William) James CLAPPISON Conservative HERTSMERE '92

William) James CLAPPISON Conservative HERTSMERE '92-

Majority: 4,902 (11.8%) over Labour 4-way Description: The South Hertfordshire commuter towns of Potters Bar, Borehamwood-Elstree, Radlett and Bushey - all but the last were previously in South Hertfordshire; mostly middle- class, except for the vast Borehamwood GLC overspill estate; it has a significant Jewish minority; contains Elstree film studios; in '95 it lost the 5,500 voters in London Colney ward to St Albans; Position: On Home Affairs Select Committee '03-; ex: a Treasury Spokesman '02-03; Shadow Secretary of State, Work and Pensions '01-02; a Spokesman: on Education '99-01, Home Affairs

'97-99; Under Secretary, for the Environment '95- 97; on Select Committees: on Members' Interests '94-95, Health '92-93; PPS, to Lady Blatch '93-95; Secretary, Conservative MPs' Education Committee '92-93; former Treasurer, Oxford University Conservative Association; Outlook: One of the few Tory front-benchers chastened by his near-defeat in '97 in the formerly-safe seat previously held by Cecil Parkinson; latterly transformed into a moderate and sensible Spokesman, he was a Clarke supporter in '01; previously a combative young superloyal Rightwinger judged by the GUARDIAN's Simon Hoggart as having been given in '95 a "brown-nose promotion" to a junior Ministry as a reward for his naive, stooge questions and over-egged Government-supporting speeches; at the Whips' behest, he helped block Roger Berry's disabled rights Bill in '94; was somewhat more restrained about legal and constituency problems, such as local unemployment and Elstree's threatened studios; pro- Zionist (Conservative Friends of Israel); a millionaire Leeds barrister, property company director and former Lloyd's `name' with substantial inherited wealth, was rewarded with Cecil Parkinson's safe seat after four times fighting doggedly in hopeless ones - Bootle (twice), Yorkshire South Euro- seat and Barnsley East with unquestioning loyalty to Thatcherite dogmas; History: His rich farmer father was a Conservative Councillor; he joined the Young Conservatives; became Treasurer of Oxford University Conservative Association; was selected to fight hopeless Barnsley East '86; was delighted by a drop of 429 in local unemployment, bringing rate down from 20.5% to 20% Mar '87; lost Barnsley East to Terry Patchett by an even greater majority than his predecessor, achieving a 5% swing to Labour June '87; strongly supported motion backing the poll tax at annual Conservative conference Oct '87; as candidate for hopeless Yorkshire South in Euro-election, backed Mrs Thatcher's belief in Europe as "an association of independent and democratic nations linked by trade and co-operation in matters of common interest and not for the Community to become a federation of states governed by a central bureaucracy" Sep '88; lost Yorkshire South June '89; at Conservative annual conference urged the swift introduction of the poll tax; also repeated his opposition to a federal Europe: "we do not want full European Union in a federal state" Oct '89; was selected to fight Mike Carr on the death of Bootle's Allan Roberts Apr '90; insisted "the extreme Left is still very much in place in the Labour Party in Merseyside; the selection of the Labour Party candidate [Mike Carr] in this constituency...looks like nothing more than a cheap confidence trick to tell the people that Merseyside is free of Leftwing influence" Apr '90; during his hopeless effort to overturn the bequeathed Labour majority of almost 25,000, was supported by Kenneth Baker, Chris Patten, Michael Howard, Michael Heseltine, Michael Portillo and David Trippier; "we've had very little abuse," he said, "the people of Bootle admire Mrs Thatcher's guts" May '90; his Tory vote went down to 9% from a previous 20%; he finished 23,500 behind Labour and only 41 votes ahead of the Liberal

