Janet Anderson
Encyclopedia
Janet Anderson is an English
Labour Party
politician who was the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Rossendale and Darwen from 1992
until 2010.
Girls' High School (now John of Gaunt School) and the Kingswood Grammar School
in Kingswood
, South Gloucestershire
. She attended the Polytechnic of Central London
and the Université de Nantes
.
In 1971, Anderson joined the offices of the The Scotsman
and The Sunday Times
as a secretary
. In 1974 she became the personal assistant to the MP for Blackburn
, Barbara Castle
and to her successor Jack Straw
until the 1987 general election
, when she unsuccessfully fought the marginal seat of Rossendale and Darwen; losing to David Trippier
by 4,982 votes.
Anderson became a campaigns organiser for the Parliamentary Labour Party
, and then the northern regional organiser for the Shopping Hours Reform Council campaigning to extending the Sunday trading laws. She also ran her own public relations
company, with clients such as the Royal College of Nursing
and Safeway plc
.
Anderson is a member of the GMB Union
, and was formerly secretary of the Tribune Group
.
, winning by just 120 votes. She became the Parliamentary Private Secretary
to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Margaret Beckett
, which she held for a year.
She was an opposition whip
from 1994–96, before being appointed Shadow Minister for Women
. While in this role she notoriously joked in an interview that women would become "more promiscuous" under a Labour government.
In 1996, in response to campaigns to deal with the problem of stalking
, she presented the Stalking Bill 1996
to Parliament under the Ten Minute Rule
, with support from 64 other MPs. The bill failed to get government support, as it was felt that the proposed offence failed to distinguish between reasonable and unreasonable conduct.
Following the 1997 general election
Anderson became a junior whip
in Tony Blair
's new government, before being promoted to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
in 1998, where she was the Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting and was responsible for bringing in the popular free TV licences for the over-75s.
Anderson returned to the back benches
following the 2001 general election
. She subsequently served on the Home Affairs Select Committee
, before becoming a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee
and the House of Commons Administration Committee
. She was also on the Chairmen's Panel Committee. She was defeated in the 2010 general election by Conservative
candidate Jake Berry
in an 8.9% swing to the Conservatives. Berry overturned a Labour majority of 3,616 to win by 4,493 votes.
alleged that Anderson had submitted and was paid a claim form including mileage equalling 5 round trips to her constituency each week parliament sat along with rail and air fares despite living in London during the week. Her expenses for car journeys were; £16,612 for 60,118 miles travelled. This was £4,500 more than the next highest claimant, Laurence Robertson
. The Telegraph described her as "one of the most prolific expense claimers in Parliament" Other allegations included expenses for the up keep of her partner’s, Jim Dowd MP
, home in his Lewisham constituency under her second home allowance despite Dowd claiming the London salary supplement intended to cover the additional cost of living in London. Anderson was one of 98 MPs who voted in favour of legislation which would have kept MPs expense information secret.
Anderson claimed near the maximum Additional Costs Allowance between 2001 and 2008, ranking joint highest in 2002/03, 2004/05 and 2006/07 also 3rd in 2003/04.
In 2009 Anderson was allowed to secretly repay £5,750 in expenses for over claimed petty cash.
, though they remain on good terms.
Anderson lists her pastimes as swimming, playing the piano
, listening to opera
, gardening and cooking Sunday roasts for her family. She speaks fluent French
.
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...
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...
politician who was the Member of Parliament
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,...
(MP) for Rossendale and Darwen from 1992
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...
until 2010.
Early life
Anderson was educated at TrowbridgeTrowbridge
Trowbridge is the county town of Wiltshire, England, situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, approximately 12 miles southeast of Bath, Somerset....
