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Tony McNulty

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Prime Minister
  
Gordon Brown

Name
  
Tony McNulty

Preceded by
  
Stephen Timms

Role
  
British Politician


Prime Minister
  
Gordon Brown

Party
  
Labour Party

Preceded by
  
Tessa Jowell

Succeeded by
  
Jim Knight

Tony McNulty i1mirrorcoukincomingarticle383844eceALTERNA

Prime Minister
  
Tony Blair Gordon Brown

Preceded by
  
Hazel Blears (Crime Reduction, Policing, Community Safety and Counter-Terrorism)

Education
  
Virginia Tech, Stan College, University of Liverpool

Question time on mp s expenses tony mcnulty and jacqui smith


Anthony James McNulty (born 3 November 1958) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harrow East from 1997 to 2010 and was a government minister from 2002–09. He was Minister for London and Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform at the Department for Work and Pensions. He resigned his position on 5 June 2009 after allegations in the press regarding his expenses.

Contents

MPs' expenses: Tony McNulty says sorry for £13,837 claim


Background, education and early political career

His father migrated to England from County Donegal, Ireland.

McNulty was educated at the Salvatorian College, Wealdstone and at Stanmore Sixth Form College. He earned a BA in Political Theory and Institutions from the University of Liverpool and an MA in Political Science from Virginia Tech in the United States. Before becoming an MP he was leader of the Labour group on Harrow council and a senior lecturer in Organisational Behaviour, at the University of North London from 1983–97. In 1986 he was elected to Harrow Council for Stanmore South ward. He ran in the 1992 General Election in Harrow East.

Parliamentary career

McNulty was elected in the May 1997 General Election. He served as a Whip from 1999 to 2002, following a period as Parliamentary Private Secretary to David Blunkett. McNulty was then appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister with responsibility for neighbourhood renewal, housing and planning. He was moved to the Department for Transport in June 2003 as Parliamentary Under Secretary with responsibility for aviation, local transport, and London, and was promoted to Minister of State with responsibility for Rail and London in September 2004.

McNulty moved to the Home Office on 9 May 2005 as Minister of State for Immigration, following the general election reshuffle. In May 2006 his Home Office portfolio changed to responsibility over the policing and crime, security and counter-terrorism. (BBC). In July 2007, he became a Privy Councillor. In Gordon Brown's reshuffle on 3 October 2008 McNulty moved to become Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform at the Department for Work and Pensions and Minister for London, and although not a full member of the cabinet, he was permitted to attend unlike most junior ministers until he resigned on 5 June 2009. During his period as Minister McNulty made constant attacks on benefit fraud suggesting that "we are absolutely determined to stop benefit thieves stealing from the British taxpayer. Our commitment extends beyond the borders of the UK. Even in sunny Spain, we're closing in on benefit fraud".

MPs' expenses controversy

In 2009, McNulty was one of numerous MPs who were involved in a political scandal following the disclosure of expenses of Members of the United Kingdom Parliament. In March 2009, he admitted claiming expenses on a second home, occupied by his parents, which was 8 miles away from his primary residence, after details appeared in the Mail on Sunday. McNulty asserted that the claim was appropriate, but he ceased claiming the allowances. Subsequently, the Parliament standards committee said that advice from the Fees Office was "mistaken". He was asked to apologise to the House of Commons and repay £13,837, which he did.

In an article headlined "Tony McNulty, Benefit Cheat", The Spectator contrasted the statements made by McNulty regarding benefit cheats with his own claims for expenses. On 18 May 2007, McNulty was one of the 98 MPs who voted against applying the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to themselves.

Resignation

On 5 June 2009, in light of the expenses scandal, McNulty resigned from the government.

2010 General Election

At the 2010 general election McNulty lost his seat as Member of Parliament to Bob Blackman of the Conservatives. He attempted to become the Labour PPC for Brent Central for the next election but he was not shortlisted and the selection was won by Dawn Butler.

Personal

In September 2002 McNulty married Christine Gilbert, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools for Ofsted, in Hammersmith and Fulham. Gilbert was headmistress of Whitmore High School for eight years, starting when she was 32. It was the second marriage for both. McNulty had first married in 1994 to Gillian Travers, who later stood as a Labour candidate for Ruislip-Northwood in 2001.

References

Tony McNulty Wikipedia


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