Stuart Andrew

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Stuart James Andrew
MP
File:Stuart Andrew.jpg
Member of Parliament
for Pudsey
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded by Paul Truswell
Majority 4,501 (8.8%)
Personal details
Born (1971-11-25) 25 November 1971 (age 52)
Isle of Anglesey, Wales
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Residence Rawdon, West Yorkshire
Occupation Charity Fundraiser
Religion Christian [1]
Website stuartandrew.com
parliament..stuart-andrew

Stuart James Andrew (born 25 November 1971) is a Welsh Conservative politician. The Member of Parliament for the Pudsey constituency in West Yorkshire, he grew up in the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales, and later attended Ysgol David Hughes in Menai Bridge.

Biography

After leaving school he worked as a fundraiser for the British Heart Foundation. Before being elected to parliament he led the fundraising team for Martin House Hospice.[citation needed]

Andrew stood as a Conservative candidate in the 1997 Parliamentary election in Wrexham. Subsequent to this Andrew joined the Labour Party, leaving the Conservatives citing issues with the "direction of the party".[2]

Upon losing his council seat, he rejoined the Conservative Party and moved to Leeds. He served as a Leeds City Council Councillor from 2003–2010, initially representing the Aireborough ward, and following boundary changes representing the Guiseley and Rawdon ward. He was Elected as Member of Parliament for Pudsey in the general election on 6 May 2010.[citation needed]

In October 2010, it was reported that Andrew joined the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.[3] On 22 February 2012 Andrew was headbutted and punched in a House of Commons bar during a disturbance created by Scottish Labour MP Eric Joyce,[4] but the Pudsey MP tweeted the next day that, "I'm OK."[5]

In 2012, Andrew brought forward a bill that would create a new power for Governors to "Destroy or otherwise dispose of any unauthorised property found within a prison or an escort vehicle". The bill was supported both by the Coalition and also the Labour Party with Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Sadiq Khan saying he backed the bill.[6]

At the 2015 General Election, the Pudsey seat was considered to be one of the most marginal in the country. However, Andrew retained the seat through increasing his majority to 4501. He now serves as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Patrick McLoughlin in the Department for Transport.

Claim to have been assaulted

In 2013, Andrew, during the debate on redefining marriage (a measure which had never been in any election manifesto and therefore did not have voter mandate), Andrew, who is a homosexual, called defenders of man-woman marriage "extreme" and compared them to violent thugs and brutes who carry out so-called "gay-bashing" attacks. He claimed to have been the victim of one such attack himself in North Wales, in 1997. He said he had been "set upon by a gang of men in the street “because of who and what I am”", and he had been "beaten unconscious" and needed hospital treatment. This emotive tactic gained him a lot of sympathy for the same-sex marriage policy.

However, when challenged to provide evidence of this, he was unable to show any corroboration of any kind. There were no photographs, no police records and no hospital records of any kind from 1997 to support his claim. He could not name the hospital where he claimed to have been treated. No such event was mentioned in the local press at the time he alluded to, and no health records have been shown to confirm that he needed treatment. He stated later, when challenged to show proof, that he had not reported the savage attack to the local police force. [7] [8]

Andrew is a patron of LGBTory.[9][10]

References

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  5. Joe Murphy, "MP goes berserk in Commons bar brawl", The Evening Standard, 23 February 2012.
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  7. https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/leeds-mp-beaten-unconscious-in-homophobic-attack-hits-out-at-tory-gay-marriage-rebels-1-5694767
  8. https://gaybullyingitisreal.wordpress.com/2015/10/11/british-mp-stuart-andrew-lied-about-homophobic-attack/
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External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Pudsey
2010–present
Incumbent