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Janet Anderson

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Janet Anderson
Anderson in 2007
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Film, Tourism and Broadcasting
In office
27 July 1998 – 7 June 2001
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byTom Clarke
Succeeded byRichard Caborn
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
In office
2 May 1997 – 27 July 1998
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byDerek Conway
Succeeded byGraham Allen
Shadow Minister for Women
In office
26 July 1996 – 2 May 1997
LeaderTony Blair
Preceded byTessa Jowell
Succeeded byGillian Shephard
Member of Parliament
for Rossendale and Darwen
In office
9 April 1992 – 12 April 2010
Preceded bySir David Trippier
Succeeded byJake Berry
Personal details
Born(1949-12-06)6 December 1949
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Died6 February 2023(2023-02-06) (aged 73)
Political partyLabour
Spouses
  • Vincent Humphries
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1972; sep. 1998)​
  • ​
    (m. 2016)​
Children3
Alma materPolytechnic of Central London
University of Nantes

Janet Anderson (6 December 1949 – 6 February 2023) was a British politician from the Labour Party. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Rossendale and Darwen from 1992 until 2010, when she lost her seat. Her time as MP is remembered for her role as Minister for Tourism during the foot and mouth crisis.

Early life and education

Anderson was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1949.[1] Her father, Tom Anderson, was an agent for the Labour Party; her mother was an organist in their local Methodist church.[2] She was educated at Trowbridge Girls' High School (now The 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,[3] and studied languages and business studies.[2]

Career

In 1971, Anderson joined the offices of The Scotsman and The Sunday Times as a secretary.[4] In 1974, she became the personal assistant to the MP for Blackburn, Barbara Castle,[2] and to her successor Jack Straw[5] until the 1987 General Election, when she unsuccessfully fought the marginal seat of Rossendale and Darwen, losing to David Trippier by 4,982 votes.[6]

Anderson became a campaigns organiser for the Parliamentary Labour Party, and then the northern regional organiser for the Shopping Hours Reform Council, campaigning to extend the Sunday trading laws. She also ran her own public relations company, with clients such as the Royal College of Nursing and Safeway plc.[7]

Parliamentary career

Anderson fought Rossendale and Darwen successfully at the 1992 General Election, winning by just 120 votes.[8] She became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Margaret Beckett, which she held for a year before resigning due to Beckett not supporting John Smith's 'One member, one vote' campaign.[9]

She was an opposition whip from 1994 to 1996, before being appointed Shadow Minister for Women. In October 1996, while in this role, she notoriously joked in an interview that women would become "more promiscuous" under a Labour Government.[10] Anderson later insisted that she did not mean it literally, and that her comment was intended to convey that women would have the "freedom to stay at home or have a career...it wasn't about sex or promiscuity."[5]

In May 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,[11] with support from 64 other MPs.[12] The bill failed to get government support, as it was felt that the proposed offence failed to distinguish between reasonable and unreasonable conduct.[13]

Following the 1997 General Election, Anderson became a junior whip, and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household 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,[14] where she was the Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting, and was responsible for bringing in the popular free television licences for the over 75s and discounted ones for the blind.[15]

During her time as Minister for Tourism, rural tourism lost £100m a week at the height of the foot and mouth crisis.[16] Prior to the release of the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough, when MI-6 tried to block filming around the exterior of their Headquarters, Anderson successfully appealed to the Foreign Secretary, who overruled them and allowed filming to commence.[17]

At the conclusion of the foot and mouth crisis, Anderson returned to the back benches following the 2001 General Election.[14] 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.[2] She was also on the Chairmen's Panel Committee,[18] and was a member, and later the chair, of the All-Party Parliamentary Writers' Group.[19]

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.[20]

Book

While serving as junior whip and Chamberlain of the Household under Tony Blair, Anderson was responsible for sending daily reports to the Palace about daily business in Parliament.[5] She decided to "spice up" her accounts of each day's debates by injecting them with Westminster gossip.[21][5] Anderson later published her letters, which were reportedly well appreciated by the Queen,[21][5] in a book titled Dear Queen.[21]

Expenses

Main article: Disclosure of expenses of British Members of Parliament

In May 2009, during the disclosure of expenses of British members of parliament over MPs' expenses, The Daily Telegraph 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.[22] 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.[23]

The Telegraph described her as "one of the most prolific expense claimers in Parliament".[24]

