Geoff Hoon
Encyclopedia
Geoffrey "Geoff" William Hoon (born 6 December 1953) is a British
politician
who served as the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Ashfield
from 1992 to 2010. He is a former Defence Secretary
, Transport Secretary
, Leader of the House of Commons
and Labour Party
Chief Whip
.
, England
, and is the son of Ernest Hoon and June Collett.
before going on to Cambridge University
, where he read law at Jesus College
and graduated in 1974.
from 1976–82, and was a warden at the all-male Devonshire Hall. He was called to the Bar
at Gray's Inn
in 1978, and was also a visiting law professor at the University of Louisville
, Kentucky
, from 1980-81.
In 1982, Hoon became a practising barrister
for two years in Nottingham
.
for Derbyshire in 1984 and served in Brussels
and Strasbourg
for ten years. He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1992 general election
for Ashfield
, making his maiden speech
on 20 May 1992, following the retirement of the sitting Labour MP, Frank Haynes
. He held the seat with a majority of 12,987 and remained the constituency's MP until the 2010 general election. He also attended the Bilderberg Conference
in Scotland in 1998. Hoon has acquired the irreverent nickname Buff, (Buffoon). Although it was originally rumored to have been the invention of a member of the Conservative Party, fellow Labour Party colleague Peter Kilfoyle recently took responsibility.
in 1994 when he was appointed as an opposition whip
, and in 1995 he joined the frontbench
team as a spokesman on Trade and Industry. Following the 1997 general election
he became a member of the government of Tony Blair
as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Lord Chancellor's Department
, being promoted to the rank of Minister of State
in the same department in 1998. In 1999, he was briefly a minister at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
, before entering the cabinet
later in the year as the Secretary of State for Defence
, at which time he became a member of the Privy Council
. He served as the Lord Privy Seal
and the Leader of the House of Commons
from the 2005 general election
until 5 May 2006, when he was appointed on that day as Minister for Europe.
In a 2003 interview on the BBC's Breakfast with Frost
, Hoon asserted that the UK was willing to use nuclear weapons against Iraqi forces "in the right circumstances."
On 23 June 2003, Hoon continued to claim that two trailers found in Iraq were mobile weapons laboratories
. This was in spite of the fact that it had been leaked to the press by Dr David Kelly and other weapons inspectors that they were nothing of the sort. The trailers were for filling hydrogen balloons for artillery ranging and were sold to Iraq by a British company, Marconi.
In an April 2004 interview, Hoon said that more could have been done to help David Kelly, who committed suicide on 17 July 2003 after being named as the source of Andrew Gilligan
's disputed Today programme contribution.
On 19 January 2010, Hoon gave evidence to the Iraq Inquiry about his time as Defence Secretary.
purchased four Upholder class
submarines and a suite of trainers from the Royal Navy
to replace their decommissioned Oberon class submarine
s. The Upholder class entered Royal Navy service from 1990 to 1993 at the end of the Cold War
, but were deemed surplus as part of the Peace Dividend
and refocus on a nuclear submarine fleet. They were placed into storage until Canada purchased them.
On October 5 2004 HMCS Chicoutimi (SSK 879)
, sailing from Faslane Naval Base
, Scotland
to Nova Scotia
declared an emergency north-west of Ireland
following a fire onboard. The fire was caused by seawater entering through open hatches in rough seas. It soaked electrical insulation which had not been sufficiently waterproofed (since it conformed to an older specification than the three other submarines), starting a fire. The Chicoutimi lost power and was rescued by Royal Navy
frigates HMS Montrose
and Marlborough
on October 6. Lt(N) Chris Saunders died subsequently from the effects of smoke inhalation; due to the rough weather it had not been possible to airlift him and the other casualties to a hospital until two days later. Chicoutimi was later transported to Halifax for repair. A board of inquiry cleared the captain of any fault but the regulations permitting the submarine to run on the surface with open hatches are being revised.
Following claims made in the Canadian media about the cause of the fire, blaming the UK for supplying an unsafe vessel, the situation was further exacerbated by controversial comments made by Secretary of State for Defence
Geoff Hoon. He accompanied his condolences for Saunders with a proposal that the Royal Navy would charge Canada for the cost of the rescue while also stating that Canada as the buyer had to beware
. In Canada, many World War II
veterans were outraged by his comments, considering Canada's sacrifice for the British during both World Wars.