Democrats; this represented a 9.8% swing from Tories to Labour May '90; loyally agreed to to fight Bootle again after the sudden death of MP Mike Carr Aug '90; welcomed the Thatcher Government's "positive record of achievement" on the Merseyside; claimed the Unified Business Rate would "benefit northwest business to the tune of over 300m when in full force" Oct '90; claimed Bootle Tories had offered a poll tax 104 lower per couple Oct '90; at annual Tory conference a month before Mrs Thatcher was deposed, claimed Tories were "united in support of the Government's policies" Oct '90; was again defeated at Bootle, this time by Joe Benton, achieving a fractionally higher percentage of the vote and finishing 371 ahead of the Liberal Democrat Nov '90; was short-listed for Nigel Lawson's safe Blaby seat Dec '90; at 34, was selected for Hertsmere over Sir Paul Beresford, after Cecil Parkinson announced his impending retirement Mar '91; retained seat by 18,735 votes, almost identical with Parkinson's last majority, but a 2% swing to Labour Apr '92; was elected Joint Secretary of Conservative MPs' Education Committee with David Faber, defeating Lady Olga Maitland June '92; urged setting of performance targets for courts "so that the public can know which courts are the most successful" June '92; was named to Health Select Committee July '92; visited Argentina and Uruguay as guest of Inter- Parliamentary Council Against Anti- Semitism July '92; enthused about choice of grant-maintained status by a constituency school as a "beacon of hope" Nov '92; said parents had every right to information about their children's examination performances and would "feel huge disappointment if some teachers' unions boycotted their children's tests" Dec '92; complained about rundown of St Albans hospital on behalf of Peter Lilley and himself Feb '93; urged encouragement to Israelis over Golan heights, despite deportation to Lebanon of Palestinian Hammas extremists Feb '93; welcomed Home Secretary Michael Howard's promise of tougher action against juvenile offenders, including more secure training centres Mar '93; amidst usual superloyal claims that "Conservative values" were "shared more widely than ever before among the electorate", admitted that Hertfordshire "went into recession earlier than some other parts of the country" and "there is no lack of concern about unemployment"; agreed that only growth would solve the problem but admitted that most local people insisted that growth was still "fragile" June '93; backed Israel's "progress" on curbing Jewish settlements on the West Bank June '93; proposed to introduce Right to Silence (Amendment) Bill to permit court comment if accused refused to answer quesstions June '93; urged John Major to redress "the absence of a power for the courts to send persistent juvenile offenders into secure accommodation" July '93; asked PM John Major a stooge question about Britain's agenda on "cutting deficits, deregulation and improving the flexibility of the labour market" July '93; introduced Bill to double maximum sentence for young offenders July '93; insisted social security expenditure was too high and had to be reviewed July '93; urged "careful monitoring" of "innovative" workstart pilot project aimed at "getting the long-term unemployed back into work" Oct '93; with a score of other Tory Rightwingers, threatened to vote against the Government on further defence cuts Oct '93; asked stooge question about local NHS reforms which would "help managers and professionals to work together with purchasers to promote high-quality care and best clinical practice" in his constituency Oct '93; fed Environment Under Secretary Tony Baldry a stooge question about how much better off single people were in Tory areas Oct '93; with five other loyal Rightwingers, decided to try to rid 1922 Commitee of fervent anti- Maastricht Rightwingers: Sir George Gardiner, John Townend, Sir Rhodes Boyson and James Pawsey Nov '93; welcomed Michael Howard's law and order proposals in Queen's Speech, pretending to expect Labour's Home Office spokesman Tony Blair to back them as well Nov '93; voted to restore capital punishment, especially for killers of policemen Feb '94; voted to reduce age of homosexual consent to 18, but not 16, Feb '94; with threatened Elstree studios in his constituency, backed film industry proposals to make Britain more attractive to US film-makers by fiscal incentives Mar-Apr '94; opposed Paddy Ashdown's proposal to abandon UK's "national veto" as handing Westminster's power over to Brussels Apr '94; with Lady

