Chris Huhne
Encyclopedia
Christopher Murray Paul-Huhne, generally known as Chris Huhne (ˈhjuːn, born 2 July 1954) is a British politician and cabinet minister, who is the current Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament
for the Eastleigh constituency in Hampshire
. He was appointed Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
following the 2010 general election.
He has twice run for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats but was beaten on both occasions. In the 2006 election he came second to Sir Menzies Campbell
and in the 2007 election he narrowly lost to Nick Clegg
.
. He was educated at the fee-paying Westminster School
. His family name was Paul-Huhne and he was known all through his school years as Christopher Paul-Huhne. At Oxford, he simplified his name to "Chris Huhne".
His education continued at the Sorbonne
, where he obtained a certificate in French Language and Civilisation, and Magdalen College, Oxford
where he was a scholar (Demy). At Oxford, he edited the student magazine Isis
, served on the executive of the Oxford University Labour Club
, and achieved a first-class degree in PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics). Huhne was active in student politics supporting the Labour Party.
on 21 October 2007 said an article credited to Huhne had appeared in the University of Oxford's Isis magazine
in February 1973 saying that drugs such as opium, LSD, and amphetamine
s were an “accepted facet of our society”. In response to questions by The Times
about his 1973 pronouncement, Huhne responded “To be honest I don’t have any memory of it,” saying he was entitled to a private life before politics. The issue about the 1973 article continued in the Daily Mail
and The Sun
. In an interview published on the Kent News website on 10 November 2007, Huhne said, “I clearly regret the views and I don’t agree with those views at all. I was a teenager and I’m now 53 and I think all of us do tend to move on in life.”
entrepreneur. He told The Independent
in 2008: "I don't claim that I'm in other than a very happy position compared with most people, because, having spent a bit of time in the City before I was elected, being able to make a bit of money while I was there, I have a cushion." He started a company named Sovereign Ratings IBCA in 1994 that tried to "scientifically measure the risks of investing in different countries". In 1997 he became managing director of Fitch IBCA, and from 1999 to 2003 was vice-chairman of Fitch Ratings
.
Huhne was an economic commentator for The Guardian
, The Independent
and The Independent on Sunday. He was the business editor of The Independent and The Independent on Sunday during its investigations into Robert Maxwell
's fraud on the Mirror group pension fund. He started in as an undercover freelance reporter in India during Mrs Gandhi
's emergency when western journalists had been expelled. He also worked for the Liverpool Daily Post and Liverpool Echo
and The Economist
. He won both the junior and senior Wincott
awards for financial journalist of the year (in 1980 and 1989 respectively).
as a Parliamentary Candidate for the SDP–Liberal Alliance in Reading East but came a distant second. and in the 1987 general election
, he was the SDP–Liberal Alliance candidate in the Oxford West and Abingdon seat, a seat that would be won ten years later by Liberal Democrat candidate Evan Harris
.
for South East England
. The Liberal Democrats came third with a total number of 228136 votes behind the Conservatives and Labour. The proportion of votes received meant that the party was able to send the top two list candidates to the European parliament, Emma Nicholson the top list candidate and Chris Huhne, 2nd on the list. During the 2004 European Parliament
elections Huhne was re-elected along with Emma Nicholson with the party having received 338,342 votes, 15.3% of the total vote. In 2005 Huhne made the decision to stand for election to the United Kingdom parliament representing the seat of Eastleigh in Hampshire. After winning election to the House of Commons on 5 May 2005, Sharon Bowles
the candidate third on the Liberal Democrat list replaced Huhne as representative for the South East of England.
During his time in the European Parliament, Huhne was the only Liberal Democrat MEP in a ranking by The Economist of the three most high-profile UK MEPs (the others being Glenys Kinnock
and Caroline Lucas
). He was a member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee
, concerned with economic and financial policy including regulation of the financial sector. He was economic spokesman for the pan-European Liberal group in the European Parliament
and was responsible for introducing "sunset clauses" – time limits on powers – into European legislation for the first time; for radically amending Commission
proposals on financial services; and for opening up the European Central Bank
to greater scrutiny.
In addition to his European Parliament responsibilities, he was also active in the development of Liberal Democrat policy as chairman of four policy groups: broadcasting and the media; globalisation; the introduction of the euro
and the reform of public services. On public services, he argues that money was a necessary condition of improvement, but that the key is now decentralised and democratic control. Local voters need to be able to hold local decision-takers to account.
at the general election
on 5 May 2005, a constituency within the area for which he was previously the Member of the European Parliament
. The previous MP for the constituency, David Chidgey
, was also a Liberal Democrat who won his seat in what was historically a Conservative area in a by-election in 1994
following the death of Stephen Milligan
. The result in 2005 was close, with Huhne winning with a majority of just 568 over Conservative rival Conor Burns. In the General Election of 2010 Huhne retained his seat, this time with an increased majority of 3864 over the Conservative's Maria Hutchings.
made Huhne the shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
for the party. In this role Huhne led the parties debate on the Finance Bill 2005 suggesting that amendments should be made to stop a pensions loophole which would have allowed rich investors to get 40% discount on property and other investments in their pension. In the Pre-budget report
for 2006, the Chancellor conceded the change.
for the Liberal Democrat leadership after Charles Kennedy's
resignation, formally launching his campaign on 13 January 2006.
Huhne was able to carve out a unique position on the issue of green taxation
– he argued for a radical expansion of taxes on pollution, allowing for reductions in the income tax
rate on the lowest paid. This theme endeared Huhne to environmentalists and market liberals
alike, allowing him to gain a march on his rivals and pick up supporters as the campaign went on. He also argued for a repeal of elements of the Labour government's anti-terrorism legislation, which many felt had undermined British civil liberties, and for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq within a year. He described himself as a 'social liberal'.
Although the majority of Liberal Democrat MPs — and much of the party establishment — declared their support for Sir Menzies Campbell, Huhne did receive endorsements from some party notables including Lord Maclennan and Lord Rodgers. Amongst the media, The Economist
, The Independent
and The Independent on Sunday supported his leadership bid. He was backed from an early stage by a number of bloggers, and gained much momentum from a sharp internet campaign.
In the final vote, Huhne finished runner-up, tallying 21,628 votes to Sir Menzies Campbell
's 29,697. Campbell appointed him as Liberal Democrat environment spokesman in the subsequent frontbench reshuffle, in order for Huhne to develop a viable programme to expand on his green campaign themes.
During the election campaign a news story in The Independent
on 27 February 2006 reported that an unsigned document entitled "Chris Huhne's Hypocritical Personal Share Portfolio" was being circulated at Lib Dem leadership election meetings. The document alleged that Huhne had invested in companies that the document described as "unethical". The document stated "Chris Huhne is campaigning for the Lib Dem leadership on a green, carbon-neutral platform, and further advocates increasing tax for the wealthy, which would include himself. However, his shareholdings include, or have included, mining companies, oil companies, and tax shelters."
Huhne has spoken of the need to "roll back [Labour's] security-obsessed surveillance state". However, he holds shares – listed on the Register of Members' Interests – in UK company IRISYS,
which specialises in producing thermal imagers
"for process, people and queue monitoring" and "which sells cameras to let shops count their customers."
.
Huhne has continued developing his party's thoughts on climate change and the environment, including a consideration of the challenges and opportunities they create for British businesses. He has also been prominent in critiquing the divergence between the Conservative Party's
recent environmental rhetoric and its policies.
