Eric Joyce

For other people named Eric Joyce, see Eric Joyce (disambiguation).

Eric Joyce MP
Member of Parliament for Falkirk Falkirk West (2000–05)
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 December 2000
Preceded by	Dennis Canavan
Majority	7,843 (15.4%)
Personal details
Born	Eric Stuart Joyce 13 October 1960 (1960-10-13) Perth, Perthshire, Scotland
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour (suspended pending investigation)
Spouse(s)	Separated from Rosemary Joyce (previously married to Christina Guest)[citation needed]
Alma mater	University of Stirling
Website	http://www.ericjoyce.co.uk/

Eric Stuart Joyce (born 13 October 1960) is a politician, currently suspended from the British Labour Party, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Falkirk since 2005. Joyce served as a private in the Black Watch before attending University and subsequently receiving a commission in the Royal Army Education Corps. He left the army in 1999 at the rank of major and served as the Public Affairs Officer at the Commission for Racial Equality (Scotland).

He was elected to parliament in the 2000 Falkirk West by-election, retaining his seat in the 2001 general election, and elected to the enlarged Falkirk constituency in the 2005 general election. From 2003, Joyce served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to a number of UK government ministers. He resigned as the PPS to Bob Ainsworth on 3 September 2009 citing concerns over the war in Afghanistan.

Early life and education

Joyce lived in Perth with his family for most of his infant and teenage years.

Joyce joined the Army in 1978, initially as a private in the Black Watch before taking a sabbatical between 1981 and 1987 to attend technical college and university where he gained a BA (Hons) in religious studies from University of Stirling. As a university candidate Joyce was made a probationary second lieutenant on 25 August 1987. In 1987 he attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst before being commissioned into the Royal Army Educational Corps (later Adjutant General's Corps) as a subaltern with seniority to the 7 October 1981. After receiving his commission he continued his studies part-time and acquired an MA in Education from the University of Bath and an MBA from Keele University. During his time in the army he served in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Germany and Central America. He was promoted to captain on 25 January 1990 and to major in 1992. He left the army in 1999, amid controversy after describing the armed forces as "racist, sexist and discriminatory," before going on to serve as the Public Affairs Officer at the Commission for Racial Equality (Scotland).

Political career

He was first elected to parliament in the 2000 Falkirk West by-election, which was prompted by the resignation of Dennis Canavan. On election he served as a member of the Scottish Affairs and the Procedures Select Committees at Westminster. Joyce retained his seat in the 2001 general election, and was elected to the enlarged Falkirk constituency in the 2005 general election. At each general election, Joyce has increased his majority, although his percentage share of the public vote fell at the 2005 election.

From 2003 Joyce served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to a number of British Government ministers. He resigned as the Parliamentary Aide to Bob Ainsworth on 3 September 2009 citing concerns over the war in Afghanistan. He had previously been PPS to John Hutton during three of Hutton's cabinet posts: when he was the Secretary of State for Defence; Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Prior to that, Joyce served as the parliamentary aide to ministers Mike O'Brien MP, when O'Brien was the Minister for Energy at the Department of Trade and Industry and Margaret Hodge MP, Minister for Industry and the Regions at the Department of Trade and Industry.

Joyce has persuaded the Treasury to change the child benefit regulations to remove a discrepancy that disadvantaged young Scottish FE students relative to their peers in the rest of the UK. In April 2008 Joyce became the first European parliamentarian to be granted an opportunity to address the newly-formed Parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, when he visited the DRC as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on the Great Lakes Region of Africa with other members of the group. In September 2008, Joyce was criticised by local government councillors for describing the name of the new Clackmannanshire Bridge as "unimaginative" and "parochial". The naming of the bridge was reported as a contentious matter. In September 2008 Joyce was banned from driving for six months after clocking up 12 points on his driving licence.

He is also the author of the Fabian pamphlet titled Arms and the Man: renewing the armed services, edited Now's the Hour!: new thinking for Holyrood and has served as Chair of the National Executive of the Fabian Society.

In September 2011 he contributed to the book What next for Labour? Ideas for a new Generation, his piece was entitled It's a Sin.

Parliamentary record

Joyce most often puts his questions in the House of Commons chamber to the Scotland Office, Department for International Development, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Northern Ireland Office, and Ministry of Defence. While a Parliamentary Private Secretary Joyce was expected to vote with the Government, but even when not, he has not broken the Labour whip in Parliament. Joyce is not currently a member of any Parliamentary Select Committees but has been a member of several public bill committees.

Joyce, along with fellow MPs Tom Harris and Jo Swinson, regularly uses the social networking tool Twitter during Parliamentary business including the Prime Minister's Questions to encourage constituents to feel involved with parliamentary proceedings. Despite such activities being permitted under parliamentary rules, the MPs in question have received criticism from some sections of the media for what is perceived to be a lack of participation in the parliamentary proceedings while they are using the social networking tools. Joyce is an advocate of new media in politics. He regularly blogs on current issues concerning House of Commons and the Government in WordPress. He regularly communicates with the public on Twitter and his blog.

Expenses claims

Joyce was the top-claiming Member of the House of Commons for the 2005–06 Parliamentary Session, claiming £174,811 in expenses, of which 62% was for staff and office costs. After the 2005–06 Parliamentary Session, he made a public pledge to cut his expenses. Subsequently, during the 2006–07 Parliamentary Session, he moved down to 11th on the list of MPs' expenses and allowances. However, he once again rose to the top of the expenses list for the 2007–08 Parliamentary Session with £187,334.

Joyce was the first MP to claim more than £1 million cumulatively in expenses. In October 2007 Joyce claimed £180 for three oil paintings. When asked why he had used taxpayers' funds in such a way he replied "because they look nice." In May 2009, tabloids reported Joyce was seeking advice from HM Revenue and Customs regarding £40,000 in unpaid capital gains tax on the sale of his London home, which he had designated as his second home under the Second Homes Allowance scheme. The house had been bought in September, 2001 for £249,950 and was sold in August, 2007 for £383,000. When asked what he would do were he asked to repay the money, Joyce stated he would "suck it and see."

Drink driving

On 18 November 2010 Joyce was arrested for failing to provide a breath test following a motoring incident in Falkirk. He pleaded guilty in court the following day and was fined £400 and banned from driving for a year. Joyce resigned from his position as Shadow Northern Ireland Minister and apologised for his behaviour.

Allegations of assault

Joyce was arrested at 22:50 on 22 February 2012 in Parliament by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of committing assault. He was described as having gone 'berserk', hitting 'at least three MPs, including a Labour whip'. According to reports, he hit Labour Assistant Whip Phil Wilson. The disturbance is reported to have occurred at the Strangers' Bar (reserved for MPs and their guests). He is said to have headbutted the Conservative MP for Pudsey, Stuart Andrew. He has been suspended from the Labour Party pending investigation.

On 23 February he was charged with three counts of common assault and released on bail, due to appear in court in two weeks time.

External links

• Eric Joyce on Twitter
• Eric Joyce MP on Ask Aristotle from The Guardian
• Falkirk survey Survey carried out by Eric Joyce that covered 1/5 of the households in his constituency

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Dennis Canavan	Member of Parliament for Falkirk West 2000–2005	Abolished
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Falkirk 2005–present	Incumbent