Saturday, 15 May 2010


The Sun

Lib Dems ‘to ban Page 3’ beauties

By TOM NEWTON DUNN, Political Editor

SUN beauties were busting with indignation last night after a Page 3-hating woman was a shock appointment as Equalities Minster.

Lib Dem Lynne Featherstone, 58, warned during the election campaign that she would "love to take on Page 3".

Landing the Home Office job means the battleaxe North London MP has potential power to force through a ban.

She said yesterday: "Will I get our whole agenda agreed? I might - but there are a few things I can see causing ructions."

Three weeks ago she and Labour's feminist fanatic Harriet Harman called for a cross-party coalition to outlaw our topless models.

But Page 3 girl Peta Todd said: "If Ms Featherstone wants to take us on, she should know that we won't go down without a fight.

"It's pathetic. There are enough problems without wanting to stop our freedom of expression."


Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone

Minister for Equalities
Incumbent
Assumed office
13 May 2010
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byHarriet Harman
In office
2 July 2007 – 13 May 2010
LeaderNick Clegg
Preceded bySusan Kramer
Member of Parliament
for Hornsey and Wood Green
Incumbent
Assumed office
5 May 2005
Preceded byBarbara Roche
Majority2,395 (45.3%)
Member of the London Assembly
for the Liberal Democrats (London-wide)
In office
4 May 2000 – 6 June 2005
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byGeoff Pope
Born20 December 1951(age 58)
Highgate, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal Democrats
Alma materOxford Brookes University
ProfessionPolitician
ReligionJudaism[1]


Lynne Choona Featherstone (born Lynne Choona

Ryness, 20 December 1951), is a British politician, and the

Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Hornsey and

Wood Green.

Under the Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition in 2010

she was appointed as a "junior Home Office minister with

responsibility for equality".[2] Previously she was Liberal

Democrat spokesperson for Youth and Equality issues, and

chair of the Liberal Democrats technology board.[3]

Contents

[hide]

[edit]
Early life

She was born and brought up in North London and educated

at the Highgate Primary School, the independent

South Hampstead High School on Maresfield Gardens

and gained a Diploma in Communication and Design at

Oxford Polytechnic. She has lived in the Hornsey and

Wood Green constituency for over thirty years.

Her family's wealth is generated from a family business

started by her parents - the Ryness chain of hardware

and electrical shops in London. She lives in Highgate on

the western side of the constituency.

She is from a Jewish background.

[edit]
Councillor of London Borough of
Haringey 1998-2006

She was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of

Haringey in 1998 for Muswell Hill ward. She and her two

colleagues (June Andersen and Julia Glenn) were the first

three Liberal Democrat councillors to be elected in the borough.

She was leader of Liberal Democrat Group (and thereby

Leader of the Opposition) on the council 1998-2002.

She stood down from Haringey Council at the May 2006

elections. She played a substantial role in the May 2006

election campaign in Haringey where Labour's majority

was cut from 25 to 3, with 30 Labour councillors elected

to 27 Liberal Democrats.

[edit]
Member of the London Assembly 2000-2005

From 2000 until 2005, when she stood down, Featherstone

was a member of the London Assembly. She was replaced

as a member of the London Assembly by Geoff Pope.

In 2005, a speech she made pointing out that local councillors

receive an allowance which they could use to free up time to

do council work by hiring domestic cleaners and babysitters

was used against her by opponents.[4] A transcript of this

speech was reported in the Evening Standard newspaper.[5]

Featherstone was promoted by some as a potential Liberal

Democrat candidate for Mayor of London in the 2008 election.

In response to a poll on the Liberal Democrat Voice website,[6]

she ruled herself out, stating that, of the other people in the poll,

she would back Brian Paddick.[7]

[edit]
Member of Parliament

Lynne Featherstone first contested the Hornsey and Wood

Green seat at the 1997 General Election where she finished

in third place some 25,998 votes behind the winner

Barbara Roche. She again fought Hornsey and Wood

Green at the 2001 General Election, moving into second

place and reducing Roche's majority to 10,614. In one of the

largest swings at the 2005 General Election, Featherstone

ousted Roche with a majority of 2,395 votes.