Huhne was one of fourteen MPs forming an all-party parliamentary inquiry into anti-Semitism
in the UK. Their report criticised boycotts of Israeli academics as "an assault on academic freedom and intellectual exchange" and accused "some left-wing activists and Muslim extremists [...] of using criticism of Israel as 'a pretext' for spreading hatred against British Jews". Huhne is, however, a critic of Israeli government policy in the Middle East, and strongly supports the creation of a separate Palestinian state. He described the Israeli response in Lebanon to Hezbollah's rocket attacks as disproportionate and counter-productive, arguing that a strong Lebanese state is in Israel's long-term interest.
In March 2007 it was falsely reported that he had written to executives at Channel 4
to try and stop their showing The Great Global Warming Swindle
. In an e-mail exchange with Iain Dale
, Huhne stated that he only wrote to ask for the channel's comments and The Daily Telegraph
later ran a correction and apologised for the misunderstanding saying they were happy to accept that "Mr Huhne's letter was not an attempt to prevent the film being shown or suppress debate on the issue".
After Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Nick Clegg
, announced his intention during the 2007 party conference to stand for the leadership should Sir Menzies Campbell retire, Chris Huhne, when asked about his leadership ambitions said that there was "no vacancy, and it would be premature to even talk about the position of there being a vacancy".
. On 17 October, Huhne became the first member of the party to announce his candidacy saying "I've decided to give it a go" and declaring his vision of a "fairer and greener society". Huhne said that he wanted the party to be committed to the idea that "everybody's individual worth and chance is given its full possibility"
On 28 October 2007, Huhne announced that he had secured the support of 10 of his 62 parliamentary colleagues for his formal nomination. His rival Nick Clegg announced the support of 33 MPs. Huhne also claimed backing from at least twelve peers, four MSPs and three Welsh Assembly members. After former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown
announced his support for Clegg, a previous Lib Dem leader Lord Steel
declared his support for Huhne, based in part on Huhne's position on the Trident missile system
.
In the last week of campaigning his team were bullish about his chances, predicting a win. Following the final count the party membership chose his rival Nick Clegg
by a narrow margin of 511 votes out of more than 41,000 counted.
About 1,300 postal votes were caught up in the Christmas post and missed the election deadline. An unofficial check of the late papers showed Huhne had enough votes among them to hand him victory. Huhne stood by the result, saying "Nick Clegg won fair and square on the rules counting the ballot papers that arrived in by the deadline. There is no question of any re-run." Following the leadership election, Clegg chose Huhne to be the Liberal Democrats' Home Affairs Spokesman.
registered a formal complaint about Huhne's conduct to Lord Rennard, the party's Chief Whip and returning officer. Clegg stated that his rival was indulging in "the politics of innuendo, mounting false challenges and running a campaign that is handing political ammunition to the party's political opponents". Huhne and Clegg were debating on live television on BBC's The Politics Show
on Sunday 18 November 2007 when the presenter Jon Sopel produced a briefing document that had been specially delivered to the show's production team by the Huhne campaign team on the preceding Friday. The document excoriated Clegg on a number of policy and political issues and was titled "Calamity Clegg". When challenged about the document issued by his office, Huhne claimed that he had no knowledge of it and said he did not agree with the document title but agreed with the points within it. When challenged how it was possible that he had no knowledge of such a major document sent to the producer of the show he was due to appear on, Huhne replied "It's quite impossible to check everything that goes out of the office... But I can assure you that's not had my authorization." After Clegg complained about what he called "dirty tricks" and other senior party members condemned the Huhne campaign attack, Huhne's Campaign Manager Anna Werrin claimed that the title of the memo was just the product of an "over-zealous researcher" and had not been seen or approved by Huhne or any senior campaign officials prior to release. "The document title had not been approved before the document was sent out and neither Chris nor I were aware of it."
Speaking to the Independent on 21 November 2007 Huhne claimed ""Unfortunately it was a mixture of responsibilities. It was an over-zealous young researcher who was responsible for drawing up the document." The researcher was not on his staff, he said, denying that, as a former journalist he might have been expected to read what was put out in his name before it was put out. However, in June 2010, after Huhne's long-running affair with his full-time press agent Carina Trimingham was uncovered, The Guardian and the Daily Mail revealed that the "Calamity Clegg" dossier had actually been created and circulated by Trimingham who at that time was 41 years old, "one of Mr. Huhne's closest aides" and his official, on-staff press manager for the leadership campaign – reporting directly to Huhne.
In January 2009, Huhne was credited with uncovering an incidence of data loss of government information caused by a courier company losing a computer disc containing bank details of up to 2,000 public servants working for the British Council. Huhne blamed the Foreign Secretary David Milliband and the government for the courier company's loss and said that the incident was an example of why the UK should not have Identity Cards: “This is another instance in a long line of slapdash data protection by government departments. If Whitehall cannot look after its own data records it should not be trusted with the personal information of every citizen as it wants with the identity card scheme.”
On 6 November 2007, Huhne made remarks about the Speaker of the House of Commons
on the BBC television programme Newsnight
in which he claimed that the Speaker, Michael Martin
, had fallen asleep during a speech by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown
. "The Speaker unfortunately fell asleep during Gordon Brown's speech ... I'm not sure I'm allowed to say that, but he reacted in an entirely understandable way to what was not the most riveting of parliamentary occasions." After the remarks were repeated in several publications, Huhne made a public apology to the Speaker in the House of Commons on 8 November in which he withdrew his prior comments. “It was wrong of me to draw the Chair into a matter of political dispute. I hope you will accept I intended no personal offence and fully withdraw my comments.”
after he was dismissed by Home Secretary Alan Johnson
as chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs
(ACMD) in November 2009. Nutt had criticised the government's decision to reclassify cannabis
as a Class B drug rather than keeping it as a class C. Huhne said the decision to sack Nutt was "disgraceful" and commented "what is the point of having independent scientific advice if as soon as you get some advice that you don't like, you sack the person who has given it to you?." Attacking the government he said that if they did not want to take expert scientific advice they might as well have a "committee of tabloid newspaper editors to advise on drugs policy". Cannabis had been re-classified as a class C drug in 2004 by then Home Secretary David Blunkett
only for Jacqui Smith
to reverse the ruling in 2008, a decision taken despite official advisers recommending against the change.
As part of the Daily Telegraph investigation into expense claims
by MPs, Huhne was reported to have claimed for various items including groceries, fluffy dusters and a trouser press. In 2006, he claimed £5,066 for painting work on his garden fences and chairs. He collected £119 for a mahogany Corby trouser press from John Lewis but later said he would repay the cost in order "to avoid controversy". He later claimed on a live Channel 4 news programme that he needed the trouser press to "look smart" for work. In June 2010, it was revealed that in the second half of 2009, a period after the expenses scandal news story became known, Huhne claimed £14,948 in expenses, including some minor amounts such as a bill of 14 pence for stationery. The claim also included costs incurred in servicing an old boiler at his constituency home. Huhne's office running costs during the 2007/2008 financial year were the 206th highest out of 645, his second home claims were 580th highest (or 65th cheapest) out of 645, and his total expense claims were below average, ranking 418th most expensive.
Huhne is one of 16 MPs whose assets are in a blind trust
..
, David Laws
and Andrew Stunell
that brokered the agreement to go into a governing coalition with the Conservatives. Following the negotiations and the formation of a full coaltion Huhne was appointed Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
, the tenth most senior minister in the new government. There had been some speculation that Huhne might be appointed as Home Secretary as he had been the Liberal Democrat spokesman for Home Affairs in the preceding three years although this post went to the Conservative Theresa May
. He was appointed as a Privy Counsellor
on 13 May 2010.