's Council of Europe report which found extensive involvement of European countries, including Britain, in the US kidnapping and torture programme.
during the Labour Party Conference, Hoon became the Secretary of State for Transport
on 3 October 2008. His old post of Labour Chief Whip
was given to Nick Brown
.
In January 2009, Hoon gave the official go-ahead for the controversial expansion of Heathrow Airport.
On 6 January 2010, he and fellow ex-minister Patricia Hewitt
jointly called for a secret ballot on the future of the leadership of Gordon Brown
. The following day, he said that it appeared to have failed and was "over". Brown later referred to the call for a secret ballot as a "form of silliness". After the failed coup there was a backlash against Hoon which flowed over into his Ashfield
constituency in Nottinghamshire
where some Labour party members wanted to deselect him.
During the Iraq Inquiry, Hoon said that the first he knew of the 45 minute Iraq weapon claim was when he read it in the dossier on Iraq's weapons in September 2002.
Hoon had said that he would defend his seat at the 2010 general election but according to the Financial Times
he had "finally bowed to pressure" and on 11 February 2010, he announced that he would stand down as an MP
at the next election.
Since his retirement from politics he has set up a consultancy firm "Taylor and Hoon".
. He asserted that he had only claimed what he was entitled to. But the financial arrangements were quite heavily criticized in the media, because his London home was registered as his main residence while it was allegedly let out to someone else. In May 2009, The Daily Telegraph
printed allegations that he had been flipping
his homes in London. Flipping is a technique for Members of Parliament to switch their designated second home between several houses, allowing them to claim the maximum available from public funds for home improvements.
on political lobbying by the Channel 4
Dispatches
programme. Hoon told an undercover reporter that he wanted to translate his knowledge and contacts into something that "frankly makes money". On 22 March 2010 it was announced he had been suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party, alongside Patricia Hewitt
and Stephen Byers
. Consequently, he was dropped from the NATO "group of 12" committee that had been drafting NATO's new mission statement.
, Beach Boys, David Bowie
and other acts including Ryan Adams
. Hoon has recently also stated that he was a follower of early punk rock, writing an appreciative column in The Independent (Sunday, 11 April 2010) about Malcolm Mclaren and the early American and British punk scenes. He is a supporter of Derby County
and is a regular at Pride Park
.
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
who served as the Member of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
(MP) for Ashfield
Ashfield (UK Parliament constituency)
Ashfield is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system....
from 1992 to 2010. He is a former Defence Secretary
Secretary of State for Defence
The Secretary of State for Defence, popularly known as the Defence Secretary, is the senior Government of the United Kingdom minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence, chairing the Defence Council. It is a Cabinet position...
, Transport Secretary
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
, Leader of the House of Commons
Leader of the House of Commons
The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons...
and Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Chief Whip
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political office in some legislatures assigned to an elected member whose task is to administer the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires.-The Whips Office:...
.
Early life
Hoon was born in DerbyDerby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and is the son of Ernest Hoon and June Collett.
Education
Hoon was educated at the independent Nottingham High SchoolNottingham High School
Nottingham High School is a British boys' independent school situated about a mile north of Nottingham city centre. It has around 900 pupils from ages 11 to 18 and there is the adjoining Nottingham High Junior School catering for younger boys and, from September 2008, the Lovell House...
before going on to Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, where he read law at Jesus College
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...
and graduated in 1974.
Career before entering politics
Hoon was a law lecturer at the University of LeedsUniversity of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
from 1976–82, and was a warden at the all-male Devonshire Hall. He was called to the Bar
Call to the bar
The Call to the Bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party, and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received a "call to the bar"...
at Gray's Inn
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
in 1978, and was also a visiting law professor at the University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, from 1980-81.
In 1982, Hoon became a practising barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
for two years in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
.
Member of Parliament
Hoon was elected as a Member of the European ParliamentMember 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,...
for Derbyshire in 1984 and served in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
for ten years. He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1992 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
for Ashfield
Ashfield (UK Parliament constituency)
Ashfield is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system....
, making his maiden speech
Maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country...
on 20 May 1992, following the retirement of the sitting Labour MP, Frank Haynes
Frank Haynes
David Francis Haynes, usually known as Frank Haynes was a British politician. A member of the Labour Party, he served at the Member of Parliament for Ashfield from 1979-92....
