35-609: Alan Milburn (born 27 January 1958) is a British politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Darlington from 1992 to 2010 . A member of the Labour Party , he served for five years in the Cabinet , first as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 1998 to 1999, and subsequently as Secretary of State for Health until 2003, when he resigned. He briefly rejoined the Cabinet as Chancellor of
70-628: A management buyout . In May 2001, Bridgepoint closed its first fund following its independence from NatWest. The fund closed at €2 billion, and made its first investments in WT Foods, Virgin Active and Hydrex. The firm closed its Europe II fund in 2001 and its Europe III fund in 2005. Bridgepoint closed its Europe IV fund in 2008 for €4.8 billion. In 2011, the firm was renamed Bridgepoint Advisers. In March 2015, Bridgepoint closed its latest €4 billion Bridgepoint Europe V fund, bringing to €20.5 billion
105-689: A candidate for promotion within the Government, but on the day of a reshuffle (12 June 2003) he announced his resignation from government. He cited the difficulties combining family life in North-East England with a demanding job in London as his reason for quitting. While on the backbenches he continued to be a strong supporter of Tony Blair's policies, especially his continued policy of increased private involvement in public service provision. Following his resignation as Secretary of State for Health, Milburn took
140-594: A five-year cycle, or when a snap election is called. Since the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 , Parliament is automatically dissolved once five years have elapsed from its first meeting after an election. If a vacancy arises at another time, due to death or resignation , then a constituency vacancy may be filled by a by-election. Under the Representation of the People Act 1981 any MP sentenced to over
175-469: A member of Parliament is to do what they think in their faithful and disinterested judgement is right and necessary for the honour and safety of Great Britain. The second duty is to their constituents, of whom they are the representative but not the delegate. Burke's famous declaration on this subject is well known. It is only in the third place that their duty to party organisation or programme takes rank. All these three loyalties should be observed, but there
210-447: A new form of not-for-profit provider and "described at the time as a sort of halfway house between the public and private sectors". Milburn later described his reforms as "getting the private sector into the NHS to work alongside the public sector. We gave more choice to patients. We paid more for the hospitals that were doing more rather than paying everyone the same." Milburn was thought to be
245-439: A paid advisor to PepsiCo and sat on its nutritional advisory board. By the time he stood down from Parliament, Milburn had an income at least £115,000 a year from five companies. In June 2009, he told his local party he would not be standing at the 2010 general election , saying: "Standing down as an MP will give me the chance to balance my work and my family life with the time to pursue challenges other than politics." Despite
280-496: A person must be at least 18 years old and be a citizen of the UK , a Commonwealth nation, or Ireland . A person is not required to be registered to vote, nor are there any restrictions regarding where a candidate is a resident. The House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 outlaws the holders of various positions from being MPs. These include civil servants , regular police officers (but not special constables ), regular members of
315-607: A political party, they may act in the interests of that party, subordinate to the other two responsibilities. Bridgepoint Capital Bridgepoint Group plc is a British private investment company listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index . Bridgepoint was founded as NatWest Equity Partners, a private equity firm part of NatWest . The firm was renamed Bridgepoint Capital in May 2000 following
350-639: A post for £30,000 a year as an adviser to Bridgepoint Capital , a venture capital firm heavily involved in financing private health-care firms moving into the NHS, including Alliance Medical, Match Group, Medica and the Robinia Care Group. He returned to government in September 2004, as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster . He was brought back to lead the Labour Party's campaign in the 2005 general election , but
385-572: A prison sentence of a year or more. People in respect of whom a bankruptcy restrictions order has effect are disqualified from (existing) membership of the House of Commons (details differ slightly in different countries). Members are not permitted to resign their seats. In practice, however, they always can. Should a member wish to resign from the Commons , they may request appointment to one of two ceremonial Crown offices: that of Crown Steward and Bailiff of
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#1732859457088420-665: A small radical bookshop in the Westgate Road, called Days of Hope (the shop was given the Spoonerised nickname Haze of Dope ). He studied for a PhD at Newcastle University , but did not complete his thesis. Milburn was Co-ordinator of the Trade Union Studies Information Unit (TUSIU) from the mid-1980s onwards. From 1988, Milburn co-ordinated a campaign to defend shipbuilding in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear , and