. The gathering, at which over 190 countries were represented, announced a deal to curb climate change which Prime Minister David Cameron
described as a "very significant step forward." The agreement struck in Mexico
included a recognition that deeper cuts in carbon emissions were needed and that a fund should be set up in order to help developing countries reduce their carbon emissions. Huhne described the deal as a "serious package" of measures but acknowledged that there was still more work to do prior to the next climate change meeting in Durban, South Africa, the following year. Following the conference David Cameron said that his government would be the "greenest ever" and said that Britain would meet its international obligations regarding climate change. Due to his attending the conference, Huhne was one of 8 Liberal Democrat MPs to abstain from the vote on Government proposals to increase university tuition fees. The vote had been particularly controversial for Liberal Democrats as many of the parties MPs had, prior to the election, signed an NUS pledge
promising to vote against tuition fee increases. For the government, the controversial nature of the vote meant that, at one stage, it was considered that Huhne would have to return home from the conference in order to vote with the Government. Speaking about the possibility of the UK's minister potentially leaving the conference to attend a domestic vote Greenpeace Uk director John Sauven
said to the BBC that Huhnes presence was vital adding "with the outcome of the Cancun summit now hanging in the balance, attention must now focus on whether he can help to broker a climate deal". Conservative minister Greg Barker, also at the summit, did however return for the vote.
(formerly Chief Economist in the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
) in 1984 shortly after she divorced her first husband, with whom she had two young daughters. Huhne and Pryce had three children together. In a video statement made during the 2007 Liberal Democrats leadership election campaign, Huhne described his philosophy about family life: "Relationships, including particularly family relationships, are actually the most important things in making people happy and fulfilled". Talking about his wife to The Independent in 2008 he stated: "I also have a very hard-working and extremely intelligent wife, who manages to earn far more than I do." An election flyer distributed in his Eastleigh constituency prior to the May 2010 general election included several photographs of himself with his family members, each image accompanied by a hand-written caption.
In June 2010, after being observed and photographed spending a night in his constituency home with a woman other than his wife, Huhne admitted that he had been involved in an extra-marital sexual relationship with a woman named Carina Trimingham and stated that he had decided to leave his wife of 26 years to be with her. Huhne's wife and children were completely unaware of his infidelity and his plans to leave his wife for another woman. Within one week of Huhne's declaration, Pryce filed for divorce on the grounds of Huhne's "admitted adultery". A statement issued on her behalf by London-based solicitors Osbornes said: "The events of the past week have come as a tremendous shock to both Miss Pryce and her family." Trimingham had worked on Huhne's campaigns for the Liberal Democrat leadership in 2006 and 2007 - and was also a paid staff member on his 2010 General Election campaign. She was press officer for another Liberal Democrat politician Brian Paddick
during the 2008 Mayor of London election
, and is now campaigns director at the Electoral Reform Society
. Huhne was defended by Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude
who opined: “What goes on in people’s private lives is a subject that fascinates the tabloid press but is irrelevant to the job they are trying to do.”
Huhne owns seven houses—five that he purchased just as investments and that he makes money on as rental properties and two in which he lives. (One in Eastleigh, his constituency, and a town house in Clapham, south London). His wealth is estimated as £3.5 million.
Huhne is a member of the European Movement
, Green Lib Dems, Association of Liberal Democrat Trade Unionists and the National Union of Journalists
.
his car on a busy London street. Following his conviction, he was banned from driving for three months.
, contrary to common law. After Huhne was reported to them, Essex Police said: "We take allegations such as this one extremely seriously and will take action where necessary."
On 10 June 2011 it emerged that Essex Police had sent 'initial papers' to the Crown Prosecution Service regarding the allegations and it was also revealed that Huhne had exercised his right to remain silent
in response to a series of police questions in May.On 25 June 2011 Essex Police stated that a judge at the Crown Court
at Chelmsford
had granted them a court order to take possession of a recording from the Sunday Times in which the ex-couple apparently discuss the case. On 22 July it emerged that Huhne had once again been interviewed by police concerning the allegations and on 28 July the police handed the file to prosecutors. On 17 August 2011, the Crown Prosecution Service
remitted the matter to Essex Police with a direction to investigate the matter further. On 25 August 2011, Essex Police re-submitted their allegations to the CPS. A decision on whether criminal proceedings would be instituted for the alleged offence was expected to be made by the end of September 2011.
On 28 October 2011, the Crown Prosecution Service remitted the matter to Essex Police for further investigation, after the Service had completed a "full review" of the allegations. A judge at the Crown Court at Chelmsford has ordered The Sunday Times
to produce more than one hundred email messages between Pryce and the newspaper's political editor, in relation to the police investigation. On 22 November 2011, the Director of Public Prosecutions
, Keir Starmer
QC
announced that the CPS were "very close" to coming to a decision on whether to prosecute.. The reason for the delay in coming to a decision was because a newspaper was appealing against a court order that the CPS had obtained. The DPP stated that "we do not shy away from prosecuting politicians".
In a May 2011 YouGov
opinion poll, almost half the respondents thought that Huhne should resign over the allegations.
and development or European integration: the latest is entitled Both Sides of the Coin (1999, with James Forder
), in which he argues the case for British membership of the euro. The first was Debt and Danger (Penguin Special, 1985), an analysis of the 1984 third world debt crisis co-written with Lord Lever of Manchester
, the former Labour cabinet minister.
He was a contributor to the Orange Book (2004), in which he advocates reforms to the United Nations and international governance. Huhne was critical of the most controversial article in the Orange Book, in which David Laws
proposed an insurance-based National Health Service
. He did not take part in the successor volume, Britain after Blair and has voiced dismay at the way its predecessor was presented as a break with the party's social liberal traditions. More recently, he contributed to the book The City in Europe and the World
(2005) and two articles to Reinventing the State (2007) edited by Duncan Brack, Richard Grayson and David Howarth
. These cover the case for localism in which Huhne argues that there is no contradiction between localism and equality, and the need for environmental policy to tackle climate change.
Huhne has also written articles for the Financial Times
, The Guardian
, The Independent
and the New Statesman
.
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Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for the Eastleigh constituency in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. He was appointed Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change is a British government cabinet position currently held by Chris Huhne. The government department was created on 3 October 2008 when former Prime Minister Gordon Brown reshuffled his cabinet....
following the 2010 general election.
He has twice run for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats but was beaten on both occasions. In the 2006 election he came second to Sir Menzies Campbell
Menzies Campbell
Sir Walter Menzies "Ming" Campbell, CBE, QC, MP is a British Liberal Democrat politician and advocate, and a retired sprinter. He is the Member of Parliament for North East Fife, and was the Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2 March 2006 until 15 October 2007.Campbell held the British record...
and in the 2007 election he narrowly lost to Nick Clegg
Nick Clegg
Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...
.
Education and upbringing
Huhne was born in an affluent section of west London to businessman Peter Paul-Huhne and amateur actress, Ann Muray, who had been the voice of the Speaking clockSpeaking clock
A speaking clock service is a recorded or simulated human voice service, usually accessed by telephone, that gives the correct time. The first telephone speaking clock service was introduced in France, in association with the Paris Observatory on 14 February 1933.The format of the service is...
. He was educated at the fee-paying Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
. His family name was Paul-Huhne and he was known all through his school years as Christopher Paul-Huhne. At Oxford, he simplified his name to "Chris Huhne".
His education continued at the Sorbonne
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
, where he obtained a certificate in French Language and Civilisation, and Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
where he was a scholar (Demy). At Oxford, he edited the student magazine Isis
Isis magazine
The Isis Magazine was established at Oxford University in 1892 . Traditionally a rival to the student newspaper Cherwell, it was finally acquired by the latter's publishing house, OSPL, in the late 1990s...
