Bob Marshall-Andrews

Infobox MP
honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable

name = Bob Marshall-Andrews
honorific-suffix =MP


constituency_MP = Medway
parliament =
majority = 213 (0.5%)
predecessor = Peggy Fenner
successor =
term_start = 1 May 1997
term_end =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1944|04|10
birth_place = Willesden, London
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse =
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = University of Bristol
occupation = Politician
profession = Barrister
religion =


website =
footnotes =

Robert Graham Marshall-Andrews, known as Bob Marshall-Andrews, QC (born 10 April 1944) is an English politician and barrister. He is Labour Member of Parliament for Medway in Kent. He is married to Gill Marshall-Andrews.

Early life

Marshall Andrews attended Mill Hill School before entering the University of Bristol to study Law. Barrister (called 1970), Crown Court Recorder (1982), Queen's Counsel (1987), Bencher, Grays Inn (1996). Prosecuted and defended most forms of serious crime and serious criminals. Specialises in commercial fraud. [ [http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/Bob+Marshall-Andrews/1D528C48-4EF4-4E2C-92B7-3D2217E51754.htm Bob Marshall-Andrews QC] , ePolitix]

Political career

Marshall-Andrews joined the Labour Party in 1971 and was PPC for the constituency of Richmond in 1974. He was asked to stand for the Medway Constituency in 1992 which he lost to the incumbent Conservative, Dame Peggy Fenner. He is a Member of Association of Labour Lawyers, Greenpeace, and the Woodland Trust.

Marshall-Andrews entered Parliament in the 1997 general election. He is perceived as being on the libertarian-left wing of the Labour Party, and is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group but unlike other members of this group is not a trade-unionist by background. In spite of this, however, he nominated Gordon Brown (rather than John McDonnell) for the Labour Party leadership and Peter Hain as deputy leadership in 2007. After a period of bedding down as a new MP where he aided in the drafting of the banning of handguns, he has become an irritant to the government front bench. He has rebelled against the government on multiple occasions since 2001 (20 of those rebellions being in the 2005 parliament), mainly on legal issues. He is often mentioned as a candidate for backbencher of the year and is widely respected in the Westminster media-circuit.

During the night of the 2005 general election, he appeared on national television commenting on his predicted defeat before it had been officially declared, as the only good news Tony Blair would get that night, and launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister. He then went on to hold the seat with a majority of only 213 votes.

His penchant for rebellion, combined with his friendliness with many Conservative MPs, has led him to become unpopular within parts of his own party. According to "The Times", senior Labour MPs have demanded that the whip be withdrawn from him as an example to the 49 Labour MPs who rebelled against the government's plans to detain terror suspects for 90 days [cite web | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article589323.ece | title=Chief Whip gets ready to punish dissenters | date=12 November 2005 | accessdate=2008-04-25 | work=The Times] .

On June 15, 2008 Marshall-Andrews again rebelled against his party in supporting Tory MP David Davis' campaign to step down as an MP and force a by-election in his constituency over Gordon Brown's 42-day detention without charge bill. This would normally be against party rules, although as the Labour Party are unlikely to put up a candidate in the by-election he believed it was right for him do so, stating: "the voice of a substantial part of the Labour party may be heard" [cite web | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jun/15/labour.daviddavis1 | title=Labour MP backs Davis's challenge | date=15 June 2008 | accessdate=2008-06-15 | work=The Guardian] .

On July 17, 2007, he said he was to stand down as a Labour MP at the next election. [cite web | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/6903064.stm | title=Blair critic to stand down as MP | date=17 July 2006 | accessdate=2007-09-13 | work=BBC News]

Controversy

During a break of the Terror Bill debate on November 9, 2005, Marshall-Andrews was seen talking to Conservative MPs Andrew Mitchell, Greg Knight and Damian Green in the Commons lobby. Labour MP Barry Sheerman remonstrated with him. Fellow Labour MP Jim Dowd intervened and at one stage grabbed Marshall-Andrews by the lapels. Dowd and several observers [Isabel Oakeshott, "MPs in Terror Law Punch-up", "Evening Standard", November 9, 2005, p. 1: "Witnesses say they heard Mr Marshall-Andrews, a practising barrister and part-time judge, call Mr Dowd a 'faggot'."; Toby Helm, George Jones, "Panic and a punch-up as Blair tumbles to defeat at the hands of his own party", "Daily Telegraph", November 10, 2005, p. 4: "Witnesses said Mr Marshall-Andrews called Mr Dowd a 'faggot'."] believed they heard him saying of Dowd "Here's another faggot" ["MPs pulled apart at Commons", "Financial Times" Europe Information Wire, November 9, 2005] . The near-scuffle was broken up by government whip Tom Watson, but was widely reported. Marshall-Andrews subsequently insisted that he had actually shouted faccio, an Italian word meaning a menial assistant, from which the public school slang 'fag' is thought to derive. The incident was mentioned by Marshall-Andrews on the satirical news quiz "Have I Got News For You".

On 31 October, 2006, Marshall-Andrews was one of 12 Labour MPs to back Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's call for an inquiry into the Iraq War. [cite web | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6104310.stm | title=Labour MPs who rebelled on Iraq | date=31 October 2006 | accessdate=2006-10-31 | work=BBC News]

ocial Views & Outside Interests

He is widely regarded as a social libertarian.

He is an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association. He is also Founder and Trustee of the George Adamson Wildlife Trust, presently running Mkomazi Game Reserve, Tanzania. Trustee and Chair of Development Committee, Geffrye Museum, London. Chair of Governors, Grey Court School 1987 – 1994.

He is also an occasional novelist – having written "Palace of Wisdom" (published by Hamish Hamilton and Penguin 1989, also published in USA, France and a best seller in Germany) and "A Man Without Guilt" (published by Methuen 2002). He has written regular articles in the national newspapers ("The Daily Telegraph", "The Guardian", "The Independent", "The Sunday Times") and some periodicals ("New Statesman", "House" Magazine, "Tribune").

Mr Marshall-Andrews appeared in the Friday, April 18, 2008 episode of "Have I Got News For You", on BBC1.

Environmentalism

He and his wife own an innovative grass-roofed house, known locally as the "Teletubby house", in Druidston, Pembrokeshire. [cite web | url=http://archive.westerntelegraph.co.uk/2004/8/11/3433.html | title=More homes should be like Malator | date=11 August 2004 | accessdate=2006-11-13 | work=Western Telegraph]

References

External links

* [http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/Bob+Marshall-Andrews Bob Marshall-Andrews QC]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-3386,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Robert Marshall-Andrews]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/robert_marshall-andrews/medway TheyWorkForYou.com - Robert Marshall-Andrews MP]
* [http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=Robert_Marshall-Andrews&mpc=Medway The Public Whip - Robert Marshall-Andrews MP] voting record
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/283.stm BBC News - Bob Marshall-Andrews] profile 10 February, 2005
* [http://www.future-systems.com/architecture/architecture_10.html Future Systems "Teletubby House"]
* [http://www.stroodlabour.org.uk Strood Labour Party]