Girls' High School (now John of Gaunt School) and the Kingswood Grammar School
Kingsfield School
King's Oak Academy, formerly known as Kingsfield School and Kingswood Grammar School, is a Mathematics and Computing College located in Kingswood, Bristol, England.-Admissions:...
in Kingswood
Kingswood, South Gloucestershire
Kingswood is an urban area in South Gloucestershire, England, bordering the City of Bristol to the west. It is located on both sides of the A420 road, which connects Bristol and Chippenham and which forms the high street through the principal retail zone...
, South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...
. She attended the Polytechnic of Central London
University of Westminster
The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...
and the Université de Nantes
University of Nantes
The University of Nantes is a well-known French university, located in the city of Nantes. Currently, it is attended by approximately 34,000 students. 10% of them are international students coming from 110 countries.-History:...
.
In 1971, Anderson joined the offices of the The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
and The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
as a secretary
Secretary
A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
. In 1974 she became the personal assistant to the MP for Blackburn
Blackburn (UK Parliament constituency)
Blackburn is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The town currently elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. It has elected Labour MPs since its re-creation in 1955.-Boundaries:The constituency...
, Barbara Castle
Barbara Castle
Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn , PC, GCOT was a British Labour Party politician....
and to her successor Jack Straw
Jack Straw (politician)
John Whitaker Straw is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Blackburn since 1979. He served as Home Secretary from 1997 to 2001, Foreign Secretary from 2001 to 2006 and Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons from 2006 to 2007 under Tony Blair...
until 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...
, when she unsuccessfully fought the marginal seat of Rossendale and Darwen; losing to David Trippier
David Trippier
Sir David Austin Trippier is a British Conservative politician and old boy of Bury Grammar School.Trippier was Member of Parliament for Rossendale from 1979 to 1983, and for Rossendale and Darwen from 1983 until he lost his seat in 1992 by 120 votes to Labour's Janet Anderson...
by 4,982 votes.
Anderson became a campaigns organiser for the Parliamentary Labour Party
Parliamentary Labour Party
In UK politics, the Parliamentary Labour Party is the parliamentary party of the Labour Party in Parliament: Labour MPs as a collective body....
, and then the northern regional organiser for the Shopping Hours Reform Council campaigning to extending the Sunday trading laws. She also ran her own public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
company, with clients such as the Royal College of Nursing
Royal College of Nursing
The Royal College of Nursing is a union membership organisation with over 395,000 members in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1916, receiving its Royal Charter in 1928, Queen Elizabeth II is the patron...
and Safeway plc
Safeway (UK)
Safeway was a chain of supermarkets and convenience stores in the United Kingdom. It started as a subsidiary of the American Safeway Inc., before being sold off in 1987....
.
Anderson is a member of the GMB Union
GMB Union
The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom, and has more than 600,000 members. Its members are drawn from many sectors, with particular strength amongst manual workers in local government and the health service...
, and was formerly secretary of the Tribune Group
Tribune (magazine)
Tribune is a democratic socialist weekly, founded in 1937 published in London. It is independent but supports the Labour Party from the left...
.
Parliamentary career
Anderson re-fought Rossendale and Darwen successfully at the 1992 General ElectionUnited 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...
, winning by just 120 votes. She became the Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Margaret Beckett
Margaret Beckett
Margaret Mary Beckett is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Derby South since 1983, rising to become the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party under John Smith, from 18 July 1992 to 12 May 1994, and briefly serving as Leader of the Party following Smith's death...
, which she held for a year.
She was 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...
from 1994–96, before being appointed Shadow Minister for Women
Minister for Women and Equality
The post of Minister for Women and Equalities is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom with responsibility for addressing all forms of discrimination, with particular emphasis on gender inequality.-History:...
. While in this role she notoriously joked in an interview that women would become "more promiscuous" under a Labour government.
In 1996, in response to campaigns to deal with the problem of stalking
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
, she presented the Stalking Bill 1996
Stalking Bill 1996
There is no offence which is described in law as "stalking" in the UK. An attempt to create such an offence by the Stalking Bill 1996 failed. The bill was presented to Parliament by Janet Anderson under the Ten Minute Rule, with support from 64 other MPs...
to Parliament under the Ten Minute Rule
Ten Minute Rule
The Ten Minute Rule, also known as Standing Order No. 23, is a procedure in the British Parliament for the introduction of Private Member's Bills in addition to the 20 per session normally permissible. It is one of the ways in which a bill may receive its first reading.Any MP may introduce a bill...