, served on the executive of the Oxford University Labour Club
Oxford University Labour Club
Oxford University Labour Club was founded in 1919 to provide a voice for Labour Party values and for socialism and social democracy at Oxford University, England...
, and achieved a first-class degree in PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics). Huhne was active in student politics supporting the Labour Party.
1973 student article
A news story in The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
on 21 October 2007 said an article credited to Huhne had appeared in the University of Oxford's Isis magazine
Isis magazine
The Isis Magazine was established at Oxford University in 1892 . Traditionally a rival to the student newspaper Cherwell, it was finally acquired by the latter's publishing house, OSPL, in the late 1990s...
in February 1973 saying that drugs such as opium, LSD, and amphetamine
Amphetamine
Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,...
s were an “accepted facet of our society”. In response to questions by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
about his 1973 pronouncement, Huhne responded “To be honest I don’t have any memory of it,” saying he was entitled to a private life before politics. The issue about the 1973 article continued in the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
and The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
. In an interview published on the Kent News website on 10 November 2007, Huhne said, “I clearly regret the views and I don’t agree with those views at all. I was a teenager and I’m now 53 and I think all of us do tend to move on in life.”
Career before Parliament
Before embarking on his political career, he was a CityCity of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
entrepreneur. He told The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
in 2008: "I don't claim that I'm in other than a very happy position compared with most people, because, having spent a bit of time in the City before I was elected, being able to make a bit of money while I was there, I have a cushion." He started a company named Sovereign Ratings IBCA in 1994 that tried to "scientifically measure the risks of investing in different countries". In 1997 he became managing director of Fitch IBCA, and from 1999 to 2003 was vice-chairman of Fitch Ratings
Fitch Ratings
The Fitch Group is a majority-owned subsidiary of FIMALAC, headquartered in Paris. Fitch Ratings, Fitch Solutions and Algorithmics, are part of the Fitch Group....
.
Huhne was an economic commentator for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
and The Independent on Sunday. He was the business editor of The Independent and The Independent on Sunday during its investigations into Robert Maxwell
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell MC was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament , who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire...
's fraud on the Mirror group pension fund. He started in as an undercover freelance reporter in India during Mrs Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
's emergency when western journalists had been expelled. He also worked for the Liverpool Daily Post and Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Daily Post & Echo
The Liverpool Echo and Liverpool Daily Post are two newspapers published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. They are published Monday to Saturday, the Echo being Liverpool's evening newspaper while the Daily Post, published in Merseyside, Cheshire, and North Wales editions, is the...
and The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
. He won both the junior and senior Wincott
Harold Wincott
Harold Wincott CBE was a British economist and journalist.Wincott edited the Investors Chronicle for twenty-one years and was a columnist for the Financial Times. He was awarded a CBE in 1963 and wrote pamphlets for the Institute of Economic Affairs, a free-market think-tank...
awards for financial journalist of the year (in 1980 and 1989 respectively).
Parliamentary candidate
Huhne contested the 1983 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
as a Parliamentary Candidate for the SDP–Liberal Alliance in Reading East but came a distant second. and in the 1987 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
, he was the SDP–Liberal Alliance candidate in the Oxford West and Abingdon seat, a seat that would be won ten years later by Liberal Democrat candidate Evan Harris
Evan Harris
Evan Leslie Harris is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon from 1997 to 2010, losing his seat in the 2010 general election by 176 votes to Conservative Nicola Blackwood....
.
Member of European Parliament (1999–2005)
In June 1999 Huhne was elected as a member of the European ParliamentEuropean Parliament election, 1999
The European Parliament Election, 1999 was a European election for all 626 members of the European Parliament held across the 15 European Union member states on 10, 11 and 13 June 1999. The voter turn-out was generally low, except in Belgium and Luxembourg, where voting is compulsory and where...
for South East England
South East England (European Parliament constituency)
South East England is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 10 Members of the European Parliament using the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
. The Liberal Democrats came third with a total number of 228136 votes behind the Conservatives and Labour. The proportion of votes received meant that the party was able to send the top two list candidates to the European parliament, Emma Nicholson the top list candidate and Chris Huhne, 2nd on the list. During the 2004 European Parliament
European Parliament election, 2004
Elections to the European Parliament were held from 10 June 2004 to 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom...
elections Huhne was re-elected along with Emma Nicholson with the party having received 338,342 votes, 15.3% of the total vote. In 2005 Huhne made the decision to stand for election to the United Kingdom parliament representing the seat of Eastleigh in Hampshire. After winning election to the House of Commons on 5 May 2005, Sharon Bowles
Sharon Bowles
Sharon Margaret Bowles is a Liberal Democrat politician and Member of the European Parliament for the South East England region of the United Kingdom...
the candidate third on the Liberal Democrat list replaced Huhne as representative for the South East of England.
During his time in the European Parliament, Huhne was the only Liberal Democrat MEP in a ranking by The Economist of the three most high-profile UK MEPs (the others being Glenys Kinnock
Glenys Kinnock
Glenys Elizabeth Kinnock, Baroness Kinnock and Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead is a British politician....
and Caroline Lucas
Caroline Lucas
Caroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
). He was a member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs is a committee of the European Parliament.Since Economic and Monetary Union , the most important function of this Committee has been in relation to the European Central Bank . Although guaranteed independence under the Treaty, the ECB is accountable...
, concerned with economic and financial policy including regulation of the financial sector. He was economic spokesman for the pan-European Liberal group in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
and was responsible for introducing "sunset clauses" – time limits on powers – into European legislation for the first time; for radically amending Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
proposals on financial services; and for opening up the European Central Bank
European Central Bank
The European Central Bank is the institution of the European Union that administers the monetary policy of the 17 EU Eurozone member states. It is thus one of the world's most important central banks. The bank was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is headquartered in Frankfurt,...
to greater scrutiny.
In addition to his European Parliament responsibilities, he was also active in the development of Liberal Democrat policy as chairman of four policy groups: broadcasting and the media; globalisation; the introduction of the euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
and the reform of public services. On public services, he argues that money was a necessary condition of improvement, but that the key is now decentralised and democratic control. Local voters need to be able to hold local decision-takers to account.
Member of Parliament (2005 – present)
Huhne was first elected to represent EastleighEastleigh
Eastleigh is a railway town in Hampshire, England, and the main town in the Eastleigh borough which is part of Southampton Urban Area. The town lies between Southampton and Winchester, and is part of the South Hampshire conurbation...
at the general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
on 5 May 2005, a constituency within the area for which he was previously the Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
. The previous MP for the constituency, David Chidgey
David Chidgey, Baron Chidgey
David Chidgey, Baron Chidgey is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom. A former Member of Parliament for Eastleigh, he now sits in the House of Lords.-Early life:...
, was also a Liberal Democrat who won his seat in what was historically a Conservative area in a by-election in 1994
Eastleigh by-election, 1994
The Eastleigh by-election, 1994 was a parliamentary by-election held on 9 June 1994 for the United Kingdom House of Commons constituency of Eastleigh in Hampshire. The seat had fallen vacant because of the death of Conservative Party Member of Parliament Stephen Milligan on 7 February.The result...
following the death of Stephen Milligan
Stephen Milligan
Stephen David Wyatt Milligan was a British Conservative politician and journalist. He held a number of senior journalistic posts until his election to serve as Member of Parliament for Eastleigh in 1992...
. The result in 2005 was close, with Huhne winning with a majority of just 568 over Conservative rival Conor Burns. In the General Election of 2010 Huhne retained his seat, this time with an increased majority of 3864 over the Conservative's Maria Hutchings.
