- David Tredinnick (politician)
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For other people named David Tredinnick, see David Tredinnick (disambiguation).
David Tredinnick
MPMember of Parliament
for BosworthIncumbent Assumed office
11 June 1987Preceded by Adam Butler Majority 5,032 (9.3%) Personal details Born 19 January 1950
Worthing, West Sussex, EnglandNationality British Political party Conservative Spouse(s) Rebecca Shott Alma mater University of Cape Town
St John's College, OxfordWebsite bosworthconservatives.com David Arthur Stephen Tredinnick (born 19 January 1950) is a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom.
He is a former officer in the Grenadier Guards and is Member of Parliament for Bosworth (essentially Hinckley and Bosworth) first elected in 1987.
Contents
Early life
He went to Eton College, then St John's College, Oxford, gaining a MLitt. He then went to the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town, where he gained an MBA. From 1972-3, he was a trainee at EB Savory Milln & Co stockbrokers, then in 1974 he was an account executive at Quadrant Int in 1974. In 1976, he was a salesman at Kalle Infotech UK, and sales manager at Word Right Word Processing from 1977-8. From 1978-9, he was a consultant at Baird Communications NV, and marketing manager at QI Europe Ltd from 1979-81. He was manager at Malden Mitcham Properties from 1981-7.
Parliamentary career
He contested Cardiff South and Penarth in 1983. He was once a Parliamentary Private Secretary, but was forced to resign and was suspended for 20 days [1] after he was found to have accepted a £1000 bribe to ask questions in Parliament, popularly known as the Cash for Questions affair.[2] He has been a Member of Parliament for over 20 years making him one of the most long standing MPs.
Support for complementary and alternative medicine
He is a supporter of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). He has made supportive comments in Parliament on homeopathy,[3] despite continued lack of evidence of its effectiveness.[4][5][6] He has supported chiropractic and expounded on the influence of the Moon on blood clotting.[7] In this same debate he characterised scientists as "racially prejudiced".[7] He has tabled several early day motions in support of homeopathy's continued funding on the National Health Service.[8] Tredinnick's medical ignorance continues to cause amused disbelief[9] and a spokesman for the Royal College of Surgeons said they would "laugh their heads off" at the suggestion they could not operate at the full moon.[9]
Freedom of Information and expenses
In May 2007, David Tredinnick was among 98 MPs who voted to exempt themselves from the Freedom of Information Act,[10] ending the compulsory legal requirement for MPs to disclose their expenses.[11] The move was later overturned by the House of Lords.[12]
Parliamentary expenses
It emerged in 2009 that he tried to claim the £125 cost of attending a course on "intimate relationships" through his Parliamentary expenses.[13] He was also found to have used expenses to purchase astrology software, claiming it was for a debate on alternative medicine.[14]
2010 election campaign
On 29 March 2010 Dr. Michael Brooks[15] announced that he would stand against David Tredinninck in the Bosworth constituency in the 2010 General Election. In an open letter, first published by Leicestershire based campaigner Simon Perry,[16] Dr. Brooks cited Tredinnick's involvement in the "cash-for-questions" and "expenses" scandals and tabling of Early Day Motion (EDM) 908[17] which criticised the Science and Technology Committee's Report "Evidence Check on Homeopathy", as the motivation behind choosing to contest the Bosworth seat.
On 20 March 2010 the Science Party was launched, with Dr. Michael Brooks standing for election. Press coverage was initially limited to New Scientist magazine,[18][19][20][21] but was later picked up by local newspapers and online news sources.
- Result
Despite a 6% swing against him Tredinnick held his seat at the 2010 General Election with a majority of 5,032 and 43% of the vote.
Personal life
He has a daughter (born February 1987) and son (born July 1989).
References
- ^ BBC profile Accessed Feb 20 2008.
