Liam Byrne
Encyclopedia
Liam Dominic Byrne is a British
Labour Party
politician
who has been the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Birmingham Hodge Hill since 2004, and was the Chief Secretary to the Treasury
from 2009 to 2010 before being appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
on 20 January 2011.
, Byrne was educated at Burnt Mill School
in Harlow
and completed his A levels at The Hertfordshire and Essex High School
in Bishop's Stortford
. He went on to study at the University of Manchester
, where he obtained a First class honours in Politics and Modern History and became the Communications Officer of the University of Manchester Students' Union
. He also holds an MBA
from the Harvard Business School
where he was a Fulbright Scholar.
Before working in Parliament, he worked for the multi-national consulting firm, Accenture
and merchant bankers, N M Rothschild & Sons
, before co-founding a venture backed technology company, e-Government Solutions Group, in 2000. Between 1996 and 1997 he advised the Labour Party on the re-organisation of Millbank
, and helped lead Labour's business campaign under the 'New Labour' scheme.
. After a very close contest, on 15 July 2004, the same day as Labour lost Leicester South
in another by-election, Byrne held on with a majority of just 460. He made his maiden speech
on 22 July 2004
Following his re-election with an increased majority on 5 May 2005, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
at the Department of Health
, an unusually fast promotion to ministerial rank. He was re-elected at the May 2010 general election.
for policing, security and community safety at the Home Office
, replacing Hazel Blears
, one of the highest-profile roles in the government outside the cabinet
. However, just a fortnight later Home Secretary
John Reid
moved him to the immigration role, switching portfolios with Tony McNulty
. McNulty had been connected with the foreign prisoners scandal that caused Tony Blair
to sack Charles Clarke
in May 2006. Byrne's move was seen as an attempt by Reid to establish an entirely new team to sort out the immigration system. During this period he was also Minister for the West Midlands. Gordon Brown named him Minister for the Cabinet Office in October 2008, replacing the promoted Ed Miliband, and was appointed to the Privy Council
as a result.
(HSMP) having their permission to remain in Britain extended unless they could show both that they had been earning at least £32,000 pa while in Britain and that they had a good knowledge of English. This change was controversial because it applies retrospectively to immigrants who had entered Britain under the old rules, meaning the British Government had "moved the goalposts" - a degree is effectively now an essential requirement, regardless of the skills or economic contribution that an individual can demonstrate. In their report into the changes, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights said that "The changes to the Rules are so clearly incompatible with Article 8, and so contrary to basic notions of fairness, that the case for immediately revisiting the changes to the Rules in Parliament is in our view overwhelming." Appeal cases have been won on appeal on the grounds that applicants had a legitimate expectation that the rules would not change to their detriment. A judicial review
has been successfully brought against the government, with their actions when applying the new HSMP rules to those HSMP holders already in Britain as at 7 November 2006 being ruled as unlawful.
Byrne is in favour of legislation for a Migration Act similar to the 1958 immigration law in Australia which is administered by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).
In 2007, Byrne was criticised by London's cab drivers for his remarks that they were "low-skilled". This ignored the fact that the cabbies study the details of London's streets for an average of eighteen months before becoming licensed.
") in a speech to a New Labour think tank
. However, Scotland's August bank holiday is held on a different date from that in Wales and England. He later retracted this - after pressure from the Scottish National Party
- saying he was merely trying to "get the debate started".
and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
.
MP Philip Davies
commented that "This is not a briefing note for civil servants, it’s a briefing note for slaves." Although The Guardian
described Liam Byrne as an "eager diva", a spokesman for Byrne commented that the memo had been written in 2006, and that "He is a highly efficient Minister but has become more flexible since then. Some days, he has his soup at 1:30 pm."
saying "Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid to tell you there's no money left." Byrne later claimed that it was just typical humour between politicians, but regretted it since the new government used it to justify the wave of cuts that were introduced.
. On 2 November 2007 he was fined £100 and received three points on his driving licence for using his mobile telephone while driving.
News articles
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British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
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
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
who has been 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 Birmingham Hodge Hill since 2004, and was the 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...
from 2009 to 2010 before being appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is a post in the British Cabinet, responsible for the Department for Work and Pensions. It was created on 8 June 2001 by the merger of the Employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security.The Ministry...
on 20 January 2011.