She made her maiden speech in Parliament on 24 May 2005.

[8] She was appointed as a junior home affairs spokesperson

by Charles Kennedy in 2005, and to the environment audit

select committee. She was co-chair of Chris Huhne's unsuccessful

campaign to be leader of the Liberal Democrats following the

resignation of Kennedy in January 2006. In March, following

the election of Menzies Campbell as party leader, she was

promoted to number two in the Liberal Democrat home

affairs team and made London spokesperson. In December

2006, she succeeded Susan Kramer as the Liberal Democrat

Shadow International Development Secretary, and two months

later was succeeded by Tom Brake as London spokesperson.

In 2007, following the resignation of Menzies Campbell, she

again chaired Chris Huhne's leadership election campaign.

On 20 December 2007 the new Liberal Democrat leader

Nick Clegg, who defeated Chris Huhne, made her Youth

and Equalities spokesperson.

[edit]
Aftermath of death of Baby P

Following Baby P's death, Haringey Council initiated an internal audit

Serious Case Review (SCR).[9] Although the actual report

was completed months earlier, the Executive Summary of the report was

released

immediately after the resulting court case

had completed. The full details of the report have been kept confidential. Lynne

Featherstone MP has been particularly critical of Haringey Council, writing "

I personally met with George Meehan and Ita O'Donovan — Haringey Council's

leader and chief executive — to raise with them three different cases, where

the pattern was in each case Haringey seeming to want to blame anyone who

complained rather than to look at the complaint seriously. I was promised

action — but despite repeated subsequent requests for news on progress —

was just stonewalled."[10]

In November 2008, at Prime Minister's Questions, Featherstone asked the

Prime Minister to order an inquiry into the Baby P case.[11] She was leader

of the Liberal Democrat opposition on Haringey Council at the time of the

murder of Victoria Climbié.

[edit]
Media attention

In April 2006 one of Featherstone's researchers received a hoax email warning

about an apparent date rape drug called Progesterex.[12] Featherstone submitted

a question to a government minister inquiring "what assessment he has made of

the use of progesterex in cases of date rape". Paul Goggins replied in the House of

Commons that Progesterex did not exist: "It has been the subject of a hoax

e-mail".[13][14] The hoax first originated in 1999.[15] Featherstone criticised

the minister's response, stating "they need to do more to discover the unearthly

monster who sends them out" and that "their cavalier attitude will not do".[16]

In April 2007, Featherstone was forced to return large quantities of stationery

after her office ordered £22,000 worth in the previous month in an attempt to #

beat new rules on stationery allowances. Featherstone blamed a staff member

for the incident, stating she "knew nothing". In a leaked email, Parliamentary

official Cliff Harris reportedly stated "it's quite alarming when you see that Lynne# #

Featherstone spent over £22,000 in one month, the equivalent to three years

of the new capped rate".[17] Featherstone subsequently said she would be

putting in place better office procedures.[18]

She came to the attention of the national media in 2008 when she was

criticized by Conservative Member of the London Assembly Brian

Coleman for calling 999 (the UK's emergency number) when her boiler

began making noises and sparking. Coleman referred to her as a "dizzy

airhead", Featherstone responded by calling his comments "sexist" and "

political" in nature.[19][20] A London Fire Brigade spokeswoman told the

BBC: "If it's obvious that there has been an ongoing problem with the boiler,

then you can call a plumber. But if your boiler suddenly starts making strange

noises in the middle of the night, call the fire brigade."

In May 2009, she was listed by The Telegraph as one of the "Saints" in the

expenses scandal.[21]

She has indicated she would attempt to ban topless models from appearing

on The Sun newspaper's Page 3, stating "I would love to take on Page 3".[22][23][24]

[edit]
In government

Under the Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition in 2010 she was

appointed as a junior Home Office minister: as under secretary for

equalities.[25] She announced her appointment herself ahead of the

formal announcement and expected some compromise with the Tories

on her previous aims; her senior minister Theresa May is noted as not

voting favouring homosexual equality.[26]

[edit]
Voting record

Featherstone's voting trends include support for a smoking ban, an

investigation into the Iraq War, and laws to stop climate change, while

being against the introduction of ID cards, Labour's counter-terrorism

laws and replacing the Trident missile.[27]

[edit]
Polls and awards

In 2006, she was shortlisted in the "Rising Stars" category of the Channel

4 political awards, but did not win. She has also been nominated for the

prestigious Dods "Woman Of The Year" award.