Treasury spokesman
Following his election to the House of Commons then Liberal Democrat leader Charles KennedyCharles Kennedy
Charles Peter Kennedy is a British Liberal Democrat politician, who led the Liberal Democrats from 9 August 1999 until 7 January 2006 and is currently a Member of Parliament for the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency....
made Huhne the shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is the third most senior ministerial position in HM Treasury, after the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer . In recent years, the office holder has usually been given a junior position in the British Cabinet...
for the party. In this role Huhne led the parties debate on the Finance Bill 2005 suggesting that amendments should be made to stop a pensions loophole which would have allowed rich investors to get 40% discount on property and other investments in their pension. In the Pre-budget report
Pre-Budget Report
In the United Kingdom, the Autumn Statement, at times the Summer Statement and the Pre-Budget Report , is one of the two statements HM Treasury makes each year to Parliament upon publication of economic forecasts, the other being the annual Budget...
for 2006, the Chancellor conceded the change.
Leadership contest, 2006
Huhne stood against Sir Menzies Campbell and Simon HughesSimon Hughes
Simon Henry Ward Hughes is a British politician and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats. He is Member of Parliament for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark. Until 2008 he was President of the Liberal Democrats...
for the Liberal Democrat leadership after Charles Kennedy's
Charles Kennedy
Charles Peter Kennedy is a British Liberal Democrat politician, who led the Liberal Democrats from 9 August 1999 until 7 January 2006 and is currently a Member of Parliament for the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency....
resignation, formally launching his campaign on 13 January 2006.
Huhne was able to carve out a unique position on the issue of green taxation
Pigovian tax
A Pigovian tax is a tax levied on a market activity that generates negative externalities. The tax is intended to correct the market outcome. In the presence of negative externalities, the social cost of a market activity is not covered by the private cost of the activity...
– he argued for a radical expansion of taxes on pollution, allowing for reductions in the income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
rate on the lowest paid. This theme endeared Huhne to environmentalists and market liberals
Market liberalism
The term market liberalism is used in two distinct meanings.Especially in the United States, the term is often used as a synonym to classical liberalism...
alike, allowing him to gain a march on his rivals and pick up supporters as the campaign went on. He also argued for a repeal of elements of the Labour government's anti-terrorism legislation, which many felt had undermined British civil liberties, and for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq within a year. He described himself as a 'social liberal'.
Although the majority of Liberal Democrat MPs — and much of the party establishment — declared their support for Sir Menzies Campbell, Huhne did receive endorsements from some party notables including Lord Maclennan and Lord Rodgers. Amongst the media, The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
and The Independent on Sunday supported his leadership bid. He was backed from an early stage by a number of bloggers, and gained much momentum from a sharp internet campaign.
In the final vote, Huhne finished runner-up, tallying 21,628 votes to Sir Menzies Campbell
Menzies Campbell
Sir Walter Menzies "Ming" Campbell, CBE, QC, MP is a British Liberal Democrat politician and advocate, and a retired sprinter. He is the Member of Parliament for North East Fife, and was the Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2 March 2006 until 15 October 2007.Campbell held the British record...
's 29,697. Campbell appointed him as Liberal Democrat environment spokesman in the subsequent frontbench reshuffle, in order for Huhne to develop a viable programme to expand on his green campaign themes.
During the election campaign a news story in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
on 27 February 2006 reported that an unsigned document entitled "Chris Huhne's Hypocritical Personal Share Portfolio" was being circulated at Lib Dem leadership election meetings. The document alleged that Huhne had invested in companies that the document described as "unethical". The document stated "Chris Huhne is campaigning for the Lib Dem leadership on a green, carbon-neutral platform, and further advocates increasing tax for the wealthy, which would include himself. However, his shareholdings include, or have included, mining companies, oil companies, and tax shelters."
Huhne has spoken of the need to "roll back [Labour's] security-obsessed surveillance state". However, he holds shares – listed on the Register of Members' Interests – in UK company IRISYS,
which specialises in producing thermal imagers
Thermographic camera
A thermographic camera or infrared camera is a device that forms an image using infrared radiation, similar to a common camera that forms an image using visible light...
"for process, people and queue monitoring" and "which sells cameras to let shops count their customers."
Environment spokesman, 2006–2007
The intellectual energy surrounding Huhne's leadership campaign did much to inform the Liberal Democrats' recent political agenda. His proposals for realigning green taxes and income tax – the green tax switch – were at the heart of the fiscal package endorsed at the party's September 2006 conferenceParty conference
The terms party conference , political convention , and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party membership...
.
Huhne has continued developing his party's thoughts on climate change and the environment, including a consideration of the challenges and opportunities they create for British businesses. He has also been prominent in critiquing the divergence between the Conservative Party's
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
recent environmental rhetoric and its policies.
Huhne was one of fourteen MPs forming an all-party parliamentary inquiry into anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
in the UK. Their report criticised boycotts of Israeli academics as "an assault on academic freedom and intellectual exchange" and accused "some left-wing activists and Muslim extremists [...] of using criticism of Israel as 'a pretext' for spreading hatred against British Jews". Huhne is, however, a critic of Israeli government policy in the Middle East, and strongly supports the creation of a separate Palestinian state. He described the Israeli response in Lebanon to Hezbollah's rocket attacks as disproportionate and counter-productive, arguing that a strong Lebanese state is in Israel's long-term interest.
In March 2007 it was falsely reported that he had written to executives at Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
to try and stop their showing The Great Global Warming Swindle
The Great Global Warming Swindle
The Great Global Warming Swindle is a polemical documentary film that suggests that the scientific opinion on climate change is influenced by funding and political factors, and questions whether scientific consensus on anthropogenic global warming exists....
. In an e-mail exchange with Iain Dale
Iain Dale
Iain Campbell Dale is best known for his conservative-minded British political blog Iain Dale's Diary and for his frequent appearances on UK news channels as a political commentator. He is also a publisher, broadcaster and former Conservative Party politician...
, Huhne stated that he only wrote to ask for the channel's comments and The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
later ran a correction and apologised for the misunderstanding saying they were happy to accept that "Mr Huhne's letter was not an attempt to prevent the film being shown or suppress debate on the issue".
After Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Nick Clegg
Nick Clegg
Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...
, announced his intention during the 2007 party conference to stand for the leadership should Sir Menzies Campbell retire, Chris Huhne, when asked about his leadership ambitions said that there was "no vacancy, and it would be premature to even talk about the position of there being a vacancy".
Leadership contest, 2007
Following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell on 15 October 2007 Huhne was considered to be one of the strongest contenders for the leadership of the Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats leadership election, 2007
The 2007 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell as leader on 15 October 2007, after 19 months as leader of the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest political party in the United Kingdom. Vincent Cable, the deputy leader of the parliamentary...
. On 17 October, Huhne became the first member of the party to announce his candidacy saying "I've decided to give it a go" and declaring his vision of a "fairer and greener society". Huhne said that he wanted the party to be committed to the idea that "everybody's individual worth and chance is given its full possibility"
On 28 October 2007, Huhne announced that he had secured the support of 10 of his 62 parliamentary colleagues for his formal nomination. His rival Nick Clegg announced the support of 33 MPs. Huhne also claimed backing from at least twelve peers, four MSPs and three Welsh Assembly members. After former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown
Paddy Ashdown
Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, GCMG, KBE, PC , usually known as Paddy Ashdown, is a British politician and diplomat....
announced his support for Clegg, a previous Lib Dem leader Lord Steel
David Steel
David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, KT, KBE, PC is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as the Leader of the Liberal Party from 1976 until its merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats...
declared his support for Huhne, based in part on Huhne's position on the Trident missile system
UK Trident programme
The UK Trident programme is the United Kingdom's Trident missile-based nuclear weapons programme. Under the programme, the Royal Navy operates 58 nuclear-armed Trident II D-5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and around 200 nuclear warheads on 4 Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines from...
