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Kit Malthouse

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Kit Malthouse
Minister of State for Housing and Planning
Assumed office
9 July 2018
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byDominic Raab
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Family Support, Housing and Child Maintenance
In office
9 January 2018 – 9 July 2018
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byCaroline Dinenage
Succeeded byJustin Tomlinson
Member of Parliament
for North West Hampshire
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded bySir George Young, Bt
Majority22,679 (38.6%)
Member of the London Assembly
for West Central
In office
1 May 2008 – 5 May 2016
Preceded byAngie Bray
Succeeded byTony Devenish
Majority29,131 (38.6%)
Personal details
Born
Christopher Laurie Malthouse

(1966-10-27) 27 October 1966 (age 58)
Aigburth, Liverpool, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
(m. 2007)
Children3
Alma materNewcastle University
WebsiteOfficial website

Christopher Laurie Malthouse (born 27 October 1966) is an English Conservative Party politician, businessman and occasional writer. He was elected in the May 2015 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Hampshire. A former Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Enterprise, a member of the London Assembly representing the West Central constituency, which encompasses the City of Westminster, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

He was formerly Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority and the first Statutory Deputy Mayor for Policing, and a former city councillor and Deputy Leader of Westminster City Council, London. Following the 2018 Cabinet reshuffle, Malthouse was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions. In July 2018, he was appointed Minister of State for Housing, at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Early life

Malthouse was born in the Aigburth area of Liverpool, and educated at Sudley County Primary and Liverpool College. He studied Politics and Economics at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Business career

Malthouse trained to be a chartered accountant at Touche Ross & Company (now Deloitte), qualifying in 2004. He then left and worked as Finance Director of the Cannock Group. He led the management buyout of the part of that group called County Holdings and is now chairman of the company.

Westminster Council, 1998–2006

Malthouse's first run for office was to represent the constituency of Liverpool Wavertree in the 1997 general election. The seat, which had been recreated after being abolished following the 1979 general election, was easily won by Labour candidate Jane Kennedy, who took 29,592 votes (64.4%). Malthouse came third with 4,944 votes (10.8%), behind Liberal Democrat candidate Richard C. Kemp.

Malthouse was elected to Westminster council in May 1998, representing St George's ward in the Pimlico area of central London. Following boundary changes, he was re-elected in May 2002 for Warwick ward, which is also in Pimlico.

Malthouse was appointed as Chief Whip of the Conservative Group, and following a change of leader to Sir Simon Milton, he was appointed Chairman of the Social Services Committee. Two years later, he was elected Deputy Leader of the Council and became Cabinet Member for Finance.

He retired from Westminster City Council at the May 2006 local elections.[1]

Census methodology

Malthouse challenged the results of the 2001 population census, which he said seriously underestimated the population of the City of Westminster. Following a two-year battle with the Office for National Statistics, the City of Westminster population was revised upwards by 10%. and a review of future census methodology was commissioned.[2]

Congestion charging

Malthouse argued against the introduction of the London congestion charge, opposing it on the grounds that the idea should not be first introduced in the most populous city in England,[3] and that London was already one of the most expensive cities to live in.[4] He also suggested that the purpose of the scheme was to address Transport for London's budgetary shortfall.[5]

Shirley Porter

As Deputy Leader of Westminster Council, Malthouse was responsible for agreeing to a £12.3 million settlement with Shirley Porter over the £27 million surcharge, eventually raising to £42 million in costs and interest, imposed on her as a result of the Homes for Votes gerrymandering fraud scandal.[6]

London Assembly, 2008–12

On 26 March 2007, he was selected as the Conservative candidate for the London Assembly seat of West Central. The Assembly elections took place on 1 May 2008, and Malthouse received 53% of the vote. He was appointed Deputy Mayor for Policing two days later.[7]

Deputy Mayor for Policing 2008–12

Malthouse was appointed Deputy Mayor of London, Policing by London Mayor Boris Johnson with effect from 6 May 2008.[8] In October 2008 he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority by Johnson.