455-498: A year in jail automatically vacates their seat. For certain types of lesser acts of wrongdoing, the Recall of MPs Act 2015 mandates that a recall petition be opened; if signed by more than 10% of registered voters within the constituency, the seat is vacated. In the past, only male adult property owners could stand for Parliament. In 1918, women acquired the right to stand for Parliament , and to vote. To be eligible to stand as an MP,
490-480: A year, Charles Clarke suggested Milburn as leader in place of Brown. On 28 February 2007, he and Clarke launched The 2020 Vision, a website intended to promote policy debate in the Labour Party. He was the honorary president of the political organisation Progress , which was founded by Derek Draper . In 2007 , Milburn worked as an advisor to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and again in 2010 acted as an advisor to
525-414: Is no doubt of the order in which they stand under any healthy manifestation of democracy. Theoretically, contemporary MPs are considered to have two duties, or three if they belong to a political party. Their primary responsibility is to act in the national interest. They must also act in the interests of their constituents, where this does not override their primary responsibility. Finally, if they belong to
560-520: The Health and Social Care bill despite widespread opposition, and that Alan Milburn should be ennobled and join the coalition government as Secretary of State for Health. This was rejected by David Cameron and it is understood that Milburn rejected such offer and remained in the Labour Party. He wrote in The Times attacking the reforms, but calling for the left to give an alternative. In July 2012, Milburn
595-629: The Senedd (Welsh Parliament) or the Northern Ireland Assembly are also ineligible for the Commons according to the Wales and Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts respectively, passed in 2014 (but members of the Scottish Parliament are eligible). People who are bankrupt cannot stand to be MPs. The Representation of the People Act 1981 excludes persons who are currently serving
630-702: The United Kingdom , a member of Parliament ( MP ) is an individual elected to serve in the House of Commons , the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . All 650 members of the UK House of Commons are elected using the first-past-the-post voting system in single member constituencies across the whole of the United Kingdom, where each constituency has its own single representative. All MP positions become simultaneously vacant for elections held on
665-573: The armed forces (but not reservists), and some judges . Members of the House of Lords were not permitted to hold Commons seats until the passing of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 , which allows retired or resigned members of the House of Lords to stand or re-stand as MPs. Members of legislatures outside of the Commonwealth are excluded, with the exemption of the Irish legislature . Additionally, members of
700-568: The Chiltern Hundreds , or that of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead . These offices are sinecures (that is, they involve no actual duties); they exist solely to permit the "resignation" of members of the House of Commons. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is responsible for making the appointment, and, by convention, never refuses to do so when asked by a member who desires to leave
735-638: The Duchy of Lancaster in order to manage Labour's 2005 re-election campaign . He did not seek re-election in the 2010 election . Milburn was chair of the Social Mobility Commission from 2012 to 2017. Since 2015, he has been Chancellor of Lancaster University . Milburn was born in Whitehaven , and brought up in the village of Tow Law in County Durham and in Newcastle-upon-Tyne . He
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#1732859457088770-523: The House of Commons. Members of Parliament are entitled to use the post-nominal initials MP. MPs are referred to as "honourable" as a courtesy only during debates in the House of Commons (e.g., "the honourable member for ..."), or if they are the children of peers below the rank of marquess ("the honourable [first name] [surname]"). Those who are members of the Privy Council use the form The Right Honourable ( The Rt Hon. ) Name MP. The first duty of
805-405: The Labour Party such as Ed Miliband , Peter Mandelson , Jacqui Smith , Liam Byrne , Tessa Jowell , Tristram Hunt , Stephen Twigg , Rachel Reeves and Liz Kendall ). In the book, he called for the Labour Party to adopt a policy of "educational credit", a system whereby lower and middle-income families whose children attend failing schools can withdraw their children and get funding, worth 150%
840-595: The Labour Party, close to Tony Blair , MP for the next-door constituency of Sedgefield . The political editor of the New Statesman wrote that "Alan Milburn is regarded by most in Labour as the epitome of Blairite centrism and moderation." In 1997 he was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Health, an important post in which he had responsibility for driving through Private Finance Initiative deals on hospitals. In