Early life
Born in WarringtonWarrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
, Byrne was educated at Burnt Mill School
Burnt Mill School
Burnt Mill School is situated on First Avenue in the south-west Essex town of Harlow. Burnt Mill School is built near the site of a mill that had burnt down, hence the name of the school and the surrounding area...
in Harlow
Harlow
Harlow is a new town and local government district in Essex, England. It is located in the west of the county and on the border with Hertfordshire, on the Stort Valley, The town is near the M11 motorway and forms part of the London commuter belt.The district has a current population of 78,889...
and completed his A levels at The Hertfordshire and Essex High School
The Hertfordshire and Essex High School
The Hertfordshire and Essex High School and since 2004 named as The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College, commonly referred as Herts and Essex is a secondary level comprehensive single-sex school and a mixed-sex sixth form on Warwick Road in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England...
in Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire in the county of Hertfordshire in England. It is situated just west of the M11 motorway, on the county boundary with Essex and is the closest large town to London Stansted Airport and part of the...
. He went on to study at the University of Manchester
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester was a university in Manchester, England. On 1 October 2004 it merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form a new entity, "The University of Manchester".-1851 - 1951:The University was founded in 1851 as Owens College,...
, where he obtained a First class honours in Politics and Modern History and became the Communications Officer of the University of Manchester Students' Union
University of Manchester Students' Union
The University of Manchester Students' Union is the representative body of students at the University of Manchester, England, and is the UK's largest students' union...
. He also holds an MBA
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
from the Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
where he was a Fulbright Scholar.
Before working in Parliament, he worked for the multi-national consulting firm, Accenture
Accenture
Accenture plc is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company headquartered in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. It is the largest consulting firm in the world and is a Fortune Global 500 company. As of September 2011, the company had more than 236,000 employees across...
and merchant bankers, N M Rothschild & Sons
N M Rothschild & Sons
N M Rothschild & Sons is a private investment banking company, belonging to the Rothschild family...
, before co-founding a venture backed technology company, e-Government Solutions Group, in 2000. Between 1996 and 1997 he advised the Labour Party on the re-organisation of Millbank
Millbank Tower
Millbank Tower is a high skyscraper in the City of Westminster at Millbank, on the banks of the River Thames in London, in the United Kingdom. The Tower was constructed in 1963 for Vickers and was originally known as Vickers Tower. It was designed by Ronald Ward and Partners and built by John...
, and helped lead Labour's business campaign under the 'New Labour' scheme.
Parliamentary career
He was selected to contest the Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election following the resignation of the veteran Labour MP Terry Davis to become the Secretary General of the Council of EuropeCouncil of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
. After a very close contest, on 15 July 2004, the same day as Labour lost Leicester South
Leicester South (UK Parliament constituency)
Leicester South is a borough 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...
in another by-election, Byrne held on with a majority of just 460. He made 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 22 July 2004
Following his re-election with an increased majority on 5 May 2005, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the government of the United Kingdom, junior to both a Minister of State and a Secretary of State....
at the Department of Health
Department of Health (United Kingdom)
The Department of Health is a department of the United Kingdom government with responsibility for government policy for health and social care matters and for the National Health Service in England along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwise devolved to the Scottish,...
, an unusually fast promotion to ministerial rank. He was re-elected at the May 2010 general election.
Home Office
Following the 2006 local elections, he was promoted to Minister of StateMinister 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...
for policing, security and community safety at the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
, replacing Hazel Blears
Hazel Blears
Hazel Anne Blears is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Salford and Eccles since 2010 and was previously the MP for Salford since 1997...
, one of the highest-profile roles in the government outside the cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
. However, just a fortnight later Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
John Reid
John Reid (politician)
John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan, PC is a British politician, who served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament and cabinet minister under Tony Blair, most notably as Defence Secretary and then Home Secretary...
moved him to the immigration role, switching portfolios with Tony McNulty
Tony McNulty
Anthony "Tony" James McNulty is a former British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Harrow East from 1997 to 2010 and was a government minister from 2002 to 2009. He was Minister for London and Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform at the Department for...
. McNulty had been connected with the foreign prisoners scandal that caused 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...
to sack Charles Clarke
Charles Clarke
Charles Rodway Clarke is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006.-Early life:...
in May 2006. Byrne's move was seen as an attempt by Reid to establish an entirely new team to sort out the immigration system. During this period he was also Minister for the West Midlands. Gordon Brown named him Minister for the Cabinet Office in October 2008, replacing the promoted Ed Miliband, and was appointed to the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
as a result.
Immigration/taxi driver controversy
In November 2006 Byrne was responsible for a change to Britain's immigration rules preventing migrants who had entered under Britain's Highly Skilled Migrant ProgrammeHighly Skilled Migrant Programme
The Highly Skilled Migrant Programme was a scheme, which has now been phased out, that was designed to allow highly skilled people to immigrate into the United Kingdom to look for work or self-employment opportunities. It was different from the standard UK work permit scheme in that applicants did...
