Patrick Hall

Patrick Hall (born October 20, 1951) is a British politician. He is the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Bedford and Kempston.

Early life

Patrick Hall was educated at the independent Bedford Modern School, the University of Birmingham and Oxford Polytechnic. He joined Bedford Borough Council in 1975 as a local government planning officer, becoming the borough's Town Centre Coordinator, he remained employed by the council until his election to Parliament.

Parliamentary career

He was elected as a councillor to the Bedfordshire County Council 1989-97 and was a member of the North Bedfordshire Community Health Council. He contested Bedfordshire North at the 1992 General Election, but was defeated by the veteran Conservative MP Trevor Skeet by 11,618 votes.

He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1997 General Election for the new seat of Bedford and Kempston with a majority of 8,300. He was re-elected at the 2001 and 2005 election, albeit with reduced majorities. He made his maiden speech on July 30, 1997.[1]

Patrick's key role is to represent Bedford and Kempston but he is also Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Town Centre Management and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Public and Patient Involvement in Health, Secretary of the Associate Parliamentary Health Forum and also a Member of the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee

Patrick was also Parliamentary Private Secretary to Caroline Flint MP, the former Minister for Europe until June 2009.

Patrick is not in favour of a public vote on the EU Referendum, though has stated on his own Parliamentary website in the past that Tony Blair did promise an EU vote in the Labour 2005 election manifesto, so as a result of being elected on that platform would so honour such a pledge.^{[citation needed]}

Patrick voted against an investigation into the Iraq war as well as for the introduction of National Identity cards.^{[citation needed]}

Patrick has also voted in favour of student top up fees and has shown his support in the house by voting with the Government for the introduction of the anti-terrorist laws.^{[citation needed]}

His expense claims as an MP for 2007/8 are £131,390.^[1] This was one of the lowest total claims of all MPs.

He is the first Labour MP ever to hold the Bedford seat for more than a single term.^{[citation needed]}

Patrick is married to Claudia and has two step sons, Giovanni and Gabriele. Despite the demands of a busy life, he tries to find time to play squash and enjoy the therapeutic attractions of gardening.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• The Labour Party - Patrick Hall MP official biography
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Patrick Hall MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Patrick Hall MP
• Website - Patrick Hall MP
• BBC Politics page

References

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (August 2009)

1. ^ Bedfordshire on Sunday - MPs defend £570k expenses