.
In the last week of campaigning his team were bullish about his chances, predicting a win. Following the final count the party membership chose his rival Nick Clegg
Nick Clegg
Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...
by a narrow margin of 511 votes out of more than 41,000 counted.
About 1,300 postal votes were caught up in the Christmas post and missed the election deadline. An unofficial check of the late papers showed Huhne had enough votes among them to hand him victory. Huhne stood by the result, saying "Nick Clegg won fair and square on the rules counting the ballot papers that arrived in by the deadline. There is no question of any re-run." Following the leadership election, Clegg chose Huhne to be the Liberal Democrats' Home Affairs Spokesman.
Election conduct
During the leadership election, Nick CleggNick Clegg
Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...
registered a formal complaint about Huhne's conduct to Lord Rennard, the party's Chief Whip and returning officer. Clegg stated that his rival was indulging in "the politics of innuendo, mounting false challenges and running a campaign that is handing political ammunition to the party's political opponents". Huhne and Clegg were debating on live television on BBC's The Politics Show
The Politics Show
The Politics Show is an hour long BBC One television political programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sundays. The programme usually starts at midday, but is often earlier or later when sporting events clash in the schedules. It was launched in 2003 and was originally presented by Jeremy...
on Sunday 18 November 2007 when the presenter Jon Sopel produced a briefing document that had been specially delivered to the show's production team by the Huhne campaign team on the preceding Friday. The document excoriated Clegg on a number of policy and political issues and was titled "Calamity Clegg". When challenged about the document issued by his office, Huhne claimed that he had no knowledge of it and said he did not agree with the document title but agreed with the points within it. When challenged how it was possible that he had no knowledge of such a major document sent to the producer of the show he was due to appear on, Huhne replied "It's quite impossible to check everything that goes out of the office... But I can assure you that's not had my authorization." After Clegg complained about what he called "dirty tricks" and other senior party members condemned the Huhne campaign attack, Huhne's Campaign Manager Anna Werrin claimed that the title of the memo was just the product of an "over-zealous researcher" and had not been seen or approved by Huhne or any senior campaign officials prior to release. "The document title had not been approved before the document was sent out and neither Chris nor I were aware of it."
Speaking to the Independent on 21 November 2007 Huhne claimed ""Unfortunately it was a mixture of responsibilities. It was an over-zealous young researcher who was responsible for drawing up the document." The researcher was not on his staff, he said, denying that, as a former journalist he might have been expected to read what was put out in his name before it was put out. However, in June 2010, after Huhne's long-running affair with his full-time press agent Carina Trimingham was uncovered, The Guardian and the Daily Mail revealed that the "Calamity Clegg" dossier had actually been created and circulated by Trimingham who at that time was 41 years old, "one of Mr. Huhne's closest aides" and his official, on-staff press manager for the leadership campaign – reporting directly to Huhne.
Home Affairs spokesman, 2007–2010
In October 2008, Huhne led the Liberal-Democrat response to the government's announcement of plans to expand the capacity to collect records of people using electronic communications. The Home Secretary's announcement was in response to warnings by police and the security services that the growing fragmentation and complexity of communications was hindering their tackling of terrorism and organised criminality. But Huhne disagreed with the government's response to the police and security services, saying: "The Government’s Orwellian plans for a vast database of our private communications are deeply worrying. I hope that this consultation is not just a sham exercise to soft-soap an unsuspecting public.”In January 2009, Huhne was credited with uncovering an incidence of data loss of government information caused by a courier company losing a computer disc containing bank details of up to 2,000 public servants working for the British Council. Huhne blamed the Foreign Secretary David Milliband and the government for the courier company's loss and said that the incident was an example of why the UK should not have Identity Cards: “This is another instance in a long line of slapdash data protection by government departments. If Whitehall cannot look after its own data records it should not be trusted with the personal information of every citizen as it wants with the identity card scheme.”
On 6 November 2007, Huhne made remarks about the Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
on the BBC television programme Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
in which he claimed that the Speaker, Michael Martin
Michael Martin (politician)
Michael John Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn, PC is a British politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Glasgow Springburn from 1979 to 2005, and then for Glasgow North East until 2009...
, had fallen asleep during a speech by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
. "The Speaker unfortunately fell asleep during Gordon Brown's speech ... I'm not sure I'm allowed to say that, but he reacted in an entirely understandable way to what was not the most riveting of parliamentary occasions." After the remarks were repeated in several publications, Huhne made a public apology to the Speaker in the House of Commons on 8 November in which he withdrew his prior comments. “It was wrong of me to draw the Chair into a matter of political dispute. I hope you will accept I intended no personal offence and fully withdraw my comments.”
Controversy
Huhne was an avid supporter of Professor David NuttDavid Nutt
David John Nutt is a British psychiatrist and neuropsychopharmacologist specialising in the research of drugs that affect the brain and conditions such as addiction, anxiety and sleep. He was until 2009 a professor at the University of Bristol heading their Psychopharmacology Unit...
after he was dismissed by Home Secretary Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson
Alan Arthur Johnson is a British Labour Party politician who served as Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010. Before that, he filled a wide variety of cabinet positions in both the Blair and Brown governments, including Health Secretary and Education Secretary. Until 20 January 2011 he was...
as chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs is a statutory and non-executive non-departmental British public body, which was established under the UK's Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.-Mandate:Its terms of reference, according to the Act, are as follows:...
(ACMD) in November 2009. Nutt had criticised the government's decision to reclassify cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
as a Class B drug rather than keeping it as a class C. Huhne said the decision to sack Nutt was "disgraceful" and commented "what is the point of having independent scientific advice if as soon as you get some advice that you don't like, you sack the person who has given it to you?." Attacking the government he said that if they did not want to take expert scientific advice they might as well have a "committee of tabloid newspaper editors to advise on drugs policy". Cannabis had been re-classified as a class C drug in 2004 by then Home Secretary David Blunkett
David Blunkett
David Blunkett is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010...
only for Jacqui Smith
Jacqui Smith
Jacqueline Jill "Jacqui" Smith is a member of the British Labour Party. She served as the Member of Parliament for Redditch from 1997 until 2010 and was the first ever female Home Secretary, thus making her the third woman to hold one of the Great Offices of State — after Margaret Thatcher and...
to reverse the ruling in 2008, a decision taken despite official advisers recommending against the change.
As part of the Daily Telegraph investigation into expense claims
United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal
The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal triggered by the leak and subsequent publication by the Telegraph Group in 2009 of expense claims made by members of the United Kingdom Parliament over several years...
by MPs, Huhne was reported to have claimed for various items including groceries, fluffy dusters and a trouser press. In 2006, he claimed £5,066 for painting work on his garden fences and chairs. He collected £119 for a mahogany Corby trouser press from John Lewis but later said he would repay the cost in order "to avoid controversy". He later claimed on a live Channel 4 news programme that he needed the trouser press to "look smart" for work. In June 2010, it was revealed that in the second half of 2009, a period after the expenses scandal news story became known, Huhne claimed £14,948 in expenses, including some minor amounts such as a bill of 14 pence for stationery. The claim also included costs incurred in servicing an old boiler at his constituency home. Huhne's office running costs during the 2007/2008 financial year were the 206th highest out of 645, his second home claims were 580th highest (or 65th cheapest) out of 645, and his total expense claims were below average, ranking 418th most expensive.
