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Paul White, Baron Hanningfield

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Paul Edward Winston White, Baron Hanningfield DL (16 September 1940 – 20 October 2024) was a British politician and farmer. As a member of the Conservative Party, he served in various leadership roles in local government in Essex and was influential in the establishment of the Local Government Association. He was a member of Essex County Council from 1970 and 2011, and served in frontbench roles in the House of Lords after being nominated for a life peerage in 1998.

The Right Honourable
The Lord Hanningfield
DL
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
31 July 1998 – 20 October 2024
Life peerage
Leader of Essex County Council
In office
February 2000 – February 2010
Preceded byMervyn Juliff
Succeeded byPeter Martin
In office
April 1998 – May 1999
Preceded byMervyn Juliff
Succeeded byMervyn Juliff
Member of Essex County Council for Stock
In office
15 April 1970 – 29 July 2011
Preceded byWilliam Hodgins
Succeeded byIan Grundy
Personal details
Born
Paul Edward Winston White

(1940-09-16)16 September 1940
Chelmsford, England
Died20 October 2024(2024-10-20) (aged 84)
Political party
Alma materKing Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford

In the parliamentary expenses scandal, Hanningfield was convicted of false accounting, sentenced to nine months' imprisonment and expelled from the Conservative Party. He was twice suspended from the House of Lords for expenses fraud.

Early life and career

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Paul Edward Winston White was born on 16 September 1940 in Chelmsford, Essex, to Edward Ernest William White and Irene Joyce Gertrude White (née Williamson),[1] into a farming family with eight older sisters. He was given the middle name Winston after his father's hero, Winston Churchill. The family had been established in the village of West Hanningfield for centuries.[2][3][4]

White was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford. He received a Nuffield Scholarship for agriculture and studied in the United States, then worked as a pig farmer in West Hanningfield; he was named the youngest pig farmer in Britain at the age of 15.[1][3][5] White joined the National Farmers' Union, becoming the chairman of its quality pigs committee by the age of 22,[3] and became the chairman of Essex Young Farmers in 1962.[4][5][6]

Political career

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White served as a member of the executive of the Chelmsford Conservative Association from 1962 to 1999.[4][6] First elected to Essex County Council in 1970, he chaired the council's agricultural-estates and education committees. He served as chairman of the council from 1989 to 1992, and afterwards as the Conservative group leader.[4]

While serving as a county councillor, White held senior positions in local government. He chaired the Council of Local Education Authorities from 1990 to 1992, and the Eastern Area of the Further Education Funding Council for England from 1992 to 1997. White was the leader of the Association of County Councils from 1995 to 1997. He helped to establish the Local Government Association and served as its deputy chair and Conservative group leader from 1997 to 2001.[2][1][4][6] White was nominated to the European Committee of the Regions in 1998, and served as vice president of the committee's European People's Party group.[1][7] In 2001, he co-founded and became the chairman of Localis, a local-government think tank that aimed to "challenge the growing powers of national government and unaccountable quangos".[6][8]

In 1998, White was nominated for a life peerage by Conservative leader William Hague in recognition of his work in local government.[4] He was created Baron Hanningfield, of Chelmsford in the County of Essex, on 31 July 1998,[9] taking the name of the village in which he lived.[5] In the House of Lords, Hanningfield served as a Conservative Party whip and a spokesman on education and transport.[4]

Hanningfield served as the leader of Essex County Council from 1998 to 1999, and from 2000 until his resignation in 2010.[10] As council leader, he set up a scheme to reopen closed Post Office branches, and announced plans for a "Bank of Essex" in partnership with Santander that would help local firms get finance during the Great Recession.[2][5] In 2009, the Countryside Alliance awarded Hanningfield the Rural Vision Award for his work to protect and promote rural communities.[11] He was the county councillor for the electoral division of Stock (Chelmsford Rural No. 2)[12] from 15 April 1970 until his disqualification on 29 July 2011 after being convicted for false accounting.[13][14][15][16] The seat was retained by the Conservative Party at the subsequent September 2011 by-election.[17]

Expenses scandals

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Further information: United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal

In February 2010, Hanningfield was charged with offences under section 17 of the Theft Act 1968 relating to false accounting for claims for overnight accommodation. He immediately resigned as the opposition spokesman for communities, local government, and transport.[18] He also resigned as the leader of Essex County Council, and the Conservative party whip was withdrawn from him on 5 February.[10]

