The Resume

(April 13, 1953- )
Born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
Member of Parliament for Wallsend (1992-97) and North Tyneside (1997-2010)
Minister of State for Schools (2007-08)
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1998-2000)
Secretary of State for Transportation, Local Government and the Regions (2001-02)

Why he might be annoying:

While promoting government plans to improve math education in schools, he was asked in a radio interview to multiply 8 by 7 and answered 54 (1998).
He was one of many MPs accused of abusing expense claims for second houses, having charged over £125,000 in expenses for a London flat owned by his partner (2003).
He told undercover reporters posing as lobbyists for a foreign company that he was 'a cab for hire' and offered to use his political connections on their behalf for payments of £3,000 to £5,000 per day (2010).
He claimed to have been previously hired by the grocery chain Tesco and had convinced trade commissioner Peter Mandelson to kill some 'massively bureaucratic' food labelling requirements.
The Standards and Privileges Committee revoked his Parliamentary pass for two years.

Why he might not be annoying:

In fairness, he did demonstrate why improved math education was needed.
A protestor of the MP expenses scandal sprayed him with a blue energy drink (2003).
Both Tesco and Mandelson denied that he had ever intervened on the company's behalf.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 100 Worst Britons [Channel 4 Britain - May 10, 2003] (Ranked: 59)
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 86]
• Profiles 53751-54000 (Ranked: 53778)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying