reed worked on the John Smith leadership campaign in 1992 as a coordinator for the East Midlands. He was elected to the Sileby Ward of Charnwood Borough Council in May 1995.

Reed worked as a Parliamentary assistant to Keith Vaz from 1987 until 1988 when he joined Leicester City Council, working in Urban Regeneration on the Inner Area Programme and later as a Project Officer for Recreation & Arts. He joined Leicestershire County Council in 1990 as an Employment Officer in the Employment Initiatives Team. He then joined the Economic Development Section where he dealt with voluntary sector employment projects before becoming the European Affairs Officer for the County Council in 1994–7.

[edit] Career as an MP

Although he first stood for Parliament in Loughborough in 1992, Andy Reed was not elected until the subsequent election in 1997 when the previous MP, Conservative Health Secretary Stephen Dorrell, moved with his key rural voters to the newly created Charnwood constituency after a boundary change. Prior to the 2001 election Reed served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Culture, Media and Sport ministerial team, working with Chris Smith, Alan Howarth, Janet Anderson and Minister for Sport Kate Hoey. In 2001 he was returned with an increased majority and became the PPS to Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett, but resigned in 2003 in protest at the Government's decision to support a US-led invasion of Iraq without a United Nations resolution. He retained his seat in the 2005 election but with a reduced majority, and was recalled to the Government to be a PPS to the Treasury ministerial team, working with the Paymaster-General Dawn Primarolo.

[edit] Party loyalty

Reed has hardly ever rebelled against his party in the current parliament.^[1]

[edit] Iraq

On 18 March 2003, he was one of a majority of MPs who voted to declare war on Iraq, the motion stating that the Government "should use all means necessary to ensure the disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction"..^[2] On 9 March 2004 he voted to reject the motion that all advice prepared by the Attorney-General on the legality of the war in Iraq should be published in full.^[3] He has since (25 March 2008) voted against an Iraq inquiry.^[4]

[edit] Identity Cards

Reed has identified himself as strongly in favour of introducing Identity cards in the UK, and has voted accordingly.^[5] On 20 December 2004 Reed voted with the majority of Labour Party members to send the Identity Card Bill into the next stage of the Parliamentary progress, the Standing Committee.^[6] On 13 March 2006 he voted to reject the change to the Identity Cards Bill by the House of Lords which would make the application for an ID Card voluntary when obtaining a "designated document" such as a passport.^[7]

He has stated his views on the subject on his personal website:

Nobody has ever pretended that in themselves ID cards will prevent terrorism or all crime, but if they help in any way the question is does that outweigh any cost, technical or other objections. I don't think for one moment any human right is infringed by being able to prove who you say you are, but I do have reservations over the cost still as well as the technical feasability (sic) of the scheme. Therefore I have voted in favour of the Bill to date as it is mainly enabling legislation.

—Andy Reed^[8]

[edit] Expenses claims

In April 2009, just weeks before the MPs' expenses scandal erupted, Reed invited members of the public to help him decide if he should claim the costs of a new boiler for his second home as a Parliamentary expense, telling the local press, "Given the outcry and headlines over bath plugs, I really want to hear from constituents to help me decide what I should do. I don't know if people would feel it is the right thing to do. I feel it's a dilemma."^[9] A poll by the Leicester Mercury newspaper indicated that 83 per cent of respondents thought Reed should pay for the boiler himself and not claim it on expenses.^[10] A few weeks later on 30 April 2009 Reed revealed on his Twitter page that he thought talking about MPs' expenses was "wasting time" in Parliament.^[11]

In June 2009, two weeks ahead of the official publication of MPs' expenses claims, Reed invited local paper the Loughborough Echo to take a tour of his second home in London and examine his expenses claims. The paper revealed that Reed had claimed thousands of pounds for home entertainment equipment. Reed told the paper, "Is it necessary? Probably not, but at the time it is what I had... In hindsight, would I do it in today's climate? No."^[12]

Following the official publication of all MPs' expenses claims on 18 June 2009, the Leicester Mercury nicknamed Reed "the bargain-hunting MP" after finding that Reed "bought £3,400-worth of dining room furniture but got himself a 50% discount when he made the purchase" and that he "got £30 knocked off the cost of a £300 19-inch Sony computer monitor".^[13]

An analysis of Reed's expenses by a Conservative councillor in Reed's Loughborough constituency found that Reed had paid thousands of pounds to a Labour councillor in the constituency for IT, communications and recruitment services and questioned how the public might perceive such claims. The analysis also questioned whether Reed may have claimed expenses for costs incurred by the local Labour Party.^[14]

[edit] Other interests

Reed is a member of various All-Party Parliamentary Groups and is an officer in the following: Bermuda–Britain (Secretary), Christians in Parliament (Vice–Chair), Debt, Aid & Trade (Secretary) and Sports (Secretary). He is also Chair of the Sports Caucus, a small group of MPs with a common interest in sport and captained the winning House of Commons swimming team in the Lords vs. Commons swimming gala in 2000, 2002 and 2004.

A keen sportsman, Reed is the President of Birstall Rugby union Club and Chaired East Midlands Sport in 2000–3, has been Chair of the Shadow Board of the County Sports Partnership for Leicestershire since 2004 and also Chairs the National Strategic Partnership for Volunteers in Sport. He is active on matters relating to the church as well as international development and Fair trade.

[edit] Personal life

Reed now lives in Quorn with his wife Sarah and their son (born March 1999) and daughter (born April 2002). He married Sarah Elizabeth Chester in August 1992 in central Leicestershire at Glenfield Methodist church.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Andy Reed MP – official site
• Christians in Parliament
• Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Andy Reed MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com – Andy Reed MP
• BBC Politics
• UK Parliament - Allowances for Andy Reed MP
• Guardian - Investigate your MP's expenses - Andy Reed

[edit] Video clips

• Andy Reed on YouTube

[edit] News items

• BBC News – MP speaks of resignation 'regret'

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Stephen Dorrell	Member of Parliament for Loughborough 1997 – present	Incumbent