Huhne is one of 16 MPs whose assets are in a blind trust
Blind trust
A blind trust is a trust in which the fiduciaries, namely the trustees or those who have been given power of attorney, have full discretion over the assets, and the trust beneficiaries have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust and no right to intervene in their handling...
..
Coalition Government (2010 – present)
Following the 2010 general election, Huhne formed part of the Liberal Democrats key negotiating team alongside Danny AlexanderDanny Alexander
Daniel Grian Alexander is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has been Chief Secretary to the Treasury since 2010. He has been the Member of Parliament for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency since 2005....
, David Laws
David Laws
David Anthony Laws is a British politician. He is Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Yeovil and former Chief Secretary to the Treasury....
and Andrew Stunell
Andrew Stunell
Robert Andrew Stunell, known as Andrew Stunell, OBE is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom. He is the Member of Parliament for Hazel Grove, and was first elected at the 1997 general election...
that brokered the agreement to go into a governing coalition with the Conservatives. Following the negotiations and the formation of a full coaltion Huhne was appointed Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change is a British government cabinet position currently held by Chris Huhne. The government department was created on 3 October 2008 when former Prime Minister Gordon Brown reshuffled his cabinet....
, the tenth most senior minister in the new government. There had been some speculation that Huhne might be appointed as Home Secretary as he had been the Liberal Democrat spokesman for Home Affairs in the preceding three years although this post went to the Conservative Theresa May
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May is a British Conservative politician who is Home Secretary in the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition government. She was elected to Parliament in 1997 as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, and served as the Chairman of the Conservative Party, 2003–04...
. He was appointed as a Privy Counsellor
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
on 13 May 2010.
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
A noted and vocal environmentalist, Huhne accepted the role of Secretary of State with the stated intention of making the nation more ecologically conscious. Among his first actions was launching National Wind Week by speaking at an event in London's Leicester Square on 15 June 2010. Underscoring his personal commitment to wind, Huhne has erected a wind turbine rising 8 feet above the roof of his constituency home in Eastleigh where he spends his weekends.Position on nuclear energy
In government, Huhne has maintained a flexible approach on the subject of nuclear energy advocating the three-pronged portfolio approach to energy: a commitment to nuclear energy; the development of more renewable energy, such as wind and sea power; and new carbon-capture technology to mitigate the damaging environmental effects of fossil fuel-fired power plants and industrial facilities. In an interview with the Observer in March 2011 after the Fukushima disaster in Japan, Huhne stated that "there are a lot of issues outside of the realm of nuclear safety, which we will have to assess. One is what the economics of nuclear power post-Fukushima will be, if there is an increase in the cost in capital to nuclear operators." This represents an evolution of his approach to the nuclear issue. In 2007, Huhne was quoted as saying "Nuclear is a tried, tested and failed technology and the government must stop putting time, effort and subsidies into this outdated industry."Cancellation of Sheffield Forgemasters loan
In June 2010, Huhne cancelled an £80 million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters to build power plant components that had been pledged by the preceding Labour government. Though attacked by Labour Shadow energy secretary Ed Milliband who said that the money for the loan had been set aside and would have resulted in at least £110 million returning to the Exchequer. On 1 July 2010, Huhne replied to Milliband saying "The loan to Sheffield Forgemasters was not a commercial loan. If it was a commercial loan it would have been arranged through the banks and not by the government. It was precisely because of the public subsidy element, and the fact that the public subsidy element was not affordable, that the government decided not to proceed with it." The cancellation of the loan was one of a number of projects agreed by the previous Labour government cancelled in an announcement to the House of Commons on 17 June 2010.Cancun climate change conference
On 9 December 2010, Huhne represented the United Kingdom at the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference
The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Cancún, Mexico, from 29 November to 10 December 2010. The conference is officially referred to as the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 6th session of the...
. The gathering, at which over 190 countries were represented, announced a deal to curb climate change which Prime Minister David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
described as a "very significant step forward." The agreement struck in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
included a recognition that deeper cuts in carbon emissions were needed and that a fund should be set up in order to help developing countries reduce their carbon emissions. Huhne described the deal as a "serious package" of measures but acknowledged that there was still more work to do prior to the next climate change meeting in Durban, South Africa, the following year. Following the conference David Cameron said that his government would be the "greenest ever" and said that Britain would meet its international obligations regarding climate change. Due to his attending the conference, Huhne was one of 8 Liberal Democrat MPs to abstain from the vote on Government proposals to increase university tuition fees. The vote had been particularly controversial for Liberal Democrats as many of the parties MPs had, prior to the election, signed an NUS pledge
Vote for Students pledge
The National Union of Students "Vote for Students" pledge is a pledge to vote against tuition fee increases that was signed by over 1000 candidates standing in the UK general election in 2010, notably including all 57 subsequently elected Liberal Democrat MPs.-The pledge:The pledge states:The NUS...
promising to vote against tuition fee increases. For the government, the controversial nature of the vote meant that, at one stage, it was considered that Huhne would have to return home from the conference in order to vote with the Government. Speaking about the possibility of the UK's minister potentially leaving the conference to attend a domestic vote Greenpeace Uk director John Sauven
John Sauven
John Sauven, is a trained economist and environmentalist and executive director of Greenpeace UK, a post he has held since 2008. Before that he was the director responsible for Greenpeace communications and specialized on solutions and working with business...
said to the BBC that Huhnes presence was vital adding "with the outcome of the Cancun summit now hanging in the balance, attention must now focus on whether he can help to broker a climate deal". Conservative minister Greg Barker, also at the summit, did however return for the vote.
Support for AV referendum campaign
Huhne was an enthusiastic supporter of the AV campaign and attacked anti-AV campaigners such as his cabinet colleague, Conservative Party chairman Baroness Warsi. "If Baroness Warsi thinks that AV will benefit fascism she has to explain why the BNP wants to stick with what we have and Operation Black Vote supports AV. The BNP know the present system is their only chance of election. This is another example of the increasingly Goebbels-like campaign from the anti-AV people, for whom no lie is too idiotic given the truth is so unpalatable to them. AV makes lazy MPs work harder and reach out beyond their tribe. It is what Britain needs to clean up politics."Personal life
Huhne married a Greek-born economist Vicky PryceVicky Pryce
Vicky Pryce CB is an economist, and former Joint Head of the United Kingdom's Government Economic Service.-Early life:She was born in Athens, the daughter of Nicolas and Voula Courmouzis...
(formerly Chief Economist in the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform was a United Kingdom government department. The department was created on 28 June 2007 on the disbanding of the Department of Trade and Industry , and was itself disbanded on 6 June 2009 on the creation of the Department for Business,...
) in 1984 shortly after she divorced her first husband, with whom she had two young daughters. Huhne and Pryce had three children together. In a video statement made during the 2007 Liberal Democrats leadership election campaign, Huhne described his philosophy about family life: "Relationships, including particularly family relationships, are actually the most important things in making people happy and fulfilled". Talking about his wife to The Independent in 2008 he stated: "I also have a very hard-working and extremely intelligent wife, who manages to earn far more than I do." An election flyer distributed in his Eastleigh constituency prior to the May 2010 general election included several photographs of himself with his family members, each image accompanied by a hand-written caption.
