Andrew George (politician)

Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Andrew Henry George (born 2 December 1958)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is an English Liberal Democrat politician. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for St Ives in Cornwall since 2024, previously representing the constituency from 1997 to 2015, when he was defeated by the Conservatives' Derek Thomas. He was the vice-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Housing and Planning Group in the 2010 parliament.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> George has served as a member of Cornwall Council for Ludgvan, Madron, Gulval and Heamoor, having been elected in the 2021 council election.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="CC21">Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

Andrew Henry George was born on 2 December 1958 in the village of Mullion near The Lizard, on the southwest coast of Cornwall, one of eight children born to horticulturist Reginald Hugh George and music teacher Diana May George (Template:Nee).<ref name="WW">Template:Who's Who</ref>

Education

George was educated locally at Helston Grammar School,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in the town of Helston in Cornwall, before attending the University of Sussex where he received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in cultural and community studies in 1980. He finished his education at University College at the University of Oxford, where he was awarded a Master of Science (MSc) degree in agricultural economics in 1981.<ref name="WW" />

Life and career

George worked as a charity worker, initially, as a rural officer with the Nottinghamshire Rural Community Council in 1981, and held a number of appointments in charity, business and research, until he became the deputy director of the Cornwall Rural Community Council in 1987, where he remained until his election to the House of Commons. Before joining the Liberal Democrats he was a member of Mebyon Kernow,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and was one of the founder members of the Cornish Constitutional Convention, campaigning for a Cornish Assembly.

He contested the seat of St Ives at the 1992 general election where he finished second, just 1,645 votes behind the sitting Conservative MP David Harris. Harris stood down at the 1997 general election and George won the seat with a majority of 7,170 and remained as the MP there until 2015. He made his maiden speech on 22 May 1997.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In Parliament

In the House of Commons, George led the Liberal Democrats' Parliamentary DEFRA and Environment team as LibDem Spokesman for agriculture.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> He rebelled against the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government more than any other Liberal Democrat MP.<ref>From David Laws to Andrew George: The Lib Dem rebellion league table Template:Webarchive- Mark Pack; Left Foot Forward; 16 December 2011</ref>

George was made the Liberal Democrats' Fisheries Spokesman by Paddy Ashdown in 1997, a role he undertook until 2007.<ref name="Andrew George MP website">Template:Cite web</ref> Under the new leadership of Charles Kennedy in 1999 he also became Disability spokesperson as part of the Department of Social Security team.<ref name="Andrew George MP website"/> Following the 2001 General Election he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Kennedy.<ref name="Andrew George MP website"/> He became Rural Affairs and Food spokesperson in 2002, a role he held until 2005.<ref name="Andrew George MP website"/> He was International Development spokesperson from the 2005 general election until 2006.<ref name="Andrew George MP website"/>

On 6 January 2006, George was one of the first members of the Liberal Democrat frontbench team to threaten to resign his post if Charles Kennedy had not stood down as leader by 9 January 2006. He was replaced on the front bench on 8 March by Kennedy's successor, Sir Menzies Campbell.Template:Citation needed

George suffers from the autoimmune disease Ankylosing spondylitis and has campaigned for a TNF inhibitor drug treatment to be made available to all patients. He is a member of the National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society's experts panel.<ref name="elliott">Template:Cite news</ref>

In the 2010 general election, George's majority was substantially reduced from 11,609 to 1,719 following boundary changes to his constituency.

In 2011–2012, George was a leading figure of a LibDem rebellion against the Cameron–Clegg government's proposed Health and Social Care Bill 2011, describing it as "a missed opportunity to reform health and social care" and a violation of the coalition agreement. The rebellion saw dozens of LibDems voting against the bill alongside Labour. Despite this, the bill passed 314–260.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

During the so-called "Bonfire of the quangos" by the government, in 2013 George opposed plans to abolish the Agricultural Wages Board,<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the governmental body which had been responsible for regulating farm workers' wages,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> on the grounds that it could harm the pay and conditions of farmers.

Cornish issues

From his election victory in 1997, George has campaigned in Parliament on many issues key to Cornwall. An early success was the campaign to win millions of pounds of European economic aid for Cornwall from the Objective One funding programme, for which he chaired the All Party Parliamentary Objective One Group.

On 12 May 2005, George became the first MP to swear his oath of allegiance to the Queen in Cornish after a long campaign for the language's official recognition.<ref name="cornish">Template:Cite news</ref> George also claims to have been the first MP to use Cornish in his maiden speech back in 1997.<ref name="cornish" />

In 2007, George voted in Parliament against Cornwall becoming a unitary authority. Local polls commissioned by Penwith District Council indicated that almost 90% of the public were opposed to the formation of the Cornish unitary authority.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Opposition to bedroom tax

George sponsored a Private Member's Bill, the Affordable Homes Bill, to limit the application of the "bedroom tax" benefit cut only to tenants that had rejected a "reasonable offer" of alternative accommodation with the correct number of bedrooms.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bill reached the second reading stage after the Government was defeated in a vote in the House of Commons,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but failed to proceed further because the Government did not supply a Money Resolution.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> George opposed the "bedroom tax" in earlier votes, saying that those who supported it "should come down to meet some of my constituents who are affected by it and look them in the eye as they attempt to justify it".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On Cornwall Council

In March 2021, it was reported that George was standing for election to Cornwall Council in the 2021 local elections.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the elections, George won the seat of Ludgvan, Madron, Gulval and Heamoor with 56% of the vote, beating a Conservative incumbent.<ref name="CC21" />

In February 2022 it was announced that George would once again be standing as the Liberal Democrats' candidate for the St Ives constituency at the next general election.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After being elected to Parliament, George announced in August 2024 that he would stand down at the 2025 local council elections.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

George married Jill Elizabeth Marshall in 1987. They have a son and a daughter.<ref name="WW" />

Publications

• The Natives are Revolting Down in the Cornwall Theme Park by Andrew George, 1986
• Cornwall at the Crossroads by Bernard Deacon, Andrew George et al., 1989 CoSERG, Redruth Template:ISBN
• A Vision of Cornwall by Andrew George, 1995
• A View from the Bottom Left-Hand Corner by Andrew George, 2002, Patten Press, Penzance Template:ISBN

See also

• List of topics related to Cornwall

External links

• Template:Official website
• Template:UK MP links