- Eric Joyce
Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = Eric Joyce
honorific-suffix =
constituency_MP = Falkirk
Falkirk West (2000-2005)
parliament =
majority = 13,475 (29.5%)
predecessor =Dennis Canavan
successor =Incumbent
term_start =21 November 2000
term_end =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1960|12|13|df=yes
birth_place = Perth,Scotland
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = Scottish
spouse = Rosemary Joyce also married previously to Christina Guest.
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession =
religion =
website =
footnotes =Major Eric Stuart Joyce (bornOctober 13 ,1960 , in Perth,Scotland ) is aBritish politician andMember of Parliament for the Scottish constituency of Falkirk representing the Labour Party.He was first elected to parliament in
Falkirk West by-election, 2000 , which was prompted by the resignation ofDennis Canavan . Joyce retained this seat in the 2001 General Election, and was elected to the enlarged Falkirk constituency in the 2005 General Election.Early life
He lived in Perth with his family for most of his infant and teenage years before joining the army in 1978. Initially a private in the
Black Watch , he went on to attend theRoyal Military Academy, Sandhurst and was commissioned into theRoyal Army Educational Corps (laterAdjutant General's Corps ) as aCaptain in 1987. During his time in the army he served inGreat Britain ,Northern Ireland ,Germany andCentral America . He was promotedMajor in 1992.Education
Between 1981 and 1987, he took time away from the army to attend technical college and university where he gained a BA (Hons) in
Religious Studies fromStirling University . After being commissioned as an army officer in 1987 he continued his studies part-time and has an MA in Education fromBath University and an MBA fromKeele University .Army
He left the army amid controversy [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/226266.stm] in 1999 after dubbing the armed forces "racist, sexist and discriminatory" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/60876.stm] , before going on to serve as the Public Affairs Officer at the
Commission for Racial Equality (Scotland).Parliamentary career
Mr Joyce was elected MP for Falkirk West in the narrowly-won by-election of December 2000. At the subsequent General Elections of 2001 and 2005 he increased his majority on each occasion [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,,-2809,00.html] . He served as a member of the Scottish Affairs and the Procedures select committees at Westminster. Since 2003 Mr Joyce has served as a
Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to ministers Mike O'Brien MP, when O'Brien was the Minister for Energy at theDepartment of Trade and Industry andMargaret Hodge MP, Minister for Industry and the Regions at the Department of Trade and Industry. He is the PPS toJohn Hutton theSecretary of State for Work and Pensions 2006-2007 and theSecretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform 2007 to date.Trivia
*He is the author of the Fabian pamphlet 'Arms and the Man: renewing the armed services', edited 'Now's the Hour!: new thinking for Holyrood' and has served as Chair of the National Executive of the
Fabian Society [http://fabians.org.uk/] .
*He is married and has two children.
*After the 2005-07 parlliamentary session, Mr Joyce made a public pledge to cut his expenses and in the 2006-07 parliamentary session, he moved down 11th on the list of MPs' expenses and allowances and intends to attempt to cut his expenses further [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7061829.stm] .
*Mr Joyce has been dubbed an "embarrassing sycophant" by ex-Labourdeputy leader Roy Hattersley [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/columnist/story/0,9321,1144099,00.html] .
*In April 2008 Mr Joyce became the first European parliamentarian to be granted an opportunity to address the newly formed Parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, when he visited the DRC as the chair of theAll Party Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes Region of Africa [http://www.appggreatlakes.org/] with other members of the group [http://www.appggreatlakes.org/images/stories/APPGReports/congo%20unfinished%20business%20report%202008.doc] .External links
* [http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/Eric+Joyce ePolitics - Eric Joyce] official site
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-2809,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Eric Joyce MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/eric_joyce/falkirk TheyWorkForYou.com - Eric Joyce MP]
* [http://fkuk.net/ Falkirk survey] Survey carried out by Eric Joyce that covered 1/5 of the households in his constituency
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7061829.stm BBC Scotland news website: Eric Joyce MP]
* [http://fabians.org.uk/ Fabian Society]
* [http://www.appggreatlakes.org/ UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Great Lakes region of Africa and Genocide Prevention]
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