On 27 May, Hanningfield, along with MPs Jim Devine, Elliot Morley and David Chaytor, appeared at Southwark Crown Court for a preliminary hearing.[19] Hanningfield was charged with six counts of false accounting and his trial at Chelmsford Crown Court began on 16 May 2011. He was accused of falsely claiming for overnight stays in London when he had in fact returned to his home in Essex; on one occasion for which he claimed reimbursement for an overnight stay in London, he was in fact on a plane to India.[20] Hanningfield denied all charges, telling police that he had been "singled out"; in an August 2009 interview, he told police that he had "done the same as 500 or 600 other peers".[21]

Hanningfield was found guilty on all six counts of false accounting.[22] On 1 July 2011, he was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, mitigated by his poor health, for falsely claiming £13,379 in parliamentary expenses.[23] His appeal against the conviction was rejected by the Court of Appeal,[24] and he was expelled from the Conservative Party.[25] Hanningfield and Lord Taylor of Warwick, a fellow former Conservative peer, were released from prison on home detention curfew in September 2011, after having served a quarter of their sentences.[26][27] They were the only two peers to be imprisoned over the parliamentary expenses scandal.[4] Hanningfield was suspended from the House of Lords for nine months with effect from 1 July,[28] subsequent to a report of the Committee for Privileges and Conduct that detailed £30,254.50 of "false claims" for night-subsistence expenses between July 2007 and April 2009.[29]

Essex County Council initiated a separate investigation into Hanningfield after discovering that he had spent £286,000 on a council credit card between 2005 and 2010.[30] He was arrested in September 2011, a few days after his early release from prison, and began legal action against Essex Police for wrongful arrest.[31] The investigation was dropped in November 2012 over insufficient evidence.[2][30] Hanningfield sought £6,500 in compensation from the police and was awarded £3,500.[32][33]

In December 2011, the House Committee of the House of Lords recommended that Hanningfield and Baroness Uddin, another peer implicated in the expenses scandal, should not be allowed back to the Lords until their wrongly claimed expenses were repaid.[34] Hanningfield returned to the House of Lords in April 2012 after repaying £30,000.[35] In September 2012, Hanningfield was ordered under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to repay a further £37,158.50, covering a six-year period of expenses, or face 15 months' imprisonment.[36][37]

Following Hanningfield's return to Parliament, a Daily Mirror investigation found that, on 11 of 19 days in July 2013, he attended the House of Lords for less than 40 minutes but nonetheless claimed the £300 daily attendance allowance and travel costs,[38] and did not speak in a debate from his return in April 2012 until October 2013.[39] An investigation by the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards found that he did not undertake parliamentary work on those days and had "failed to act on his personal honour" by wrongly claiming expenses, and a Committee for Privileges and Conduct report recommended that he repay the £3,300 wrongly claimed and be suspended from the House of Lords until the end of the Parliament (the maximum sanction available).[40] His suspension took effect on 13 May 2014 and lasted until the dissolution of Parliament in 2015.[41][42][43] A court case over the expenses claims was abandoned in July 2016 after Parliament claimed exclusive cognisance over the matters indicted.[44]

Personal life and death

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Hanningfield never married.[4] He lived in the village of West Hanningfield in Essex with his Bernese mountain dog, Jefferson; he told his trial in 2011: "As I lived alone I wouldn't survive without my dog – it's someone I could talk to and walk with."[5] He was made a member of the court of the University of Essex in 1980,[1][4] and was appointed a deputy lieutenant (DL) of Essex in 1990.[45]

