Andrew MacKinlay
Member of Parliament
for Thurrock
In office
9 April 1992 – 12 April 2010
Preceded byTim Janman
Succeeded byJackie Doyle-Price
Personal details
Born (1949-04-24) 24 April 1949
London, England
Political party
SpouseRuth Segar
Children3

Andrew Stuart MacKinlay (born 24 April 1949) is a British Liberal Democrat politician, who was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Thurrock from 1992 until he stepped down at the 2010 general election.[1]

In parliament MacKinlay built a reputation as a hard-working constituency MP, gaining respect from all sides[2] and as a stalwart of Gibraltar.[3] In 2021 he was elected as a Liberal Democrat councillor for Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council, although he stood down a short time later, at the 2022 election.

Early life and career

MacKinlay was educated successively at St Joseph's School, Wembley;[4] Our Lady Immaculate Primary School, Tolworth;[5] Salesian College (a private Catholic school at the time), now comprehensive Salesian School in Chertsey and Kingston College, now part of the South Thames College Group. He worked from 1965 as a committee clerk with Surrey County Council until 1975, when he served as a union official with the National and Local Government Officers' Association (NALGO). He joined NALGO in 1965. He joined the Labour Party in 1966. MacKinlay was elected as a Labour councillor in 1971 in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and served for two terms as one of two councillors for the ward of Tolworth West until 1978.[6] He unsuccessfully vied for his local seat of Surbiton in both of the 1974 general elections, keeping his deposit in what was then demonstrably a three-party contest.[7]

Parliamentary career

Following unsuccessful election campaigns in the safe conservative seats of Croydon Central in 1983 and Peterborough in 1987, MacKinlay regained the historically safe Labour seat of Thurrock in 1992 from the Conservatives.

On 15 June 1992, he tabled an Early day motion, seeking a pardon for executed soldiers.[8] This campaign eventually succeeded with the Armed Forces Act 2006, where section 359 pardoned 306 British Empire soldiers.[9]

In 1998 MacKinlay was the first to introduce a freedom of information bill to the House of Commons.[10]

In 2003, MacKinlay described Dr David Kelly as "chaff" during Dr Kelly's appearance before the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. The committee was investigating issues around the British government's dossier on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. MacKinlay's question was:

I reckon you are chaff; you have been thrown up to divert our probing. Have you ever felt like a fall-guy? You have been set up, have you not?[11]

So in this context "chaff" is a reference to the radar countermeasure rather than to something of little value.[12] It emerged during Kelly's subsequent inquest that Kelly had been deeply upset by his treatment before the committee and had privately described an MP, assumed to be MacKinlay, as an "utter bastard".[13][14] MacKinlay reportedly apologised to Kelly's widow for the remark.[15]

According to one report, in May 2007, MacKinlay made the nomination that resulted in Gordon Brown having enough nominations to be certain of not facing a contest over the leadership of the party.[16] However, another report states that the decisive nomination was made by Tony Wright[17] with MacKinlay yet to nominate at that point.

Notice of resignation

On 24 July 2009, he announced that he would not stand at the next General Election due to disillusionment with the way he felt other MPs had caved in to party pressure rather than standing up for their beliefs.[18] He said that the final straw was the failure of a number of Labour MPs who had expressed support for Gary McKinnon, awaiting extradition to the U.S. on computer hacking charges, to vote for a review of the extradition treaty.[19]

Damages win

On 1 October 2009, MacKinlay accepted a public apology and libel damages from the BBC over allegations made on BBC Two's Newsnight programme that he proposed an amendment to a British government motion on expenses of MPs so he would benefit financially.[20][21][22]

Ireland and the Commonwealth

MacKinlay argued that initiatives should be taken to encourage Ireland to participate in the Commonwealth.[23] He brought forward a motion on the issue in the House of Commons.[23] Ireland had participated in the Commonwealth in the 1930s and 40s. Mackinlay's view was that historians were wrong to say that Ireland had left the Commonwealth in 1949.[23] This was, he said, because the Commonwealth, to the extent that it existed, was nothing like the Commonwealth of today.[23] He felt that the London Declaration formula that permitted republics to participate in the Commonwealth had not been offered to Ireland as an option, though he felt it was not too late to do so. He argued that Ireland should be formally invited to join and that the Commonwealth was its "natural place".[23]

