Caroline Flint

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Caroline Louise Flint (born 20 September 1961) is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Don Valley since 1997, and previously served in the Cabinet as the Minister of State for Europe, before resigning, citing the leadership of Gordon Brown as a reason.

Early life

Flint was educated at Twickenham Girls School (the school transferred to Waldegrave School for Girls in 1977) in Clifden Road Twickenham and Richmond Tertiary College before earning her BA (Hons) in American Literature and History combined with Film Studies from the University of East Anglia. She joined the Labour Party when 17. She was the Women's Officer of the National Organisation of Labour Students for 1982-84.

She began her career with the Inner London Education Authority, as a management trainee from 1984-85 and a Policy Officer from 1985-87. She was head of the Women's Unit at the NUS from 1988-89, before joining Lambeth Council as an Equal Opportunities Officer from 1989-91, and then Welfare and Staff Development Officer from 1991-93. From 1994-97 she was the Senior Researcher and Political Officer for the GMB Union.^{[citation needed]}

Member of Parliament

Flint is a member of the Fabian Society and has been an MP since 1997. Along with several other Labour women MPs, she is a member of a tap dancing troupe known as the Division Belles. Other members include Hazel Blears, Laura Moffatt, Meg Munn, Joan Ryan and Dari Taylor.^{[citation needed]}

In Government

In 1999, she became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Peter Hain while he was Minister of State at the Department of Trade and Industry and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office before in 2002 becoming Parliamentary Private Secretary to Dr John Reid, in his capacity as Leader of the House of Commons and Minister without portfolio.

Whilst working as Hain's PPS she was criticised by the Government of Gibraltar for allegedly having falsely accused the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar on Sky News of being engaged in "smuggling on a massive scale".^[1]

She joined the Government in June 2003 as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Home Office, before moving in May 2005 to the Department of Health, with responsibility for Public Health first as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and from May 2006 as Minister of State in the same role.

As Public Health minister she was responsible for managing government programmes concerning radiation exposure, the potential bird flu epidemic, sex education, and the prevention of communicable diseases such as TB and HIV, and oversaw campaigns to tackle obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. She was also due to take charge of the enforcement of the Labour government's ban on smoking in all public places, but was moved just a couple of days before it came into force.

In February 2007, it was announced that she would be Hazel Blears' campaign manager in Blears' campaign for the Deputy Leadership election of the Labour Party following John Prescott's resignation. Blears did not win, finishing sixth in the Deputy Leadership election, but her conduct during the campaign was rewarded with the Cabinet Post of Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

In the Cabinet reshuffle of 29 June 2007 Caroline Flint moved to the Department for Work and Pensions where she served as the Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform. Flint was also appointed to the new position of Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber. On 24 January 2008, Flint was promoted to Minister of State for Housing and Planning, and as a result would now attend Cabinet meetings. She was also appointed a member of the Privy Council and she relinquished her role as regional minister.

In February 2008, she suggested unemployed council tenants should 'actively seek work', as a condition of their occupancy.^[2] In May 2008 she inadvertently revealed grim forecasts for the future of house prices when she was photographed walking into Downing Street with her briefing papers visible. Close inspection revealed that her document read: "We can't tell how bad it will get."^[3]

Later in 2008 she drew further criticism after stating in a TV interview that it had been 'obvious all over the media for several years that property is overvalued'.

She was moved to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the October 2008 reshuffle, to become Minister of State for Europe. On 31 March 2009 she admitted that she had not read the Lisbon Treaty, the controversial document which codifies the rules of the European Union. Critics described her admission as "extraordinary" and "unbelievable," particularly given that the minister's responsibilities include overseeing the introduction of the Treaty.^[4]

Resignation

Flint resigned after the Cabinet reshuffle of 5 June 2009. She resigned claiming Gordon Brown was running a "two-tier government", and that she felt that she had been treated as "female window dressing". An article published by the Daily Mail characterised this position as in conflict with Flint's decision to pose for Observer Woman Magazine. After the photoshoot Flint commented that her looks were a double edged sword and that male colleagues would not be judged in the same way.^[5] Only the day before her resignation she had professed her loyalty to the Prime Minister.^[6] Flint renewed her attack on Gordon Brown in a newspaper article on 7 June 2009, she told The Observer that she was not ashamed of the glamour photoshoot which had upset Downing Street. She launched a broadside against the Prime Minister, complaining of "this constant pressure, this negative bullying".^[7]

Personal life

In July 2001 she married her longtime boyfriend, Phil Cole, a former Labour Party regional officer and public relations professional. They have one child and live in Flint's South Yorkshire constituency.^{[citation needed]} She also has a son and daughter from her first marriage to Saief Zammel, a Tunisian stockbroker.^[8]

MPs' expenses scandal

Main article: United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal

In May 2009, details of MPs' expenses including Flint's were disclosed. Specifically, she claimed £14,000 to pay for solicitors' fees and stamp duty on a new flat she had bought, while 'flipping' her designated first home to a house in her constituency. This enabled her to designate the new flat as her 'second home' and claim further expenses for its upkeep.^[9] In response to these revelations, Flint, defended her claims and was quoted as saying, "At each stage I sought advice from the House of Commons, and never sought to make personal gains from public funds".^[10]

Flint's actions have not been investigated by the police. On 5 June 2009 the police at Scotland Yard and the Crown Prosecution Service issued a statement regarding MPs' expenses, which stated that they had not found evidence of criminal activity and that it was 'highly unlikely' that MPs would face charges. The police said that the incidents of flipping second homes to avoid paying capital gains tax was not a matter for police investigation^[11] .

References

External links

• Caroline Flint official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Caroline Flint MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Caroline Flint MP
• BBC Politics page

Audio clips

• Talking to Kath Melandri and Simon Lederman on the BBC LDN Drivetime show in 2005
• You and Yours discussing downgrading cannabis in February 2005
• Cloning horses on the Today programme in May 2004
• On the Today programme talking about gun crime in September 2003

Video clips

• Discussing the smoking ban

News items

• Council Housing blunder - Daily Mail February 2007