Olga Maitland and others put down Government-sponsored crippling amendments to kill off Dr Berry's disabled rights Bill May '94; asked stooge question of PM John Major, attacking signalmen's strike and berating Labour for not taking a Tory line June '94; welcoming "the significant fall in serious crime", urged Tony Blair to give up his campaign for the Labour Leadership in the country to return to the Commons to welcome the fall in serious crime June '94; declaring his interest as a Lloyd's `name', insisted that protecting the environment should have priority when ships with dangerous cargoes were sinking July '94; claimed inward investment would be attracted most by "continuing the economic policies which have brought the UK such great and growing successes throughout the '80s and '90s" Oct '94; denied he was briefed by lobbyist Ian Greer, active in blocking efforts to ban tobacco advertising '94; was added to Select Committee on Members' Interests Dec '94; was promoted Under Secretary for the Environment, yielding his post on the Members' Interests committee July '95; welcomed Tory MP Andrew Hunter's Bill to impose on-the-spot fines of 10 on dog- owners refusing to clean up after their dogs Mar '96; rejected as unnecessary the proposal of Tory MP David Ashby to give the partner of a gay tenant the right to inherit the tenancy in the event of death, since same-sex couples could register as joint tenants Mar '96; voted to extend the waiting period for divorce and against no-fault divorces Apr '96; rejected Labour MP Richard Burden's effort to introduce compulsory control of water leakages May '96; voted for 3% cap on MPs' pay rises, cuts in their mileage allowances and against pensions based on 43,000 July '96; endorsed Tory MP Harry Greenway's Bill to make punishable by on-the-spot fines of 100 nighttime noises exceeding 35 decibels Dec '96; opposed EU-wide bans on noise pollutions, insisting cultural differences made it an issue of strictly national concern Dec '96; announced Tory Government's abandonment of plans to ban smoking in all public buildings, but said people "who have chosen not to be smokers should be able to expect an area in public places which is smoke-free" Dec '96; narrowly retained his formerly-safe seat with his majority slashed to one-sixth, 3,075, on a pro-Labour swing of 15.1% May '97; backed William Hague for Leader May-June '97; was named Deputy Spokesman on Home Affairs, under Dr Brian Mawhinney June '97; argued for the "deterrent value of prison" for young offenders against new Home Secretary's effort to emphasise education and training for them Aug '97; removed the Commons pass from his researcher, Stuart Pollock, revealed as a Consultant to the loan firm City Mortgage Corporation (CMC), linked to US fraudsters, whose managing director, David Steene, had donated 20,000 to William Hague's leadership campaign Aug '97; after a long period of restrained opposition tried to become aggressive on Labour's inadequate supply of secure accommodation for young delinquents, invoking Home Secretary Jack Straw's taunt of its being "remarkably poorly researched" since the Major Government had taken nearly seven years to provide 170 places, some unusable Feb '98; backed alternatives to prison especially for women, drug mis-users and young offenders Dec '98; asked how many of 7,000 sex offenders eligible for release under new home detention curfew system would be released Jan '99; blamed Labour's mishandling of computerisation for "chaos" in the Immigration Service Feb '99; sought protection for vulnerable young people in light of decriminalisation of boys under 16 who have consensual sex with older men Feb '99; opposed removal of hereditary peers and election by them of 91 hereditaries to remain in reformed House of Lords Feb '99; queried length of transition period in Lords reform and foresaw vast increase in Prime Ministerial patronage Feb '99; opposed making lorry drivers liable for clandestine immigrants who had infiltrated their vehicles Feb '99; warned of non-return of tax forms if police were given right to examine tax returns to combat organised crime Mar '99; his amendment on appeals against deportation orders was welcomed by Home Office Minister Mike O'Brien May '99; he moved the 3rd Reading of Breeding and Sale of Dogs (Welfare) Bill to tighter rules on commercial dog breeding establishments May '99; criticised early release after six weeks of prisoners sentenced to six months, and release of violent offenders, but queried disproportionate growth in women's prison population May '99; noted that new