875-531: The NHS, and continued as a member of the Healthcare Advisory Panel at Lloyds Pharmacy . As of 2022 he remains a Senior Adviser to PwC. In 2015, Milburn became Lancaster University ’s third Chancellor , taking over from the mountaineer Chris Bonington . Early in 2015, Milburn intervened in the British election campaign to criticise Labour's health plans, which would limit private sector involvement in
910-964: The NHS. Milburn was criticised for doing so while having a personal financial interest in the private health sector. In 2017, Milburn was touted as a possible leader of a pro-EU movement after Brexit . Milburn married future Labour MEP Mo O'Toole in 1981; the couple split up in the late 1980s. Milburn has been in a relationship with Ruth Briel, a consultant psychiatrist, since 1990. They married in 2007. They have two sons. Member of Parliament (United Kingdom) King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee In
945-781: The change of government following the May 2010 general election , it was reported in August 2010 that Milburn had been offered a role in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition as "social mobility tsar". Although not officially politically-affiliated, the role would involve advising the government on how to break down social barriers for people from disadvantaged backgrounds, and help people who feel they are barred from top jobs on grounds of race, religion, gender or disability. Milburn provoked criticism from former Cabinet colleague John Prescott , and his former ally Andy Burnham , for advising
980-451: The cost of education at the failing school, in order to pay for a place at a higher achieving school for the child, with the money coming from the budget of the failing school. The policy was rejected by the leftwing MP Michael Meacher but was welcomed by Labour's Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg and other shadow cabinet members. In 2012, a senior Number 10 adviser called for Andrew Lansley to be "taken out and shot" for introducing
1015-555: The election campaign of Julia Gillard . Between January and July 2009, Milburn chaired a governmental commission on social mobility, the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions. The Panel reported in July 2009 with recommendations to improve social mobility by acting at every life stage – including through schools, universities, internship practices and recruitment processes. In 2007, Milburn became
1050-546: The government. However, David Miliband defended Milburn claiming that he was serving the country and was not working for the Coalition Government. In June 2011, Milburn was asked by Andrew Lansley to chair the new clinical commissioning board, as part of the Coalition Government's health reforms but he rejected the offer labelling the reforms as "privatization", "cuts" and a "car crash". In 2011, Milburn contributed to The Purple Book (alongside other key figures in
1085-537: The reshuffle caused by Peter Mandelson 's resignation on 23 December 1998, Milburn was promoted to the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury . He became Secretary of State for Health in October 1999, with responsibility for continuing the reduction in waiting times and delivering modernisation in the National Health Service (NHS). In 2002 Milburn introduced NHS foundation trusts , originally envisaged as
Alan Milburn - Misplaced Pages Continue
1120-437: The unsuccessful start to the campaign led to Milburn taking a back seat, with Gordon Brown returning to take a very prominent role. On election night in 2005, he announced he would be leaving the Cabinet for a second time, although rumours persisted that he would challenge Gordon Brown for the succession. On 27 June 2007, Brown was unopposed. On 8 September 2006, after Tony Blair had announced his intention to step down within
1155-709: Was appointed as Chair of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission . He served until his resignation in December 2017. In 2013 Milburn joined PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as Chair of PwC's UK Health Industry Oversight Board, whose objective is to drive change in the health sector, and assist PwC in growing its presence in the health market. Milburn continued to be chairman of the European Advisory Board at Bridgepoint Capital , whose activities include financing private health care companies providing services ito
1190-660: Was educated at John Marley School in Newcastle and, after his mother married, Stokesley Comprehensive School in North Yorkshire. He went on to Lancaster University , where he lived in Morecambe and Galgate , graduating in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with Upper Second Class Honours in History. After leaving university, he returned to Newcastle where, with Martin Spence, he operated
1225-589: Was elected Chairman of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central Constituency Labour Party. In 1990 he became a Business Development Officer for North Tyneside Borough Council and was elected as President of the North East Region of the Manufacturing Science and Finance trade union. He duly won the seat of Darlington in the 1992 general election. In Parliament, Milburn allied himself with the Blairite modernisers in
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