Hanningfield died on 20 October 2024, at the age of 84.[2][4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Hanningfield". Who's Who. A & C Black. 2019. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U18937. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ a b c d e McMenemy, Rachel (22 October 2024). "Former Essex council leader Lord Hanningfield dies". BBC News. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Lord Hanningfield obituary: Tory peer jailed in expenses scandal". The Times. 1 November 2024. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Lord Hanningfield, Essex pig farmer and Tory peer who was jailed for overclaiming expenses". Telegraph Obituaries. The Telegraph. 22 October 2024. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Profile: Lord Hanningfield". BBC News. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  6. ^ a b c d "Lord Hanningfield (deceased)". PolicyMogul. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  7. ^ "LGA welcomes nominations to Committee of the Regions". Local Government Chronicle. 21 January 1998. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  8. ^ "New think tank launched to champion local decision making". Local Government Chronicle. 3 October 2001. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  9. ^ "No. 55216". The London Gazette. 5 August 1998. p. 8519.
  10. ^ a b "Charged expenses peer Lord Hanningfield quits council". BBC News. 5 February 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  11. ^ "Essex council leader given award". BBC News. 21 March 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  12. ^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "Essex County Council Election Results 1973–2009" (PDF). The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  13. ^ "Essex County Council Elections – 11 April 1970". Essex County Council. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  14. ^ "Statement from the Leader of the Council on Lord Hanningfield". Essex County Council. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  15. ^ "Disgraced Lord Hanningfield is likely to be kicked off Essex County Council". Gazette. 24 July 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  16. ^ "The Right Hon. The Lord Hanningfield DL (deceased)". Essex County Council. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  17. ^ Hardy, Clare (9 September 2011). "Essex: Jailed former council leader's seat held by Tories". Guardian Series. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  18. ^ "Three MPs and one peer to be charged over expenses". BBC News. 5 February 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  19. ^ "Four in court over expenses". The Scotsman. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2010.
  20. ^ "Lord Hanningfield 'claimed for hotel while on plane'". BBC News. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  21. ^ "Peerage 'left Tory Lord Hanningfield out of pocket'". BBC News. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  22. ^ "Lord Hanningfield convicted over parliamentary expenses". BBC News. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  23. ^ Davies, Caroline (1 July 2011). "Lord Hanningfield jailed for nine months". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  24. ^ "Jailed ex-Tory peer Lord Hanningfield loses appeal". BBC News. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  25. ^ "Lord Hanningfield set to be suspended over expenses breach". BBC News. 12 May 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  26. ^ Malik, Shiv (12 September 2011). "Lord Taylor of Warwick and Lord Hanningfield released from jail early". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  27. ^ "Expense: Hanningfield and Taylor freed from jail". BBC News. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  28. ^ "Privileges and Conduct Committee: Ninth Report". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 732. Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Lords. 9 November 2011. col. 240.
  29. ^ "9th Report of Session 2010–12: The Conduct of Lord Hanningfield" (PDF). House of Lords: Committee for Privileges and Conduct. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  30. ^ a b "Lord Hanningfield spent £286,000 on Essex council credit card". The Guardian. Press Association. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  31. ^ Sutton, Dominic (19 October 2011). "Essex: Lord Hanningfield seeking police compensation". Guardian Series. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  32. ^ "Lord Hanningfield: Peer wins £3,500 damages". BBC News. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  33. ^ Lord Hanningfield of Chelmsford v Chief Constable of Essex Police. 15 February 2013. [2013] EWHC 243 (QB) – via BAILII.
  34. ^ "Expenses: Peers banned from Lords until cash repaid". BBC News. 14 December 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  35. ^ Clare, Sean (24 April 2012). "Expenses peers Uddin and Hanningfield back in Lords". BBC News. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  36. ^ "Lord Taylor and Lord Hanningfield ordered to pay thousands". BBC News. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  37. ^ "'It's unfair' says Lord Hanningfield as he is hit with £37k bill". Essex Chronicle. 4 October 2012. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  38. ^ "Lord Hanningfield defends 'clocking in' to claim expenses". The Guardian. Press Association. 17 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  39. ^ Collins, David (17 December 2013). "Exclusive: Video: Ex-Tory Lord Hanningfield exposed in 'clocking in' scandal ripping off taxpayers for thousands of pounds". Mirror. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  40. ^ "14th Report of Session 2013–14: The conduct of Lord Hanningfield" (PDF). House of Lords: Committee for Privileges and Conduct. 6 May 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  41. ^ "Privileges and Conduct Committee: 14th Report". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 753. Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Lords. 13 May 2014. col. 1776.
  42. ^ "Hanningfield suspended from Lords until 2015 over allowances". BBC News. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  43. ^ McGurran, Deborah (15 May 2014). "Lord Hanningfield: Disgraced Essex peer barred from Lords". BBC News. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  44. ^ Syal, Rajeev (18 July 2016). "Hanningfield acquitted of expenses fraud after parliament intervenes with court". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  45. ^ "No. 52244". The London Gazette. 15 August 1990. p. 13319.
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