Mark Lancaster

Early life

Lancaster was educated at Kimbolton School where his father Ronald Lancaster was chaplain. He graduated as a BSc in Business Studies from the University of Buckingham and MBA from the University of Exeter Business School. He was awarded an Honorary PhD from Buckingham in 2008.

He was a company director for the family firm Kimbolton Fireworks before he was elected to Parliament.

Military career

Between 1988 and 1990 Lancaster served in the British Army on an extended gap year Commission in Hong Kong with the Queen's Gurkha Engineers before going up to university. He then transferred his Commission to the Army Reserve where he continues to serve as a Colonel in the Royal Engineers. He has been on active service three times in Kosovo (1999–2000), Bosnia (2001–2002) and Afghanistan (2006).

He was awarded the Territorial Decoration (TD) in 2002 and the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal (VRSM) in 2011. He was awarded the Bar for a further five years service in 2016.

Political career

Lancaster was a Member of Huntingdonshire District Council (1995–1999) where he served as the Chairman of the Leisure Committee (1996–1999). At the 2001 general election, Lancaster stood as the Conservative candidate for Nuneaton. He was defeated by the Labour candidate Bill Olner.

Lancaster was elected as Member of Parliament gaining North East Milton Keynes for the Conservatives in the 2005 general election, and succeeding Brian White of the Labour Party.

Lancaster was a Conservative Party whip between November 2006 until July 2007, when he was appointed Shadow Minister for International Development under the then Leader of the Opposition David Cameron.

He has served on the Office of Deputy Prime Minister Select Committee, (2005), Defence Select Committee (2006) and the International Development Select Committee (2009–10).

In 2006, he introduced a Ten Minute Rule Bill in the House that would allow local councils to ban glasses and bottles in late night clubs and bars and replace them with plastic in support of his constituent Blake Golding. Lancaster also submitted an early day motion in 2006 calling for the government to ban sales of alcohol in glass containers in bars after 11pm.

He was the (unpaid) Parliamentary Advisor to the Royal Society of Chemistry until his promotion to Minister in 2012.

Shortly after his re-election in 2010, he was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Secretary of State for International Development. In September 2012 he became a Government Minister when he was made a Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty's Treasury. In May 2015 He was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence, with responsibility for Defence Veterans and Personnel. He had Reserves added to his portfolio in 2016. He was promoted to the Minister of State for the Armed Forces after the 2017 general election.

In 2011, he was a member of the special Select Committee set up to scrutinise the Bill that became the Armed Forces Act 2011. He was also a member of the Public Bill Committee for the Defence Reform Act 2014.

Political views

Lancaster has stated his disagreement with the UK Government's policy on the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In an interview with the BBC, he stated "It may well be much harder to get the British public to back other overseas adventures by the military because of what's happened in Iraq".

Up until the June 2017 general election, Lancaster had made 3,308 contributions to Parliament well above average for MPs. He has voted in 88% of parliamentary votes in the 2015–17 parliament. According to the Public Whip, he voted strongly against the introduction of ID cards and in favour of a smoking ban and an investigation into the Iraq war. In votes involving transparency of parliament (including MPs expenses), gay rights, and climate change his voting record is not easily categorized by obvious stereotypes, although in early 2013, Lancaster voted against legislation allowing gay couples to marry at second reading but supported minor 'tidying up' legislation supporting the principle once the main Bill had passed through the House of Commons. He later tweeted in July 2016 that he had been wrong to have opposed second reading.

In 2011 Lancaster introduced his own Private Members Bill, which enabled special Olympic 1 kg gold and silver coins to be struck by the Royal Mint as part of the 2012 Olympic legacy. These have now been launched by the Royal Mint. In 2013 Lancaster was successful in his four-year campaign to get Khat classified as a category C drug following calls from his constituents.

Second Home Allowance

Initially under new Parliamentary rules introduced after the 2010 general election, Lancaster did not qualify for the second homes allowances as he was considered to be a 'London Area MP' during which time he had no second home or London accommodation. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) reversed this decision following their review in April 2011.

In the 2005–10 Parliament, Lancaster was left unscathed by the expenses investigation, he did not feature in The Daily Telegraph's investigation and was one of a minority of MPs not asked to pay back any money as a result of the Sir Thomas Legg Enquiry.

Personal life

Lancaster married Katherine Reader in 1995. They divorced in 2009 and Lancaster had a daughter in a subsequent relationship. In February 2014, he married fellow divorced Conservative MP Caroline Dinenage. Lancaster is a supporter of MK Dons, and enjoys playing cricket, which includes the House of Commons team.