Personal life

MacKinlay lives in Malden Rushett, Surrey with his wife.[24] He is a keen researcher on World War I history, travelling and discovering Ireland, and is an honorary patron of Tilbury Football Club. He and his wife Ruth (née Segar); have three children. While an MP, he employed his wife as his personal assistant.[25] He is a member of the editorial board of Total Politics, a political magazine,[26] of which his daughter, Sarah, was editor until August 2009.[27][28]

He was given the Freedom of Gibraltar in 2010.[29][30]

Political views

In December 2018, he allowed his Labour Party membership to lapse and, in May 2019, he joined the Liberal Democrats.[31] In the Chessington South by-election held on 6 May 2021, he stood for the Liberal Democrats.[32]

MacKinlay publicly supports the abolition of the monarchy and is identified as a republican.[33]

References

  1. ↑ Staff Reporter (31 May 2019). "Former Thurrock MP Andrew Mackinlay joins the Liberal Democrats". Your Thurrock. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  2. ↑ "Andrew MacKinlay MP quits over hacker Gary McKinnon's extradition". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  3. ↑ "Andrew Mackinlay, Freeman of Gibraltar and former Labour MP, urges Lib Dem vote in EU election". Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  4. ↑ "One reason why I am interested in..." TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  5. ↑ "Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Primary School". 4 October 2007. Archived from the original on 4 October 2007.
  6. ↑ Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames Election Results 1964-2010 (PDF). The Elections Centre Plymouth University. 2012. pp. 4–5.
  7. ↑ Thurrock Labour Party profile Archived 26 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine; accessed 6 August 2014.
  8. ↑ "PARDON FOR EXECUTED SOLDIERS - Early Day Motions - UK Parliament". Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  9. ↑ Speight, Neil (5 March 2021). "New book tells how former borough MP helped gain pardon for the 306 men shot at dawn". Thurrock Nub News. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  10. ↑ "Andrew MacKinlay". the Guardian. 16 March 2001. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  11. ↑ Select Committee on Foreign Affairs Minutes of Evidence Q167
  12. ↑ "Hutton inquiry witness", 29 August 2003; accessed 6 August 2014.
  13. ↑ Neil Tweedie and Sandra Laville "'Dad said interrogator MP was utter bastard'", The Daily Telegraph, 2 September 2003; retrieved 29 April 2009.
  14. ↑ Andrew Sparrow, "Why MacKinlay the Grand Inquisitor hit a raw nerve", The Daily Telegraph, 2 September 2003; accessed 6 August 2014.
  15. ↑ "Committee MP defends relentless grilling of Kelly", telegraph.co.uk; accessed 6 August 2014.
  16. ↑ Nick Robinson It's official. It's Brown", 16 May 2007; accessed 6 August 2014.
  17. ↑ "Brown will enter No 10 unopposed", bbc.co.uk, 16 May 2007; accessed 6 August 2014.
  18. ↑ "Andrew MacKinlay Quits Parliament", iaindale.blogspot.com; July 2009.
  19. ↑ Matthew Moore (25 July 2009). "Andrew MacKinlay MP quits over hacker Gary McKinnon's extradition". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  20. ↑ BBC Andrew MacKinlay MP – an apology
  21. ↑ "Labour MP wins apology and damages from BBC", basildonrecorder.co.uk; accessed 6 August 2014.
  22. ↑ Oliver Luft MP paid 'substantial damages' over Newsnight slur Archived 16 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, pressgazette.co.uk, 2 October 2009.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 24 July 2007: Column 238WH – Ireland and the Commonwealth
  24. ↑ "Former MP slams South West Trains over Chessington South disabled access". Your Local Guardian. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  25. ↑ "Family jobs and parliamentary passes", timesonline.co.uk, 31 January 2008.
  26. ↑ "Total Politics – The Team". Archived from the original on 1 August 2008. Retrieved 22 July 2008.
  27. ↑ "From the Editor" Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, totalpolitics.com, 21 August 2009.
  28. ↑ Ask Aristotle: Andrew MacKinlay MP, politics.guardian.co.uk; Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  29. ↑ "Press release" (PDF). gibraltar.gov.gi. 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  30. ↑ "Freemen of the City". The Mayor of Gibraltar. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  31. ↑ Staff Reporter (31 May 2019). "Former Thurrock MP Andrew Mackinlay joins the Liberal Democrats". Your Thurrock. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  32. ↑ Lib Dems announce Andrew Mackinlay as Chessington South By-Election Candidate
  33. ↑ List of supporters Archived 31 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine, republic.org.uk; accessed 6 August 2014.


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