In June 2010, after being observed and photographed spending a night in his constituency home with a woman other than his wife, Huhne admitted that he had been involved in an extra-marital sexual relationship with a woman named Carina Trimingham and stated that he had decided to leave his wife of 26 years to be with her. Huhne's wife and children were completely unaware of his infidelity and his plans to leave his wife for another woman. Within one week of Huhne's declaration, Pryce filed for divorce on the grounds of Huhne's "admitted adultery". A statement issued on her behalf by London-based solicitors Osbornes said: "The events of the past week have come as a tremendous shock to both Miss Pryce and her family." Trimingham had worked on Huhne's campaigns for the Liberal Democrat leadership in 2006 and 2007 - and was also a paid staff member on his 2010 General Election campaign. She was press officer for another Liberal Democrat politician Brian Paddick
Brian Paddick
Brian Leonard Paddick is a British politician, and was the Liberal Democrat candidate for the London mayoral election, 2008, coming third behind Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone...
during the 2008 Mayor of London election
London mayoral election, 2008
The London mayoral election, 2008 for the office of Mayor of London was held on 1 May 2008 and was won by Conservative Party candidate Boris Johnson....
, and is now campaigns director at the Electoral Reform Society
Electoral Reform Society
The Electoral Reform Society is a political pressure group based in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It is believed to be the oldest organisation concerned with electoral systems in the world.-Aims:...
. Huhne was defended by Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude
Francis Maude
Francis Anthony Aylmer Maude is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he currently serves as the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, and as a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Horsham...
who opined: “What goes on in people’s private lives is a subject that fascinates the tabloid press but is irrelevant to the job they are trying to do.”
Huhne owns seven houses—five that he purchased just as investments and that he makes money on as rental properties and two in which he lives. (One in Eastleigh, his constituency, and a town house in Clapham, south London). His wealth is estimated as £3.5 million.
Personal Interests
"Electoral reform" is among the personal interests that Huhne cites on his biography on the official Liberal Democrats website. He describes his other interests as "European single currency, economics, third world debt and development, Europe."Huhne is a member of the European Movement
European Movement
The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it.-History:...
, Green Lib Dems, Association of Liberal Democrat Trade Unionists and the National Union of Journalists
National Union of Journalists
The National Union of Journalists is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists .-Structure:...
.
Traffic conviction
Huhne was convicted in 2003 under the Road Traffic Act 1988 of using a mobile phone while drivingMobile phones and driving safety
Mobile phone use while driving is common, but dangerous. Due to the number of accidents that are related to cell phone use while driving, some jurisdictions have made the use of a cell phone while driving illegal. Others have enacted laws to ban handheld mobile phone use, but allow use of a...
his car on a busy London street. Following his conviction, he was banned from driving for three months.
Penalty points allegations
In May 2011 Huhne's estranged wife stated that Huhne had "pressurised people to take his driving licence penalty points" on his behalf. Huhne denied the allegations of perverting the course of justicePerverting the course of justice
Perverting the course of justice, in English, Canadian , and Irish law, is a criminal offence in which someone prevents justice from being served on himself or on another party...
, contrary to common law. After Huhne was reported to them, Essex Police said: "We take allegations such as this one extremely seriously and will take action where necessary."
On 10 June 2011 it emerged that Essex Police had sent 'initial papers' to the Crown Prosecution Service regarding the allegations and it was also revealed that Huhne had exercised his right to remain silent
Right to silence
The right to remain silent is a legal right of any person. This right is recognized, explicitly or by convention, in many of the world's legal systems....
in response to a series of police questions in May.On 25 June 2011 Essex Police stated that a judge at the Crown Court
Crown Court
The Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
at Chelmsford
Chelmsford
Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...
had granted them a court order to take possession of a recording from the Sunday Times in which the ex-couple apparently discuss the case. On 22 July it emerged that Huhne had once again been interviewed by police concerning the allegations and on 28 July the police handed the file to prosecutors. On 17 August 2011, the Crown Prosecution Service
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
remitted the matter to Essex Police with a direction to investigate the matter further. On 25 August 2011, Essex Police re-submitted their allegations to the CPS. A decision on whether criminal proceedings would be instituted for the alleged offence was expected to be made by the end of September 2011.
On 28 October 2011, the Crown Prosecution Service remitted the matter to Essex Police for further investigation, after the Service had completed a "full review" of the allegations. A judge at the Crown Court at Chelmsford has ordered The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
to produce more than one hundred email messages between Pryce and the newspaper's political editor, in relation to the police investigation. On 22 November 2011, the Director of Public Prosecutions
Director of Public Prosecutions (England and Wales)
The Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales is a senior prosecutor, appointed by the Attorney General. First created in 1879, the office was unified with that of the Treasury Solicitor less than a decade later before again becoming independent in 1908...
, Keir Starmer
Keir Starmer
Keir Starmer, QC, is a barrister in England and Wales. He became the fourteenth Director of Public Prosecutions and the sixth head of the Crown Prosecution Service on 1 November 2008...
QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
announced that the CPS were "very close" to coming to a decision on whether to prosecute.. The reason for the delay in coming to a decision was because a newspaper was appealing against a court order that the CPS had obtained. The DPP stated that "we do not shy away from prosecuting politicians".
In a May 2011 YouGov
YouGov
YouGov, formerly known as PollingPoint in the United States, is an international internet-based market research firm launched in the UK in May 2000 by Stephan Shakespeare, now Chief Executive Officer, and Nadhim Zahawi...
opinion poll, almost half the respondents thought that Huhne should resign over the allegations.
Publications and writing interests
Prior to his careers as a financial journalist, analyst and politician, Huhne wrote four books that are mainly on the themes either of third-world debtDeveloping countries' debt
The debt of developing countries is external debt incurred by governments of developing countries, generally in quantities beyond the governments' political ability to repay...
and development or European integration: the latest is entitled Both Sides of the Coin (1999, with James Forder
James Forder
James Forder is a British academic / economist and Tutorial Fellow in Economics at Balliol College, University of Oxford. He is editor of Oxford Economic Papers...
), in which he argues the case for British membership of the euro. The first was Debt and Danger (Penguin Special, 1985), an analysis of the 1984 third world debt crisis co-written with Lord Lever of Manchester
Harold Lever, Baron Lever of Manchester
Harold Lever, Baron Lever of Manchester, PC was a barrister and Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom....
, the former Labour cabinet minister.
He was a contributor to the Orange Book (2004), in which he advocates reforms to the United Nations and international governance. Huhne was critical of the most controversial article in the Orange Book, in which David Laws
David Laws
David Anthony Laws is a British politician. He is Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Yeovil and former Chief Secretary to the Treasury....
proposed an insurance-based National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
. He did not take part in the successor volume, Britain after Blair and has voiced dismay at the way its predecessor was presented as a break with the party's social liberal traditions. More recently, he contributed to the book The City in Europe and the World
The City in Europe and the World
The City in Europe and the World is a 2005 collection of essays examining the relationship between the City of London's financial markets, politics, government, and Europe, edited by Stephen Barber and with a foreword by Peter Mandelson....
(2005) and two articles to Reinventing the State (2007) edited by Duncan Brack, Richard Grayson and David Howarth
David Howarth
David Ross Howarth is a British Liberal Democrat politician who was Member of Parliament for Cambridge from 2005 to 2010.- Education and academic career :...
. These cover the case for localism in which Huhne argues that there is no contradiction between localism and equality, and the need for environmental policy to tackle climate change.
Huhne has also written articles for the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
and the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
.
External links
- Chris Huhne MP official constituency website
- Eastleigh Liberal Democrats
- Profile at the Liberal Democrats Party
- Profile: Chris Huhne, BBC News, 2 March 2006
- Profile: Chris Huhne, BBC News, 19 December 2007
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