Stephen Hammond

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
For the 19th-century New York politician, see Stephen H. Hammond.
Stephen Hammond
MP
File:Stephen Hammond - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.jpg
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
for Transport
In office
4 September 2012 – 15 July 2014
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Mike Penning
Succeeded by Claire Perry
Member of Parliament
for Wimbledon
Assumed office
5 May 2005
Preceded by Roger Casale
Majority 11,408 (24.1%)
Personal details
Born (1962-02-04) 4 February 1962 (age 62)
Southampton, Hampshire, England
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Sally (née Sarah Williams)[1][not in citation given]
Residence London
Alma mater Queen Mary, University of London
Occupation Politician
Religion Anglican
Website www.stephenhammondmp.com

Stephen William Hammond (born 4 February 1962) is a British Conservative Party politician and former UK Government Minister.

Hammond has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wimbledon since winning the seat at the 2005 general election and, on 4 September 2012, was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, with responsibility for buses, rail and shipping.[2] He lost his ministerial post in the reshuffle on 15 July 2014 and was replaced by Claire Perry.[3]

Early life and business career

Hammond was born at Southampton, and educated at King Edward VI School before going up to Queen Mary, University of London. After graduating in Economics (BSc), he began a career in finance at a leading fund management house and subsequently worked for major investment banks. Hammond was appointed a Director of the Equities division of Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in 1994 and four years later joined Commerzbank Securities. In 2000 he was promoted to Director, Pan European Research, with responsibility for seventy professionals based in London and across Europe.

Political career

He first stood for Parliament for North Warwickshire in 1997, being comfortably beaten by Labour's Mike O'Brien. After this he contested the Wimbledon constituency in the 2001 general election, but failed to improve on the large drop in popularity experienced by the previous Conservative MP, and was defeated by the Labour incumbent, Roger Casale. He was elected a Councillor for the Ward of Village, Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton election in 2002 and subsequently became Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group on Merton Council.

Hammond successfully re-fought the Wimbledon Parliamentary seat in May 2005, gaining a 7.2% swing to the Conservatives. He was soon promoted to the Opposition front bench: in December 2005 David Cameron appointed him Shadow Minister for Transport.

On 6 May 2010, he was returned to Parliament as MP for Wimbledon. With 23,257 votes, he won 49% of all votes cast and increased his majority to 11,408. Turnout in Wimbledon was 73%, up from 68% in 2005.[4] Following that election, Hammond became PPS to Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. On 4 September 2012 he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport.[5] He was removed from that post when David Cameron reshuffled the Cabinet in July 2014.[6]

Tax avoidance allegations

Hammond was the subject of a Parliamentary investigation after it was revealed that he had failed to disclose investments in Harwood Film partnership - a legal investment scheme which permitted the deferral of tax payments - in the Register of Members Interests[7][8] He subsequently apologised for the "oversight" in not registering the financial interest but was cleared of any wrongdoing.[9]

Hammond had previously attacked Ken Livingstone in the House of Commons for setting up companies to reduce his tax bill, asking "Can you say whether you would tailor [a proposed 'tycoon tax'] to include individuals who claim they want to raise tax on the rich and yet set up companies so they only pay 20%, such as Ken Livingstone?"[8] The Daily Telegraph subsequently alleged that Hammond had sought to avoid tax by registering the ownership his Portuguese villa through an offshore-registered company, which his lawyers described as a "normal" arrangement that "did not result in tax benefits for him or his wife"[10]

Personal life

Hammond has been married to Sally since 1991; she has, for many years, worked as a secretary to Members of Parliament based at the House of Commons. They live at Wimbledon Park, with their daughter.

Hammond, a keen sportsman, used to play hockey for a National League team and for his county. He now plays veterans hockey for Wimbledon. In January 2014, he was revealed to be one of the most frequent users of the chauffeur-driven cars which carry ministers or their red boxes across the country, according to official documents.[11]

Editing Wikipedia

This page was one of a number edited in May 2015 by computers owned by Parliament in what the Daily Telegraph described as "a deliberate attempt to hide embarrassing information from the electorate." In Hammond's case, the information deleted related to him being one of the most frequent users of chauffeur-driven cars while in government.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Wimbledon
2005–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
2012–2014		 Succeeded by
Claire Perry
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Stephen_Hammond&oldid=258849"