Geoff Hoon

Geoff Hoon (right) at Pentagon briefing

Geoffrey William "Geoff" Hoon (born December 6 1953) is a British politician. He is Labour Member of Parliament for Ashfield, and is the Minister of State for Europe.

Early life and career

Geoff Hoon was born in Derby, Derbyshire, the son of a railwayman, and was educated at Nottingham High School and Jesus College, Cambridge where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in law in 1976, followed by a master's degree. He was appointed as a law lecturer at the University of Leeds in 1976 for five years. He was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1978, and was also a visiting law professor at the University of Louisville, Kentucky for a year in 1980. He became a practising barrister for two years in 1982, working in Nottingham.

He has been married to Elaine Anne Dumelow since 1981 and they have a son and two daughters.

Political career

Hoon was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for Derbyshire in 1984 and served in Brussels and Strasbourg for ten years. He was elected as a member of the British House of Commons at the 1992 general election for Ashfield following the deselction of the sitting Labour MP Frank Haynes. Hoon held the seat with a majority of 12,987 and has remained the MP there since, making his maiden speech on May 20, 1992.

In Parliament, he was promoted by John Smith in 1994 when he was appointed as an opposition whip, and in 1995 he joined the frontbench team as a spokesman on Trade and Industry. Following the 1997 general election he became a member of the government of Tony Blair as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Lord Chancellor's Department, being promoted to the rank of Minister of State in the same department in 1998. In 1999 he was briefly a minister at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, before entering the cabinet later in the year as the Secretary of State for Defence. He became a member of the Privy Council in 1999. He served as the Lord Privy Seal and the Leader of the House of Commons from the 2005 general election until 5 May 2006. He was appointed on that day as Minister for Europe.

Role as the Secretary of State for Defence

Hoon was in charge of the MoD during a period of massive deployments of British troops, including;
*2000 - Operation Palliser - Sierra Leone
*2001 - Exercise Saif Sareea II - Oman
*2001 - Operation Veritas - Afghanistan
*2003 - Operation Telic - Iraq

Like many who have held the office before him Hoon was forced to make some difficult defence procurement decisions. The MoD is committed to competitive procurement and operates perhaps the most open defence procurement process in the world. The adherence to this policy caused significant friction between the MoD and its largest supplier, BAE Systems. Hoon, and the MoD as a whole refused the company's arguments that it should be treated as a "national champion." BAE have been accused of demanding contracts, e.g the Type 45 destroyers. Recent events have demonstrated that the MoD will not entertain such practices, following the delays to the Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol jet and Astute class submarine projects BAE was force to write off £750m against the contracts.

Comment on Geoff Hoon's public persona has varied wildly from that of non-descript minister (the label "Geoff Who?" was applied by many national newspapers and an unflattering nickname is "Buff"), to a capable Defence Secretary and a "safe pair of hands" during and shortly after the 2003 Iraq War, to adjectives such as "slippery" and "dishonest" during the Dr. David Kelly Affair. He was widely expected to resign on the publication of the resulting Hutton Report. Whilst many were not surprised by the absence of any claim of wrong-doing on Tony Blair's behalf there was widespread disbelief that both Hoon and his Permanent Secretary, Sir Kevin Tebbit, were also completely cleared of any impropriety. Hutton concluded that there was no "underhand" strategy in the naming of Kelly but that the Ministry of Defence failed to inform and advise him of the effects his name entering the public domain. Hoon was unpopular throughout the Armed Forces, who considered him to be an advocate of unnecessary change and accused him of weakening the Forces. In particular, the then Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, publicly accused Hoon of neglecting morale and efficiency in his policies.

In an interview in April, 2004 Geoff Hoon said that more could have been done to help David Kelly, who killed himself after being named as the source of Andrew Gilligan's controversial Today programme report.

On July 21, 2004 Hoon announced major changes to the British armed forces. This review, Future Capabilities, is an extension of the White Paper Delivering Security in a Changing World which was published in December 2003. Although wide ranging highlights include:
*Reduction in Regular Army personnel from 108,500 to 102,000
*Purchase of the four leased C-17s and one additional aircraft
*Confirmation of two major defence procurement projects, the Typhoon and Future Carrier (CVF)
*Withdrawal of three Type 42 destroyers and three Type 23 frigates
*Reduction in numbers of the Tornado F3
*Withdrawal of entire SEPECAT Jaguar force by 2007 and closure of its base RAF Coltishall

Publications

* The Royal Navy Handbook: Ministry of Defence by Alan West, foreword by Geoff Hoon, 2003, Conway Maritime, ISBN 0851779522

External links

*GeoffhoonMP.co.uk Official Site
*ePolitix - Geoff Hoon
*Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Geoff Hoon MP
*TheyWorkForYou.com - Geoff Hoon MP
*Witnesses: Geoff Hoon in the Hutton Inquiry includes testimony transcripts, from The Guardian
*British Army view of Geoff Hoon
*Mr Hoon's Site at Labour Party