At the Liberal Democrat Conference in Brighton in 2006, she was named

by The Sun as one of five "Lib Dem lovelies",[28] and in a February 2010

Sky News poll she was named the most fanciable MP in the UK.[29]

[edit]
Personal life

She married Stephen Featherstone in Haringey in 1982, but divorced in 1996.

They have two daughters (born February 1984 and July 1989).[30]

[edit]
References

  1. ^ http://www.somethingjewish.co.uk/articles/1774_jewish_media_round_u.htm
  2. ^ "Equality Job for Lib Dem MP". The Independent. 14.5.10.
  3. ^ "Clegg reshuffles top Lib Dem team". BBC News (BBC). 8.1.09.
  4. ^ . http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/search/640668.Featherstone_hits_back_over_expenses_criticism/.
  5. ^ http://www.bookrags.com/highbeam/become-a-councillor-and-get-a-free-20051012-hb/
  6. ^ New poll: who do you want to be the Lib Dems’ London mayoral candidate?
  7. ^ Lynne's Parliament and Haringey diary - Don't vote for me!
  8. ^ Hansard - 24 May 2005 col 650
  9. ^ "Haringey Council Internal Audit - Serious Case Review" (PDF). Haringey Council. 2008-11-12. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
  10. ^ "A litany of failure by Haringey". Lynne Featherstone MP. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
  11. ^ Sparrow, Andrew (12 November 2008). "Prime minister's questions - live". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  12. ^ Lynne's Parliament and Haringey diary - Delivery, canvassing, stuffing...
  13. ^ Beaumont Hospital investigates fake email warning of rape drug
  14. ^ Hansard 18 Apr 2006 col 288W
  15. ^ Snopes - Progesterex Rape
  16. ^ The Daily Mirror - Exclusive: Email on Date Drug is a Hoax
  17. ^ Daily Mail - Crackdown on free postage as Labour MP claims £50,000 on stationery
  18. ^ Lynne's Parliament and Haringey diary - Mail on Sunday
  19. ^ "MP criticised for 999 boiler call". BBC News. 2008-12-13. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
  20. ^ John Bingham (2008-12-13). "MP Lynne Featherstone branded 'dizzy airhead' for calling fire brigade to tackle boiler". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
  21. ^ "MPs' Expenses: the saints". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  22. ^ http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/ian-odoherty/ian-odoherty-what-a-pair-of-boobies-2158928.html
  23. ^ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/ill-ban-suns-page-3-models-says-deputy-uk-labour-leader-harriet-harman/story-e6frev00-1225862831859?from=public_rss
  24. ^ http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/uks-labour-party-sparks-new-spat-with-paper-over-famous-topless-models/story-e6frfku0-1225862826364?from=public_rss
  25. ^ "Equality Job for Lib Dem MP". The Independent. 14.5.10.
  26. ^ http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/05/14/lib-dem-lynne-featherstone-appointed-junior-equality-minister/
  27. ^ www.theyworkforyou.com
  28. ^ The Sun - Here are OUR Lib Dem Lovelies
  29. ^ The Guardian - Lib Dem Lynne Featherstone tops 'most fanciable MP' survey
  30. ^ BBC News - Vote 2001 - Lynne Featherstone

[edit]
External links

Video clips
  • Featherstone's video diaries from the 2007 Liberal Democrats conference: Sun · Mon · Tues · Wed · Thurs
News articles

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Barbara Roche Member of Parliament for
Hornsey and Wood Green
2005– Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
Jenny Willott MP Liberal Democrat Trustee of
the UK Youth Parliament
June 2008 – Incumbent

Posted by Britannia Radio at 19:43