John Purvis
Encyclopedia
John Purvis is a British
Conservative Party
politician, who was a Member of the European Parliament
for Scotland
.
His first session in the European Parliament
was from 1979 to 1984, for the Mid Scotland and Fife
seat. He returned to the Parliament in 1999 on the Conservative Party's list for the new mult-seat Scotland constituency
, and was re-elected in the 2004 European Parliament elections. He stood down in 2009
.
In early 2007, Purvis found himself questioned by Conservative Party colleagues after it was claimed he had paid staff from his parliamentary office through a company of which he was a partner. This was part of a campaign launched by David Cameron
in a bid to "clean up" Conservative Members' expense claims. However, Purvis and others maintained they did not know about new enforced EU Parliamentary rules prohibiting the channeling of parliamentary funds through any institution of which any MEP was a member or associate. Purvis made an enquiry to clarify whether or not he was in breach of regulations on conflict of interest in January 2007 and was completely exonerated by the European Parliament in August 2008. He received a full apology for the 18 months delay in answering his queries about procedures in making payments.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician, who was a Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
for Scotland
Scotland (European Parliament constituency)
Scotland constitutes a single constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
.
His first session in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
was from 1979 to 1984, for the Mid Scotland and Fife
Mid Scotland and Fife (European Parliament constituency)
Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales...
seat. He returned to the Parliament in 1999 on the Conservative Party's list for the new mult-seat Scotland constituency
Scotland (European Parliament constituency)
Scotland constitutes a single constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
, and was re-elected in the 2004 European Parliament elections. He stood down in 2009
European Parliament election, 2009 (United Kingdom)
The European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections in England. Most of the results of the election were announced on Sunday 7 June, after...
.
In early 2007, Purvis found himself questioned by Conservative Party colleagues after it was claimed he had paid staff from his parliamentary office through a company of which he was a partner. This was part of a campaign launched by David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
in a bid to "clean up" Conservative Members' expense claims. However, Purvis and others maintained they did not know about new enforced EU Parliamentary rules prohibiting the channeling of parliamentary funds through any institution of which any MEP was a member or associate. Purvis made an enquiry to clarify whether or not he was in breach of regulations on conflict of interest in January 2007 and was completely exonerated by the European Parliament in August 2008. He received a full apology for the 18 months delay in answering his queries about procedures in making payments.