Alan Meale

Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Sir Joseph Alan Meale (born 31 July 1949) is a former British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mansfield from 1987 to 2017. He was the longest-standing MP in Mansfield's history.

Early life

Meale attended St Joseph RC School in Bishop Auckland and studied at Ruskin College (in Oxford), and Durham University,<ref name=grud>Template:Cite news</ref> his CV also mentions Sheffield Hallam University.<ref name=AM>Template:Cite web</ref>

Meale's website lists his previous occupations as author, editor, development officer, trade union official, researcher, political adviser and journalist.<ref name=AM/>

Parliamentary career

Meale entered Parliament on 11 June 1987<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and made his maiden speech on 3 July 1987 in the Tourism debate where he commented on the poverty, lack of provision, opportunity and services in the Mansfield community.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Meale was a whip from 1992 to 1994 when he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Prescott in Prescott's different portfolios until 1998.<ref name=bdem>Template:Cite news</ref>

Meale served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions under John Prescott from January 1998 to January 1999.<ref name=grud/> He became a government whip Council of Europe Delegation in 2007 and acting Leader of the UK Delegation in 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He has been the chair of the British Section of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Cyprus Group since 2007.<ref name=bdem/>

In 1998, Michael Ancram accused Meale of "cronyism" following allegations in The Sunday Times that he had lobbied on behalf of Anthony Kleanthous, the millionaire Greek-Cypriot chairman of Barnet football club. Kleanthous wanted to build a £14 million stadium on green belt land, 140 miles from Meale's constituency. The Sunday Times article said that Britain's Greek-Cypriot lobbying groups had paid for Meale and his wife to go to Cyprus and donated thousands of pounds to Labour. Meale denied cronyism, whilst Kleanthos insisted he had not donated to the Labour party and said it was "a bit racist" to link his business interests to Greek-Cypriot political lobbying efforts based on his ethnicity.<ref name=beeb>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Meale was Vice Chair of the APPG for Cyprus,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was regarded by Greek Cypriot groups as one of their "oldest and closest friends in Parliament".<ref name="famagusta">Template:Cite news</ref> According to Meale, he first became interested in the political situation in Cyprus back in 1987 when Tony Benn advised him to "pick a political issue and stick with it".<ref name="famagusta" />

In the run-up to the UK referendum on membership of the European Union, Meale campaigned to remain in the EU.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Expenses

Meale was mentioned in the Parliamentary expenses scandal having claimed £13,000 over four years for gardening. The limit set retrospectively by Sir Thomas Legg was £1,000 /year.<ref name=telygraf>Template:Cite news</ref> The Legg Report showed that Meale repaid £11,859.47.<ref name=leg>Template:Cite web</ref>

Alternative medicine

Meale was one of sixteen MPs to sign an early day motion tabled by Conservative MP David Tredinnick regretting the British Medical Association's opposition to further National Health Service funding of homoeopathy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Loss of seat

Meale lost his seat at the 2017 general election when Ben Bradley overturned a 2015 Labour majority of 5,315 to become the first ever Conservative MP for the seat. Labour had held this seat since 1923 and the constituency had been represented by Meale since 1987 – before Bradley was born - making the latter one of the youngest MPs elected,<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Subscription required</ref> despite the acting returning officer wrongly announcing Meale as the victor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2012, Mansfield's local newspaper, the Chad, reported that Meale was the longest-standing MP in Mansfield's history, overtaking Bernard Taylor who was the incumbent MP for 25 years.<ref>"Sir Alan clocks up milestone". Chad, 13 June 2012, p.12. Accessed 1 November 2025</ref>

Local politics

In 2007 Meale stood for the position of Mayor of Mansfield, losing significantly to sitting mayor Tony Egginton, polling a total of 8,784 votes compared to Egginton's 13,720.

Personal life

Meale married Diana Gilhespy on 10 March 1983, his second wife; he has a son and daughter from his first marriage in 1970. Meale was knighted by Prince Charles officiating at the ceremony in January, 2012, after the 2011 Birthday Honours list was announced, chosen for his "public and political service".<ref name="award">"Sir Alan knighted by Prince Charles". Chad, Mansfield local newspaper, 18 January 2012, p.24 Accessed 29 March 2017</ref><ref>Template:London Gazette</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Alan Meale MP official constituency site (archived)
• Template:UK MP links