Kate Hoey
Encyclopedia
Catharine Letitia Hoey is a British
Labour Party
politician
who has been the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Vauxhall
since 1989
. She served in the Blair Government
as Minister for Sport from 1999 to 2001.
, she studied at Belfast Royal Academy
. While attending the Ulster College of Physical Education she joined the International Marxist Group
, one of the few people with an Ulster Unionist background to do so in the 1960s. After relocating to England
, she graduated in economics
from the City of London College, today known as London Metropolitan University
. She was a senior lecturer at Kingsway College
from 1976 to 1985, during which time she left the International Marxist Group.
Champion and worked for football
clubs including Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers, Chelsea and Brentford, as an Educational Advisor. Prior to entering Parliament she was educational adviser to Arsenal Football Club
from 1985 to 1989.
A founder member of the London Northern Ireland Supporters' Club, Hoey took part in a St Patrick's Day parade in London with Northern Ireland
manager Lawrie Sanchez
.
from 1998 to 1999, and Minister for Sport in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport from 1999 to 2001. She campaigned against London's candidacy for the 2012 Olympics
on the basis that Paris is more deserving, due to the volume of sporting facilities in the city, but has actively promoted sport in schools
and is involved in gun politics in the UK. The current handgun ban affects training and participation in international shooting competitions
. Hoey has been involved in the issues of affordable housing
, top-up tuition fees
, foundation trust hospitals
and provision for pensioner
s.
In Parliament, Hoey has participated in 50% of votes, described as "well below average amongst MPs", but has spoken in 36 debates in the last year in parliament, which has been described as "above average for MPs". On top of her income as an MP, she is paid over £5,000 a year for articles in the Daily Telegraph, a conservative newspaper, and over £15,000 a year for her campaigning work on behalf of the Countryside Alliance
, a rural pressure group.
Hoey has often rebelled against her party. She has voted against government policy on the war in Iraq, foundation hospitals, university tuition and top-up fees, ID cards and extended detention without trial. She was a leading Labour rebel supporting a referendum on the EU Lisbon Treaty.
On 29 April 2008 it was announced that Hoey would form part of the team of Conservative Boris Johnson
, should he become Mayor, as an unpaid non-executive director advising on sport and the 2012 Olympics.
in Britain; a rare position among Labour MPs.
On 22 July 2005, Hoey was named the new chairman of the Countryside Alliance
(the main British pro-hunting group). She said the appointment was a "great honour and a great challenge". The Alliance's headquarters are in Hoey's Vauxhall constituency. This appointment was controversial in the Labour Party as the Countryside Alliance was seen to be behind a campaign to unseat Labour MPs at the 2005 election.
Hoey is patron of Roots & Shoots, a vocational training centre for young people in Lambeth http://www.rootsandshoots.org.uk/home.php
Hoey has been a trustee
of the Outward Bound
charity since October 2002. A Vice President of the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association
, Hoey is a strong supporter of the women's national team and the work of the charity in general.
Kate Hoey nominated John McDonnell
for the Labour leadership, but on his withdrawal, switched her nomination to Diane Abbott
.
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...
Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
who has been the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Vauxhall
Vauxhall (UK Parliament constituency)
-Elections in the 1980s:-Elections in the 1970s:-Elections in the 1960s:-Notes and references:...
since 1989
Vauxhall by-election, 1989
A by-election for the United Kingdom House of Commons was held in the constituency of Vauxhall on the 15th June 1989, following the resignation of sitting Member of Parliament Stuart Holland....
. She served in the Blair Government
Premiership of Tony Blair
The Premiership of Tony Blair began on 2 May 1997 and ended on 27 June 2007. While serving as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Blair concurrently served as the First Lord of the Treasury, the Minister for the Civil Service, the Leader of the Labour Party , and a Member of Parliament for the...
as Minister for Sport from 1999 to 2001.
Background
Born in BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, she studied at Belfast Royal Academy
Belfast Royal Academy
The Belfast Royal Academy is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school situated in north Belfast. The Academy is one of eight Northern Irish schools whose Headmaster is a member of the Headmasters' and...
. While attending the Ulster College of Physical Education she joined the International Marxist Group
International Marxist Group
The International Marxist Group was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It and its youth organisation had had around 1,000 members and supporters in the late 1970s...
, one of the few people with an Ulster Unionist background to do so in the 1960s. After relocating to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, she graduated in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
from the City of London College, today known as London Metropolitan University
London Metropolitan University
London Metropolitan University , located in London, England, was formed on 1 August 2002 by the amalgamation of the University of North London and the London Guildhall University . The University has campuses in the City of London and in the London Borough of Islington.The University operates its...
. She was a senior lecturer at Kingsway College
Westminster Kingsway College
Westminster Kingsway College is a further education college in central London with Centres in King's Cross and Victoria . The College has about 14,000 students across all age ranges and provides further, adult and higher education programmes including full-time and part-time vocational,...
from 1976 to 1985, during which time she left the International Marxist Group.
Sport
Hoey is known for her longstanding interest in sport. She was Northern Ireland High JumpHigh jump
The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....
Champion and worked for football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
clubs including Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers, Chelsea and Brentford, as an Educational Advisor. Prior to entering Parliament she was educational adviser to Arsenal Football Club
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
from 1985 to 1989.