Other allegations included expenses for the upkeep of the home of her partner, fellow MP Jim Dowd MP, 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.[22] Anderson was one of 98 MPs who voted in favour of legislation which would have kept MPs expense information undisclosed.[25]

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.[26] In January 2010, Anderson was allowed to repay £5,750 in expenses for over claimed petty cash.[27]

Personal life and death

Anderson married solicitor Vincent Humphreys in 1972; the couple had three children, daughters Kate and Dee and son, James. In 1998, she had an affair and left, later divorcing Humphreys for her fellow Labour MP Jim Dowd. She married Dowd in 2016.[1] She spoke fluent French.[28]

Anderson died on 6 February 2023, at the age of 73.[29]

Books

  • Anderson, Janet (7 April 2016). Dear Queen. Red Axe Books. ISBN 978-0993218385.

References

  1. ^ a b "Janet Anderson, Labour whip and minister described as 'a force of nature' – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "Janet Anderson". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  3. ^ Dod, Charles Roger; Limited, Vacher Dod Publishing; Dod, Robert Phipps (12 January 2019). Dod's Parliamentary Companion. Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Limited. ISBN 9780905702513 – via Google Books. {{cite book}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  4. ^ "Vote 2001 – Candidate – Janet Anderson". BBC News. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e Sylvester, Rachel (22 July 2000). "A Blair babe who amuses Her Majesty". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  6. ^ Haworth, Joyce (13 June 1987). "Yes minister!". Rossendale Free Press. Retrieved 9 February 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Janet Anderson (Labour)". Manchester Evening News. 28 April 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  8. ^ Jacobs, Bill (7 February 2023). "Former Rossendale and Darwen Labour MP Janet Anderson dies at 73". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  9. ^ "FIVE YEARS AGO: MP's votes stand". Lancashire Telegraph. 26 October 1998. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  10. ^ Picardie, Ruth (3 October 1996). "Promiscuity. A new war cry for Labour?". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  11. ^ "A-Z of legislation: Protection from Harassment Act 1997". The Guardian. 1 June 2006.
  12. ^ "Stalking Bill: EDM number 855 in 1995–1996". edms.org.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  13. ^ "Home Office drops support for stalking Bill". The Independent. 7 May 1996.
  14. ^ a b "Voting Record – Janet Anderson". The Public Whip. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  15. ^ "Licence fee cut joy for older viewers". The Lancashire Telegraph. 22 February 2000. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  16. ^ Branigan, Tania (31 March 2001). "Scare Stories Blamed for. Fall in Visitors". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  17. ^ Shrimsley, Robert (23 April 1999). "James Bond turns the big guns on MI6 Secret Service told to lift block on 007 film". The Daily Telegraph. ProQuest 317185297. Retrieved 9 February 2023 – via ProQuest.
  18. ^ "Janet Anderson". TheyWorkForYou UK. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  19. ^ Brown, Lauren (8 February 2023). "ALCS pays tribute to advocate of writers' rights Janet Anderson MP, who has died aged 73". The Bookseller. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  20. ^ "Conservative gains in Lancashire". BBC News. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  21. ^ a b c Quinn, Carolyn (2018). "Janet Anderson". In Dale, Iain; Smith, Jacqui (eds.). The Honourable Ladies: Volume I: Profiles of Women MPs 1918–1996. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781785904493.
  22. ^ a b Rayner, Gordon (11 May 2009). "Labour MP's twice round the globe mileage claim". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 3 April 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  23. ^ Morris, Nigel (14 February 2007). "MPs' travel expenses revealed after two-year battle for secrecy". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 6 July 2008. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  24. ^ Swaine, Jon; Blake, Heidi (13 January 2010). "Janet Anderson: former tourism minister is one of most prolific expense claimers". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  25. ^ "How your MP voted on the FOI Bill". The Times. London. 20 May 2007.
  26. ^ "Janet Anderson MP". TheyWorkForYou. UK Citizens Online Democracy. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  27. ^ Swaine, Jon; Winnett, Robert (12 January 2010). "Immunity for MPs who repay expenses". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  28. ^ "Janet mugs up on French". The Bolton News. 8 June 2000. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  29. ^ Courea, Eleni (8 February 2023). "London Playbook: New squad at PMQs — Tota-Lee controversial — Prevent review". Politico Europe. Retrieved 8 February 2023. Janet Anderson, the former Labour MP for Rossendale and Darwen, died aged 73 on Monday.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Rossendale and Darwen
1992–2010 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
1997–1998 		Succeeded by
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