. He held the seat with a majority of 12,987 and remained the constituency's MP until the 2010 general election. He also attended the Bilderberg Conference
Bilderberg Group
The Bilderberg Group, Bilderberg conference, or Bilderberg Club is an annual, unofficial, invitation-only conference of approximately 120 to 140 guests from North America and Western Europe, most of whom are people of influence. About one-third are from government and politics, and two-thirds from...
in Scotland in 1998. Hoon has acquired the irreverent nickname Buff, (Buffoon). Although it was originally rumored to have been the invention of a member of the Conservative Party, fellow Labour Party colleague Peter Kilfoyle recently took responsibility.
Shadow Cabinet and early government posts
In Parliament, Hoon was promoted by John SmithJohn Smith (UK politician)
John Smith was a British Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his sudden death from a heart attack in May 1994...
in 1994 when he was appointed as an opposition whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
, and in 1995 he joined the frontbench
Frontbencher
In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then known as being on the frontbench and are described as...
team as a spokesman on Trade and Industry. Following the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
he became a member of the government of Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Lord Chancellor's Department
Lord Chancellor's Department
The Lord Chancellor's Department was a United Kingdom government department answerable to the Lord Chancellor with jurisdiction over England and Wales....
, being promoted to the rank of Minister of State
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister...
in the same department in 1998. In 1999, he was briefly a minister at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
, before entering the cabinet
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
later in the year as the Secretary of State for Defence
Secretary of State for Defence
The Secretary of State for Defence, popularly known as the Defence Secretary, is the senior Government of the United Kingdom minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence, chairing the Defence Council. It is a Cabinet position...
, at which time he became a member of the Privy Council
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...
. He served as the Lord Privy Seal
Lord Privy Seal
The Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. The office is one of the traditional sinecure offices of state...
and the Leader of the House of Commons
Leader of the House of Commons
The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons...
from the 2005 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....
until 5 May 2006, when he was appointed on that day as Minister for Europe.
Secretary of State for Defence
Breakfast with Frost
Breakfast with Frost was a talk show hosted by Sir David Frost on the BBC on Sunday mornings. The news presenter was Moira Stuart. The show ran for more than 12 years and exactly 500 editions between 3 January 1993 and 29 May 2005...
, Hoon asserted that the UK was willing to use nuclear weapons against Iraqi forces "in the right circumstances."
On 23 June 2003, Hoon continued to claim that two trailers found in Iraq were mobile weapons laboratories
Mobile weapons laboratory
Mobile weapons laboratories are bioreactors and other processing equipment to manufacture and process biological weapons that can be moved from location to location either by train or vehicle.-Iraqi Mobile weapons laboratories:...
. This was in spite of the fact that it had been leaked to the press by Dr David Kelly and other weapons inspectors that they were nothing of the sort. The trailers were for filling hydrogen balloons for artillery ranging and were sold to Iraq by a British company, Marconi.
In an April 2004 interview, Hoon said that more could have been done to help David Kelly, who committed suicide on 17 July 2003 after being named as the source of Andrew Gilligan
Andrew Gilligan
Andrew Paul Gilligan is a British journalist best known for a 2003 report on BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme in which he said a British government briefing paper on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction had been 'sexed up', a claim that ultimately led to a public inquiry that criticised Gilligan...
's disputed Today programme contribution.
On 19 January 2010, Hoon gave evidence to the Iraq Inquiry about his time as Defence Secretary.
Comments on cluster bombs
Shortly after the US/UK led invasion of Iraq began in 2003, following an admission by the Ministry of Defence that Britain had dropped 50 airborne cluster bombs in the south of Iraq and left behind up to 800 unexploded bomblets, it was put to Hoon in a Radio 4 interview that an Iraqi mother of a child killed by these cluster bombs would not thank the British army. He replied "One day they might." Hoon continued "I accept that in the short term the consequences are terrible. No one minimises those and I'm not seeking to do so," he said. "But what I am saying is that this is a country that has been brutalised for decades by this appalling regime and that the restoration of that country to its own people, the possibility of their deciding for themselves their future ... and indeed the way in which they go about their lives, ultimately, yes, that will be a better place for people in Iraq."HMCS Chicoutimi comments
In 1998, CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
purchased four Upholder class
Upholder/Victoria class submarine
The Upholder/Victoria-class submarines, also known as the Type 2400 , are diesel-electric Fleet submarines designed in the UK in the late 1970s to supplement the Royal Navy's nuclear submarine force....
submarines and a suite of trainers from the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
to replace their decommissioned Oberon class submarine
Oberon class submarine
The Oberon class was a 27-boat class of British-built diesel-electric submarines based on the successful British Porpoise-class submarine....
s. The Upholder class entered Royal Navy service from 1990 to 1993 at the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, but were deemed surplus as part of the Peace Dividend
Peace dividend
The peace dividend is a political slogan popularized by US President George H.W. Bush and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the early 1990s, purporting to describe the economic benefit of a decrease in defense spending. It is used primarily in discussions relating to the guns versus butter...
and refocus on a nuclear submarine fleet. They were placed into storage until Canada purchased them.
