NFU Political Biography
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Page 1 NFU Political Biography Alex Cunningham MP: Shadow EFRA Minister Stockton North Biographical Details A former local journalist, public relations officer and long-time councillor, Alex Cunningham holds the seat once occupied by Harold Macmillan, and beat the previous MP both in the selection and the election. Born in 1955, Cunningham went to a local comprehensive school and the Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in Darlington and gained a certificate in journalism at Darlington College of Technology. He worked on the local papers the Darlington and Stockton Times, Hartlepool Mail and Evening Gazette, and for the commercial radio stations Radio Tees and Radio Clyde. Later, he branched into public relations, for British Gas and then for Transco, where he became head of communications in 2000. In 2002, he set up his own public relations and web design company Tees Valley Communications. First elected to Cleveland County Council in 1984, he served for 13 years until the unlamented council was abolished in 1996. Three years later he was elected to Stockton Borough Council where he became cabinet member for children and young people. He chairs the Stockton Children’s Trust. He was a member and officer of the National Union of Journalists and now belongs to Unison. He was press officer and held various other offices in his local Labour Party. He has been married to Evaline for more than 30 years and has two grown-up sons. Political career The previous MP Frank Cook stood against him in the selection contest in 2008, in which he was the only other local candidate, but Cunningham beat him and five others including the former Minister and London MP Barbara Roche. Cook then ran in the election as an Independent, but lost his deposit. In his maiden speech he spoke up for three almost certainly lost causes, the Building Schools for the Future programme, the planned new North Tees and Hartlepool Hospital and the regional development agency One NorthEast, of which he is a member – all under threat. He was outraged when the Government scrapped the hospital project ten days later. In 2011 he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan. A fairly regular speaker, he brought in a Ten-Minute Rule Bill to ban smoking in private cars when children are passengers. He expressed reservations about same-sex marriage but was abroad during The voice of British farming Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, neither the NFU nor the author can accept liability for errors and or omissions. © NFU Page 2 NFU Political Biography the debate on the Second Reading. He has spoken frequently on children and young people, from free childcare for disadvantaged two year olds to the inadequate conditions of teenagers in care. He is a member of the Co-operative Party, the North East Arts Council, and the Socialist Education Association. In 2010 he supported David Miliband in the 2010 leadership contest and in 2015 he nominated Andy Burnham. Interest in Rural Issues An extensive search of Hansard shows that Mr Cunningham has not previously expressed a huge amount of concern with rural issues, though there is certainly material to work with. He asked three questions about farm-gate prices, the GCA and levels of bankruptcy among dairy farmers in March 2012, called for action to tackle fly-grazing in 2013 and has shown an interest in global food security and public sector food procurement. He is a supporter of mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses and banning beak trimming, is critical of the pilot badger culls and believes that the CAP enriches wealthy farmers and puts those with small- to medium-sized farms at a disadvantage. He is also opposed to game bird shooting. His later contributions appear to be more focused upon the cost of rural living, good transport links in the countryside, nutritious school meals and childhood obesity. In November 2014, he signed an EDM which called on the Government to “support moves to express added sugar in teaspoonfuls on product packaging and to restrict the advertising of high sugar products as low fat products.” He last asked a question directly related to agriculture (on the performance of the RPA) in December 2012, though he has shown more recent interest in other subjects that affect farmers such as broadband and the living wage. He has attached importance to the idea of children visiting the countryside too, because “children who spend time in natural environments obtain better health and educational outcomes, performing better in reading, mathematics, science and social studies” and signed an EDM lamenting cuts in the Environment Agency budget in January 2014. He lists energy as a policy area of particular interest and has asked a number of questions about waste; environmental protection; oil and gas; renewable energies and energy efficiency. Contact Details Alex Cunningham MP House of Commons London SW1A 0AA Tel: 020 7219 7157 Email: [email protected] Web: www.alexcunninghammp.com UPDATED: 21/09/15 The voice of British farming Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, neither the NFU nor the author can accept liability for errors and or omissions. © NFU .