, with support from 64 other MPs. The bill failed to get government support, as it was felt that the proposed offence failed to distinguish between reasonable and unreasonable conduct.
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...
Anderson became a junior 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...
in 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...
's new government, before being promoted to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the whole UK, such as broadcasting and internet....
in 1998, where she was the Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting and was responsible for bringing in the popular free TV licences for the over-75s.
Anderson returned to the back benches
Back Benches
Back Benches is a New Zealand political interview show, presented by Wallace Chapman and Damian Christie. It is filmed at the 'Backbencher' pub across the road from Parliament Buildings in Wellington, at 9.10 pm Wednesday nights , and reshown on Thursday mornings, Friday nights, and Saturday mornings...
following the 2001 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
. She subsequently served on the Home Affairs Select Committee
Home Affairs Select Committee
The Home Affairs Select Committee is a Committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Remit:The Home Affairs Committee is one of the House of Commons Select Committees related to government departments: its terms of reference are to examine "the expenditure,...
, before becoming a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee
Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee
The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee is one of the Select Committees of the British House of Commons, established in 1997. It oversees the operations of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport which replaced the Department for National Heritage....
and the House of Commons Administration Committee
Administration Committee
The Administration Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It has a remit "to consider the services provided for and by the House of Commons"...
. She was also on the Chairmen's Panel Committee. She was defeated in the 2010 general election by Conservative
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...
candidate Jake Berry
Jake Berry
James Jacob Gilchrist Berry is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Rossendale and Darwen, having won the seat at the 2010 UK General Election when he beat Labour Party MP Janet Anderson by a majority of 4,000 votes.-Personal life:Berry was born in...
in an 8.9% swing to the Conservatives. Berry overturned a Labour majority of 3,616 to win by 4,493 votes.
Expenses
In 2009, during the Disclosure of expenses of British Members of Parliament over MPs' expenses, The Daily TelegraphThe 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...
alleged that Anderson had submitted and was paid a claim form including mileage equalling 5 round trips to her constituency each week parliament sat along with rail and air fares despite living in London during the week. Her expenses for car journeys were; £16,612 for 60,118 miles travelled. This was £4,500 more than the next highest claimant, Laurence Robertson
Laurence Robertson
Laurence Anthony Robertson is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire since 1997...
. The Telegraph described her as "one of the most prolific expense claimers in Parliament" Other allegations included expenses for the up keep of her partner’s, Jim Dowd MP
Jim Dowd (politician)
James Patrick Dowd is a British Labour Party politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, first for Lewisham West and since 2010 for Lewisham West and Penge.-Early life:...
, home in his Lewisham constituency under her second home allowance despite Dowd claiming the London salary supplement intended to cover the additional cost of living in London. Anderson was one of 98 MPs who voted in favour of legislation which would have kept MPs expense information secret.
Anderson claimed near the maximum Additional Costs Allowance between 2001 and 2008, ranking joint highest in 2002/03, 2004/05 and 2006/07 also 3rd in 2003/04.
In 2009 Anderson was allowed to secretly repay £5,750 in expenses for over claimed petty cash.
Personal life
Anderson married solicitor Vincent Humphreys and they have three children. Her son David managed her House of Commons office. In 1999 she had an affair and left (and later divorced) Humphreys for fellow Labour MP Jim DowdJim Dowd (politician)
James Patrick Dowd is a British Labour Party politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, first for Lewisham West and since 2010 for Lewisham West and Penge.-Early life:...
, though they remain on good terms.
Anderson lists her pastimes as swimming, playing the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, listening to opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, gardening and cooking Sunday roasts for her family. She speaks fluent French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
.