A founder member of the London Northern Ireland Supporters' Club, Hoey took part in a St Patrick's Day parade in London with Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
manager Lawrie Sanchez
Lawrie Sanchez
Lawrence Philip "Lawrie" Sanchez is a former Northern Irish football manager, and a former player. He is currently the manager of League Two side Barnet...
.
Politics
Kate Hoey was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Home OfficeHome Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
from 1998 to 1999, and Minister for Sport in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport from 1999 to 2001. She campaigned against London's candidacy for the 2012 Olympics
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
on the basis that Paris is more deserving, due to the volume of sporting facilities in the city, but has actively promoted sport in schools
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
and is involved in gun politics in the UK. The current handgun ban affects training and participation in international shooting competitions
Shooting sports
A shooting sport is a competitive sport involving tests of proficiency using various types of guns such as firearms and airguns . Hunting is also a shooting sport, and indeed shooting live pigeons was an Olympic event...
. Hoey has been involved in the issues of affordable housing
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
, top-up tuition fees
Top-up fees
Tuition fees were first introduced across the entire United Kingdom in September 1998 as a means of funding tuition to undergraduate and postgraduate certificate students at universities, with students being required to pay up to £1,000 a year for tuition...
, foundation trust hospitals
NHS Foundation Trust
An NHS foundation trust is part of the National Health Service in England and has gained a degree of independence from the Department of Health and local NHS strategic health authority.Foundation Trusts are represented by the , .-Function:...
and provision for pensioner
Pensioner
In common parlance, a pensioner is a person who has retired, and now collects a pension. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom and Australia where someone of pensionable age may also be referred to as an 'old age pensioner', or OAP. In the United States, the term retiree is more...
s.
In Parliament, Hoey has participated in 50% of votes, described as "well below average amongst MPs", but has spoken in 36 debates in the last year in parliament, which has been described as "above average for MPs". On top of her income as an MP, she is paid over £5,000 a year for articles in the Daily Telegraph, a conservative newspaper, and over £15,000 a year for her campaigning work on behalf of the Countryside Alliance
Countryside Alliance
The Countryside Alliance is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as country sports, including hunting, shooting and angling...
, a rural pressure group.
Hoey has often rebelled against her party. She has voted against government policy on the war in Iraq, foundation hospitals, university tuition and top-up fees, ID cards and extended detention without trial. She was a leading Labour rebel supporting a referendum on the EU Lisbon Treaty.
On 29 April 2008 it was announced that Hoey would form part of the team of Conservative Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
, should he become Mayor, as an unpaid non-executive director advising on sport and the 2012 Olympics.
Other interests
Hoey is known for her fight against the Labour Government's plans to ban fox huntingFox hunting
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in its current...
in Britain; a rare position among Labour MPs.
On 22 July 2005, Hoey was named the new chairman of the Countryside Alliance
Countryside Alliance
The Countryside Alliance is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as country sports, including hunting, shooting and angling...
(the main British pro-hunting group). She said the appointment was a "great honour and a great challenge". The Alliance's headquarters are in Hoey's Vauxhall constituency. This appointment was controversial in the Labour Party as the Countryside Alliance was seen to be behind a campaign to unseat Labour MPs at the 2005 election.
Hoey is patron of Roots & Shoots, a vocational training centre for young people in Lambeth http://www.rootsandshoots.org.uk/home.php
Hoey has been a trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
of the Outward Bound
Outward Bound
Outward Bound is an international, non-profit, independent, outdoor educationorganization with approximately 40 schools around the world and 200,000 participants per year...
charity since October 2002. A Vice President of the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association
Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association
The Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association is a non-profit organization and the governing body for wheelchair basketball in Great Britain...
, Hoey is a strong supporter of the women's national team and the work of the charity in general.
Kate Hoey nominated John McDonnell
John McDonnell (politician)
John Martin McDonnell is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington since 1997; he serves as Chair of the Socialist Campaign Group, the Labour Representation Committee, and the "Public Services Not Private Profit Group"...
for the Labour leadership, but on his withdrawal, switched her nomination to Diane Abbott
Diane Abbott
Diane Julie Abbott is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, when she became the first black woman to be elected to the House of Commons...
.
Government and parliamentary positions
- Opposition spokesperson, citizen's charter and women (1992–1993)
- PPSParliamentary Private SecretaryA Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to Frank FieldFrank Field (UK politician)Frank Ernest Field DL is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Birkenhead since 1979. From 1997 to 1998, he served as the Minister of Welfare Reform, before leaving the Government, following differences with Prime Minister Tony Blair...
, Department of Social SecurityDepartment of Social SecurityThe Department of Social Security is the name of a defunct governmental agency in the United Kingdom.The DSS replaced the older Department of Health and Social Security, from 1988 until 2001, when it was itself largely replaced as a department of the Government of the United Kingdom by the...
(1997–1998) - Junior minister, home office (1998–1999)
- Junior minister, department of culture, media and sport (1999–2001)
- BackbencherBackbencherIn Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
(2001–present)
External links
- Kate Hoey MP official constituency website
- Lambeth Labour Party
- London Northern Ireland Supporters Club
- Sunday Times Magazine profile, 8 August 1993
- Hoey becomes Countryside Alliance Chairman, 22 July 2005