Martin Callanan, Baron Callanan

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This article is about the British Conservative Party politician. For details of Ireland's former Garda Commissioner, see Martin Callinan. For the British artist, see Martin John Callanan.

The Right Honourable
The Lord Callanan
Official portrait of Lord Callanan crop 2.jpg
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Corporate Responsibility
Assumed office
14 February 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byThe Lord Duncan of Springbank
Minister of State for Exiting the European Union
In office
27 October 2017 – 31 January 2020
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Boris Johnson
Preceded byThe Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Succeeded byDepartment abolished
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
In office
14 June 2017 – 27 October 2017
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byThe Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Succeeded byThe Baroness Sugg
Chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists
In office
11 December 2011 – 12 June 2014
Preceded byJan Zahradil
Succeeded bySyed Kamall
Leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament
In office
23 November 2010 – 1 March 2012
Preceded byTimothy Kirkhope
Succeeded byRichard Ashworth
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
6 November 2014
Life Peerage
Member of the European Parliament
for North East England
In office
10 June 1999 – 2 July 2014
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byJonathan Arnott
Personal details
Born (1961-08-08) 8 August 1961 (age 60)
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
Political partyConservative
Alma materNewcastle Polytechnic

Martin John Callanan, Baron Callanan (born 8 August 1961) is a British Conservative Party politician and UK government minister. He was Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North East England from 1999 to 2014 and Chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists group from 2011 to 2014.[1] Callanan failed his bid to win re-election in the 2014 European Parliament elections, becoming the first sitting chairman of a European parliamentary group to lose his seat.[2] On 8 August 2014, it was announced that he would be made a Conservative life peer in the House of Lords.[3]

Following the 2017 general election, Lord Callanan was appointed as a Government Minister and Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Transport.[4] In October the same year, he was then made Minister of State in the Department for Exiting the European Union.[4]

Early life[]

Callanan was born on 8 August 1961 in Gateshead. In 1985,[5] he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree (BSc) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Newcastle Polytechnic.[6] He worked as an engineer at Scottish and Newcastle breweries from 1986 to 1998.[7]

Political career[]

Local Councillor[]

Callanan was a Conservative Councillor on Tyne and Wear County Council between 1983 and 1986 (when the council was abolished) and Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council between 1987 and 1996, for the Low Fell ward. He worked as a project engineer at Scottish and Newcastle breweries from 1986 to 1998, when he was elected to the European Parliament.[5]

He unsuccessfully stood as a parliamentary candidate for Washington (in the 1987 election), Gateshead East (in the 1992 election), and Tynemouth (in the 1997 election).[8]

Member of European Parliament[]

He was a Member of the European Parliament for the North East England constituency from 1999, re-elected in 2004 and 2009.[9] In December 2011, he became the leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the Parliament; as a leader of a parliamentary group, he had a seat in the political leadership of the European Parliament, the Conference of Presidents.[10]

He was a member of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, and of the European Parliament's committee on the environment, public health and food safety (ENVI).[10] Callanan was a regular contributor to ConservativeHome, writing a monthly report.[11]

Callanan failed to win re-election in the 2014 European Parliament elections, becoming the first sitting chairman of a European parliamentary group to lose his seat.[2]

Peer and government minister[]

Callanan was created a Life Peer on 24 September 2014, taking the title Baron Callanan, of Low Fell in the County of Tyne and Wear.[12]

Following the 2017 general election, Lord Callanan was appointed as a Government Minister and Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Transport.[4] In this role he introduced the Space Industry Bill.[13]

In October 2017 he was made Minister of State in the Department for Exiting the European Union.[4] The following month he was obliged to apologise for incorrectly stating in the Lords that the Supreme Court had ruled Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union was irreversible.[14]

Personal life[]

Callanan opposed the erection of the "Angel of the North" sculpture by Antony Gormley.[15] He has a wife, Jayne and a son, Joe.

References[]

  1. ^ "Conservative MEPs elect new Chairman". Conservative Party. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  2. ^ a b "ECR leader out of Parliament". EUObserver. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Michael Cashman becomes lord". European Voice. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d "Lord Callanan". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Martin CALLANAN". MEP Biographies. European Parliament. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Profile at martincallanan.com".
  7. ^ "Lord Callanan". UK Government. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Martin Callanan MEP at conservatives.com". Archived from the original on 3 August 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
  9. ^ "European Election 2009: North East". BBC News. 7 June 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  10. ^ a b "Martin CALLANAN – History of parliamentary service – MEPs – European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  11. ^ "Martin Callanan MEP". Conservative Home.
  12. ^ "No. 61002". The London Gazette. 30 September 2014. p. 18966.
  13. ^ "Introduction of Space Industry Bill shows UK's commitment to commercial spaceflight". www.gov.uk. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  14. ^ "Brexit minister apologises for incorrectly saying Supreme Court had ruled Article 50 was irreversible", The Independent, 21 November 2017
  15. ^ "Why the nation needs an Angel of the South", The Guardian, 29 January 2008

External links[]

European Parliament
Constituency established Member of the European Parliament
for North East England
1999–2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament
2010–2012 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists
2011–2014 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of State for Exiting the European Union
2017–2020 		Department abolished
Preceded by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Climate Change
2020–present 		Incumbent
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by
The Lord Cashman
 Gentlemen
Baron Callanan 		Followed by
The Lord Green of Deddington
Retrieved from ""