3 Copyright © Parliamentary Profile Services Ltd. William) James CLAPPISON Conservative HERTSMERE '92- rules on right of appeal for overstaying immigrants were more severe than under the Conservatives June '99; was named Deputy Spokesman on Education June '99; said threats to grammar schools would drive them into the private sector and so deliver educational opportunities to the few July '99; welcomed snap inspections of and more whole-class teaching in primary schools July '99; doubted practicality of child curfew orders and vague definition of anti-social-behaviour orders and their under-use Sep '99; queried Government guidelines for setting educational standards for children as young as 3, Oct '99; attacked Schools Minister Estelle Morris for rising class sizes in secondary schools Dec '99; claimed 1,000 asylum seekers had been drowned at sea by crews anxious to escape punishment for bringing in illegal immigrants Apr '00; claimed violent crime and robbery were up by over 50% in his constituency, blaming low police numbers and sentencing policy, while opposing restrictions of right to trial by jury May '00; opposed imposition of a fox hunting ban on Welsh farmers worried about their stock June '00; claimed there were 36% more secondary school children in classes of over 30 since '97, Oct '00; visited Israel and the Palestinian Authority as guest of United Jewish Appeal Nov '00; sought tax cuts on financial spread- betting by 1% (and those on sport spread- betting by 2%) - changes favourable to millionnaire Tory Party donor Stuart Wheeler, chairman of the UK's biggest spread-betting firm Apr '01; was re-elected with increased majority of 4,902 on a 2.9% pro-Tory swing June '01; attacked AS-levels as inferior to the "rigour and depth" of A-levels and dubbed them "an exam too far" June '01; called for more accountability in EU spending July '01; complained of inadequate police numbers in Hertfordshire with the lure of higher pay in the neighbouring Met July '01; voted for Kenneth Clarke in the leadership ballots July '01; was appointed Shadow Work and Pensions Minister Sep '01; measures to tighten up taxcredit fraud were introduced following his scrutiny Feb '02; sought speedier payments to pensioners from the Social Fund Apr '02; claimed pension credits weakened incentive to save May '02; queried fraud in family tax credit mechanism June '02; backed penalties for anti-social tenants July '02; sought assurances on rail safety six months after Potters Bar crash Nov '02; urged protection for whole area from Saddam Hussein's predations Mar '03; protested scarcity of anti-social behaviour orders Apr '03; again asked for a full report on the Potters Bar rail crash May '03; saw an attack on the middle classes in the policy of encouraging universities to take more pupils from state schools June 03; challenged Prime Minister Blair on Hunting Bill's threat to rural economy and opposed use of Parliament Act to push it through July '03; Born: 14 September 1956 , Beverley Family: Son, late Leonard Clappison, wealthy farmer, and late Dorothy (Blashill), farmer; m '84 Helen Margherita (Carter), solicitor and former university law tutor; 1s Henry '87; 2d Charlotte, '85, Christabel '89; Education: Patrington School (state primary); St Peter's School, York; Queen's, Oxford University (Scholarship); Occupation: Barrister (no longer undertaking work), called to the Bar '81, with chambers in Leeds '82-; Director, until '00, and Shareholder '92-, L Clappison Ltd, his late father's firm from which he receives most of his fortune, rated at 2.5m by the MAIL ON SUNDAY in '03; also receives rental income from 14 rented houses in Patrington and Withernsea, North Humberside; was actively involved in his family's 75-acre farm near Patrington, run by his mother after his father's death, until her own death in '01; since then he has received rental income; ex: Lloyd's Underwriter, in a score of syndicates, six of them open '82-94; Traits: Chubby; rounded face; pug nose; front-combed, parted dark brown hair; initially displayed an almost infantile, stoogey superloyalism; "Mr Oleaginous" (Simon Hoggart, GUARDIAN); "pugilistic" (Victor Smart, OBSERVER); had a "slightly sententious manner", "sounds like a pompous third-former, reading out his Nature Study project to apathetic and sadly unconcerned classmates" (David Aaronovitch, INDEPENDENT); a determined fighter, even in impossible circumstances, like fighting rock- safe Labour seats like Bootle;

Address: House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA; 7 Foxhill Avenue, Weetwood, Leeds LS16 5PB (worth 500,000, according to MAIL ON SUNDAY); Telephone: 0207 219 5027/4152 (H of C); 01532 786038;