Robert Marshall-Andrews

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Award Winner Revealed

Last Wednesday The House Magazine held its Annual Parliamentary Awards. The evening was televised by the BBC.

Senior parliamentarians on the Editorial Board of the magazine drew up balanced shortlists based on their readers' nominations.  MPs and peers were then invited to vote for one candidate in each of their respective eight categories.  Categories included Speech of the Year, Minister of the Year and Backbencher of the Year.

The MP for Medway, Bob Marshall-Andrews, was one of four nominations for the most effective Commons Backbencher, voted on by MPs only.  The winner of this category was Labour MP, Dr Ian Gibson.

The following is the biography profile printed in the awards programme.

A leading left-wing QC, Robert Marshall-Andrews won a Westminster seat at his third attempt in 1997.  Born in 1944, he went to Mill Hill School and read law at Bristol University.

He joined the Socialist Campaign Group and made his maiden speech on the Firearms Amendment Bill to restrict use of handguns after the Dunblane massacre.  A highly articulate debater who once won the Observer Mace, he is also an outspoken left-wing maverick.

He voted against the emergency Anti-Terrorism Bill in 1998 and was moved to rebel over the predatory pricing of Murdoch newspapers in the same year.  He was one of 54 Labour rebels against cuts in invalidity benefit in 1999 and has joined almost every rebellion since, on freedom of information, jury trials, restoring the link between pensions and earnings and over the attempted removal of two select committee chairmen.

He rebelled consistently against the Government's new anti-terrorism measures, and opposed the Government again over foundation hospitals in November 2003. He was one of the leading rebels over increased university tuition fees in January 2004.

He formed a group, the "Old Testament Prophets" in 1998, for those disenchanted with New Labour.

He has spoken on the Terrorism Bill, frequently on the Bill to reform the House of Lords (when he said he was a republican), and on the National Lottery, Iraqi sanctions, lobbyists and the Child Support Agency.