On October 5 2004 HMCS Chicoutimi (SSK 879)
HMCS Chicoutimi (SSK 879)
HMCS Chicoutimi is a Victoria-class long-range hunter-killer submarine of the Royal Canadian Navy, originally built and operated by the Royal Navy as HMS Upholder....
, sailing from Faslane Naval Base
HMNB Clyde
Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
declared an emergency north-west of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
following a fire onboard. The fire was caused by seawater entering through open hatches in rough seas. It soaked electrical insulation which had not been sufficiently waterproofed (since it conformed to an older specification than the three other submarines), starting a fire. The Chicoutimi lost power and was rescued by Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
frigates HMS Montrose
HMS Montrose (F236)
The second and current HMS Montrose is the eighth of a sixteen ship class of frigates, known as Type 23 or the 'Duke' class, of the Royal Navy. She was laid down in November 1989 by Yarrow Shipbuilders on the Clyde...
and Marlborough
HMS Marlborough (F233)
HMS Marlborough was a 'Duke'-class Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy, and the sixth ship to bear the name. She was named after John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough.-History:...
on October 6. Lt(N) Chris Saunders died subsequently from the effects of smoke inhalation; due to the rough weather it had not been possible to airlift him and the other casualties to a hospital until two days later. Chicoutimi was later transported to Halifax for repair. A board of inquiry cleared the captain of any fault but the regulations permitting the submarine to run on the surface with open hatches are being revised.
Following claims made in the Canadian media about the cause of the fire, blaming the UK for supplying an unsafe vessel, the situation was further exacerbated by controversial comments made by Secretary of State for Defence
Secretary of State for Defence
The Secretary of State for Defence, popularly known as the Defence Secretary, is the senior Government of the United Kingdom minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence, chairing the Defence Council. It is a Cabinet position...
Geoff Hoon. He accompanied his condolences for Saunders with a proposal that the Royal Navy would charge Canada for the cost of the rescue while also stating that Canada as the buyer had to beware
Caveat emptor
Caveat emptor is Latin for "Let the buyer beware". Generally, caveat emptor is the property law doctrine that controls the sale of real property after the date of closing.- Explanation :...
. In Canada, many World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
veterans were outraged by his comments, considering Canada's sacrifice for the British during both World Wars.
Comments on Extraordinary Rendition
Hoon was condemned by an international delegation of European MPs for evading questions about Britain's co-operation with the CIA's so-called 'extraordinary rendition' programme. Hoon, then Minister for Europe, was being quizzed in the wake of Dick MartyDick Marty
Dick Marty is a Swiss politician and former state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. He is a member of the Swiss Council of States , and a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.-Education:Marty holds a doctorate in law from the University of Neuchâtel with the thesis:...
's Council of Europe report which found extensive involvement of European countries, including Britain, in the US kidnapping and torture programme.
Secretary of State for Transport
In the reshuffle after the sudden resignation of the Transport Secretary Ruth KellyRuth Kelly
Ruth Maria Kelly is a British Labour Party politician of Irish descent who was the Member of Parliament for Bolton West from 1997 until she stood down in 2010...
during the Labour Party Conference, Hoon became the Secretary of State for Transport
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
on 3 October 2008. His old post of Labour Chief Whip
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political office in some legislatures assigned to an elected member whose task is to administer the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires.-The Whips Office:...
was given to Nick Brown
Nick Brown
Nicholas Hugh "Nick" Brown is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne East since 1983...
.
In January 2009, Hoon gave the official go-ahead for the controversial expansion of Heathrow Airport.