(HSMP) having their permission to remain in Britain extended unless they could show both that they had been earning at least £32,000 pa while in Britain and that they had a good knowledge of English. This change was controversial because it applies retrospectively to immigrants who had entered Britain under the old rules, meaning the British Government had "moved the goalposts" - a degree is effectively now an essential requirement, regardless of the skills or economic contribution that an individual can demonstrate. In their report into the changes, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights said that "The changes to the Rules are so clearly incompatible with Article 8, and so contrary to basic notions of fairness, that the case for immediately revisiting the changes to the Rules in Parliament is in our view overwhelming." Appeal cases have been won on appeal on the grounds that applicants had a legitimate expectation that the rules would not change to their detriment. A judicial review
Judicial review in English Law
Judicial review is a procedure in English administrative law by which the courts in England and Wales supervise the exercise of public power on the application of an individual...
has been successfully brought against the government, with their actions when applying the new HSMP rules to those HSMP holders already in Britain as at 7 November 2006 being ruled as unlawful.
Byrne is in favour of legislation for a Migration Act similar to the 1958 immigration law in Australia which is administered by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).
In 2007, Byrne was criticised by London's cab drivers for his remarks that they were "low-skilled". This ignored the fact that the cabbies study the details of London's streets for an average of eighteen months before becoming licensed.
"British Day"
In June 2008, Byrne suggested the "August bank holiday" to be made a weekend of national celebration (the so-called "British DayBritish Day
A proposed British national day would be a national day for the United Kingdom and a celebration of Britishness. Currently the UK has no single official national day, although the Queen's Official Birthday is used for this purpose in some contexts....
") in a speech to a New Labour think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
. However, Scotland's August bank holiday is held on a different date from that in Wales and England. He later retracted this - after pressure from the Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
- saying he was merely trying to "get the debate started".
Cabinet Office
In a cabinet reshuffle on 3 October 2008 he was promoted, becoming Minister for the Cabinet OfficeMinister for the Cabinet Office
The Minister for the Cabinet Office is a position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The post of Minister of the Cabinet Office is sometimes derided as the Minister for the Today programme.-Ministers for the Cabinet Office:...
and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is, in modern times, a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom that includes as part of its duties, the administration of the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster...
.
Leaked staffing requirements memo
In November 2008 an 11-page memo written by Byrne entitled "Working With Liam Byrne" was leaked to the press. In the memo, Byrne listed his demands from his staff, memorably including his requirement for a cappuccino on his arrival in the office, an espresso at 3 pm, and soup between 12:30 pm and 1 pm. Byrne also instructed officials to tell him "not what you think I should know, but you expect I will get asked." He warns staff that they should "Never put anything to me unless you understand it and can explain it to me in 60 seconds... If I see things that are not of acceptable quality, I will blame you." ConservativeConservative 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...
MP Philip Davies
Philip Davies
Philip Andrew Davies is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Shipley in West Yorkshire.-Early life:...
commented that "This is not a briefing note for civil servants, it’s a briefing note for slaves." Although The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
described Liam Byrne as an "eager diva", a spokesman for Byrne commented that the memo had been written in 2006, and that "He is a highly efficient Minister but has become more flexible since then. Some days, he has his soup at 1:30 pm."
Departure from the Treasury
On leaving his position as Chief secretary to the Treasury following the change of British government in May 2010, Byrne left a note to his successor David LawsDavid Laws
David Anthony Laws is a British politician. He is Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Yeovil and former Chief Secretary to the Treasury....
saying "Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid to tell you there's no money left." Byrne later claimed that it was just typical humour between politicians, but regretted it since the new government used it to justify the wave of cuts that were introduced.
Road safety
Byrne has been a vocal campaigner for road safety and handed in a petition in to Parliament in 2005 demanding tougher punishments for dangerous drivers. He sat on the parliamentary committee that shaped the 2006 Road Safety Act, which increased fixed penalty fines for driving while using a mobileMobile 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...
. On 2 November 2007 he was fined £100 and received three points on his driving licence for using his mobile telephone while driving.
External links
- Liam Byrne official site
- EGS
- Byrne's speech to Labour Party Conference 2011 hosted by YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
on the party's official channel.
News articles
- Profile: Liam Byrne BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 2 November 2007 - The seat of power?, Nick Watson, The Politics Show, 5 July 2007
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