- ^ Cash-for-questions MPs suspended by Commons[dead link]
- ^ "House of Commons Debate 19 Feb 2008". Theyworkforyou.com. 2008-02-19. http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2008-02-19d.323.0. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
- ^ Ernst E (2002), "A systematic review of systematic reviews of homeopathy", Br J Clin Pharmacol 54 (6): 577–582, doi:10.1046/j.1365-2125.2002.01699.x, PMC 1874503, PMID 12492603, http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1874503
- ^ "Homeopathy - Issues", National Health Service, http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Homeopathy/Pages/Issues.aspx, retrieved 2009-07-30
- ^ Altunç U, Pittler MH, Ernst E (2007), "Homeopathy for childhood and adolescence ailments: systematic review of randomized clinical trials", Mayo Clin Proc 82 (1): 69–75, doi:10.4065/82.1.69, PMID 17285788, http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/content/82/1/69.full, "However, homeopathy is not totally devoid of risks ... it may delay effective treatment or diagnosis."
- ^ a b "House of Commons Debate 14 Oct 2009". Theyworkforyou.com. 2000-06-06. http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2009-10-14a.412.0. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
- ^ Tredinnick, David. "Early Day Motions". http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMByMember.aspx?MID=4327. Retrieved 18th Oct 2010.
- ^ a b Ian Douglas (October 11th, 2010). "MPs believe the funniest things". Daily Telegraph.
- ^ ""How did my MP vote on the Maclean Bill?", Campaign For Freedom of Information, May 2007". Cfoi.org.uk. http://www.cfoi.org.uk/maclean_votes.html. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
- ^ David Hencke, Westminster correspondent (19 May 2007). ""MPs vote to exempt themselves from anti-secrecy law"". Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/may/19/uk.freedomofinformation. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
- ^ ""The Lords destroy bid to keep MPs' expenses secret", Evening Standard, 14 June 2007". Thisislondon.co.uk. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23400525-the-lords-destroy-bid-to-keep-mps-expenses-secret.do. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
- ^ Allen, Nick (2009-06-20). "MPs' expenses: David Tredinnick tried to claim for 'intimate relationships' course". Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5580983/MPs-expenses-David-Tredinnick-tried-to-claim-for-intimate-relationships-course.html. Retrieved 2010-05-28.
- ^ Ward, Simon (2009-06-19). "David Tredinnick: £6,000 in phone calls over a year". Leicester Mercury. Northcliffe Media. http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/David-Tredinnick-6-000-phone-calls-year/article-1091492-detail/article.html. Retrieved 2010-05-28.
- ^ "Michael Brooks". Michael Brooks. http://www.michaelbrooks.org/. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
- ^ "Scientist to take on Tredinnick MP". Adventuresinnonsense.blogspot.com. 2010-03-29. http://adventuresinnonsense.blogspot.com/2010/03/scientist-to-take-on-tredinnick-mp-in.html. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
- ^ Early Day Motion[dead link]
- ^ Brooks, Michael (2010-04-21). "UK election: 'You look like a mad scientist!'". Newscientist.com. http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/thesword/2010/04/science-party-campaign-start.html. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
- ^ Brooks, Michael (2010-04-22). "Why the science candidate is standing for Parliament". Newscientist.com. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627576.300-why-the-science-candidate-is-standing-for-parliament.html. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
- ^ Duckett, Adam (2010-04-29). "UK election: Round one to the Science Party". Newscientist.com. http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/thesword/2010/04/science-party-debate.html. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
- ^ Sumit, Paul-Choudhury (2010-05-07). "UK election: The Science Party's democracy experiment,". Newscientist.com. http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/thesword/2010/05/uk-election-the-science-partys-1.html. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
External links
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: David Tredinnick MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - David Tredinnick MP
- Biography
- BBC Democracy live
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by David Tredinnick
Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded by
Adam Courtauld ButlerMember of Parliament for Bosworth
1987–presentIncumbent Categories:- 1950 births
- Alumni of St John's College, Oxford
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs
- Grenadier Guards officers
- Living people
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
- UK MPs 1987–1992
- UK MPs 1992–1997
- UK MPs 1997–2001
- UK MPs 2001–2005
- UK MPs 2005–2010
- UK MPs 2010–
- University of Cape Town alumni
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