Backbench MP
Hoon resigned from his post as Transport Secretary on 5 June 2009 during a Cabinet reshuffle, claiming that he wanted to spend more time with his family.On 6 January 2010, he and fellow ex-minister Patricia Hewitt
Patricia Hewitt
Patricia Hope Hewitt is an Australian-born British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Leicester West from 1997 until 2010. She served in the Cabinet until 2007, most recently as Health Secretary....
jointly called for a secret ballot on the future of the leadership of 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 following day, he said that it appeared to have failed and was "over". Brown later referred to the call for a secret ballot as a "form of silliness". After the failed coup there was a backlash against Hoon which flowed over into his Ashfield
Ashfield (UK Parliament constituency)
Ashfield is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system....
constituency in Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
where some Labour party members wanted to deselect him.
During the Iraq Inquiry, Hoon said that the first he knew of the 45 minute Iraq weapon claim was when he read it in the dossier on Iraq's weapons in September 2002.
Hoon had said that he would defend his seat at the 2010 general election but according to 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....
he had "finally bowed to pressure" and on 11 February 2010, he announced that he would stand down as an MP
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,...
at the next election.
Since his retirement from politics he has set up a consultancy firm "Taylor and Hoon".
Expense claims
In April 2009, it emerged that Hoon had rented out his London home and claimed expenses on his constituency house. While doing so, he had lived in state-owned, rent-free housing at Admiralty HouseAdmiralty House (London)
Admiralty House in London is a Grade I listedbuilding facing Whitehall, currently used for UK government functions and as ministerial flats. It was opened in 1788 and until 1964 was the official residence of First Lords of the Admiralty.-Description:...
. He asserted that he had only claimed what he was entitled to. But the financial arrangements were quite heavily criticized in the media, because his London home was registered as his main residence while it was allegedly let out to someone else. In May 2009, 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...
printed allegations that he had been flipping
Flipping
Flipping is a term used primarily in the United States to describe purchasing a revenue-generating asset and quickly reselling it for profit...
his homes in London. Flipping is a technique for Members of Parliament to switch their designated second home between several houses, allowing them to claim the maximum available from public funds for home improvements.
Dispatches lobbyist investigation
Hoon was one of the MPs named in the 2010 sting operationSting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...
on political lobbying by the 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...
Dispatches
Dispatches (TV series)
Dispatches is the British television current affairs documentary series on Channel 4, first transmitted in 1987. The programme covers issues about British society, politics, health, religion, international current affairs and the environment, usually featuring a mole in an organisation.-Awards:*...
programme. Hoon told an undercover reporter that he wanted to translate his knowledge and contacts into something that "frankly makes money". On 22 March 2010 it was announced he had been suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party, alongside Patricia Hewitt
Patricia Hewitt
Patricia Hope Hewitt is an Australian-born British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Leicester West from 1997 until 2010. She served in the Cabinet until 2007, most recently as Health Secretary....
and Stephen Byers
Stephen Byers
Stephen John Byers is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for North Tyneside from 1997 to 2010; in the previous parliament, from 1992, he represented Wallsend...
. Consequently, he was dropped from the NATO "group of 12" committee that had been drafting NATO's new mission statement.
Westland
In May 2011 Geoff Hoon took on a role with AgustaWestland. The same company had been awarded a £1.7billion contract when he was Defence Secretary. AgustaWestland was named as the preferred bidder for the Future Lynx project to deliver a new generation of helicopters to the MoD in March 2005 when Mr Hoon was Defence Secretary. No other firms were invited to bid, despite claims that other manufacturers could have provided an alternative more cheaply and quickly.Personal life
Hoon married Elaine Dumelow in 1981. The couple have two daughters and a son. Hoon enjoys football, running and cinema. He also enjoys music, including The BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, Beach Boys, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
and other acts including Ryan Adams
Ryan Adams
David Ryan Adams is an American alt-country/rock singer-songwriter, from Jacksonville, North Carolina. Initially part of the group Whiskeytown, Adams left the band and released his first solo album Heartbreaker in 2000...
. Hoon has recently also stated that he was a follower of early punk rock, writing an appreciative column in The Independent (Sunday, 11 April 2010) about Malcolm Mclaren and the early American and British punk scenes. He is a supporter of Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
and is a regular at Pride Park
Pride Park Stadium
Pride Park Stadium is an all-seater football stadium located on the Pride Park business park on the outskirts of Derby, England. It is the current home of Football League Championship club Derby County, who moved to the stadium from the Baseball Ground upon its opening in 1997...
.
External links
- Collected news from The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
- Taylorhoon Strategy
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