John Mark Lancaster TD MP known as Mark Lancaster (born 12 May 1970) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was elected as Member of Parliament for the North East Milton Keynes constituency at the 2005 general election.
Early life
Lancaster was educated at the independent Kimbolton School in north-west Cambridgeshire. He has a BSc in Business Studies from the University of Buckingham; and an MBA from the University of Exeter Business School. He was awarded an Honourary PhD from Buckingham University in 2008.[2]
He was a company director for the family fireworks firm Kimbolton Fireworks before he was elected to Parliament.[3]
Army record
Between 1988 and 1990 Lancaster served in the Army on an extended gap year commission in Hong Kong with the Queens Gurkha Engineers before going to university. He then transferred his Commission to the Territorial Army where he continues to serve as a Major in the Royal Engineers. He is a qualified EOD operator (Bomb Disposal Officer) and has been on active service three times in Kosovo (1999-2000), Bosnia (2001-2002) and Afghanistan (2006).
Political career
Lancaster was a Member of Huntingdon 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 beaten by Labour candidate Bill Olner.
Lancaster was elected as Member of Parliament for the North East Milton Keynes in the 2005 general election, unseating former MP 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 current Conservative Party leader David Cameron.[2][4][5]
He has served on the Office of Deputy Prime MInister Select Committee, (2005), Defence Select Committee (2006)[6] and the International Development Select Committee (2009-).[7]
In 2005 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.[8]
He is the (unpaid) Parliamentary Advisor to the Royal Society of Chemistry [9]
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."[10]
Lancaster has made 886 verbal contributions to Parliament and 939 written questions, both well above average for MPs. He has voted in 61% of parliamentary votes, below average for MPs, but average for opposition MP's. 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. He has an ambiguous voting record in votes involving transparency of parliament (including MPs expenses) [11], gay rights, and climate change.[12]
Expenses
Second Home Allowance
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 MP's not asked to pay back any money as a result of the Sir Thomas Legg Enquiry. His second home until 2007 was his constituency address in Olney, where he claimed up to £2400 a month for interest on its mortgage. In November 2007, after splitting up with his wife, he changed the designation of his second home to a flat in Westminster, for which he claimed £1,408 in March 2008.[13]
Personal life
Lancaster was married for 12 years and later had a daughter in a different relationship.[3]
Lancaster is a supporter of MK Dons, and enjoys playing cricket, including for the House of Commons team.[3][14]
External links