Malthouse was a member of the board of the Association of Police Authorities, and the London Regional Resilience Forum. He also sits on the Ministerial Steering Group of the London Criminal Justice Partnership.

In October 2009 Malthouse was involved in the events leading to the resignation of Sir Ian Blair [citation needed], then Metropolitan Police Commissioner. During his first few months in office he was also responsible for a wholesale change of the members of the Police Authority and a restructure of the organisation. [citation needed] Malthouse has introduced Met Forward, the Authority’s strategic mission for London’s police.[9] Alongside the Mayor of London and the then Deputy Commissioner of Metropolitan Police, Malthouse released ‘Time for Action’ on 3 November 2008 in response to escalating concerns about youth violence in London.[10]

Phone hacking

In early 2012, Malthouse was urged to resign for reportedly saying too many police resources were allocated to the investigation into press phone hacking.[11][12][13][14]

Dangerous dogs

Malthouse has campaigned against dangerous dogs across London.[15] He hosted a citywide summit in November 2009 to raise the profile of weapons and dangerous dogs as a serious issue in London. [citation needed] He has also campaigned for changes to the dangerous dogs legislation to introduce tougher punishments and is working with the CPS to reduce the long delays in the court process to reduce the kenneling costs.[16]

Violence against women

Malthouse continues to campaign against the presence of prostitution cards in telephone kiosks across London. He has also devised the 2010 program 'The Way Forward – a plan for London to tackle violence against women and girls'.[17] One of the key goals of The Way Forward is to quadruple Rape Crisis provision in the capital. [citation needed]

Hunting foxes with dogs

While Deputy Mayor of London, Malthouse expressed concerns about the growing numbers of foxes and claimed: "People are afraid to let their small children play outside because of them. They are more and more worried about the number of foxes as numbers continue to grow."[18] Following his election to Parliament, he stated that he would vote to repeal the Hunting Act 2004, which bans the hunting of foxes with dogs.[19]

Deputy Mayor for Business and Enterprise 2012–15

In May 2012 Malthouse was appointed as London's first Deputy Mayor for Business & Enterprise, with the task of increasing the number of Londoners in employment, and leading economic and business policy for City Hall. Malthouse was also appointed co-chair of the London Enterprise Partnership. [citation needed]

Malthouse is a board member of TheCityUK and HyER, the European Association for Hydrogen and fuel cells and Electro-mobility, and Chair of Hydrogen London. Malthouse is also a board member of London & Partners, the promotional body for the capital.

Member of Parliament for North West Hampshire since 2015

On 4 July 2014 it was announced that Malthouse would be selected as the Conservative candidate in the 2015 general election for the North West Hampshire constituency.[20] The seat had been occupied by Sir George Young since 1997. Sir George announced in 2013 that he would retire in 2015.[21] In March 2015 Malthouse resigned his position as Deputy Mayor to concentrate on his parliamentary campaign. He won his seat in North West Hampshire with a majority of 23,943, becoming the third MP in the constituency.

In March 2016, Malthouse was asked by Andover's MS Society to step down from his role as a patron. The charity felt he was no longer suitable for the role as he had recently voted to cut ESA to the same level as JSA for those in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG).[22]

References

  1. ^ "Westminster City Council: Candidates 2006". David Boothroyd. 2006. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
  2. ^ Briscoe, Simon (9 July 2004). "Population update ends census error". Financial Times. p. 5.
  3. ^ Marston, Paul (1 August 2002). "Bid to block road toll fails". The Daily Telegraph. p. 2.
  4. ^ "Britain: A shoo-in". The Economist. 362 (8261): 33. 2002.
  5. ^ Nixson, Matt (15 March 2003). "Thousands more drivers face Red Ken's road tolls". Mail on Sunday. p. 22.
  6. ^ Blitz, Roger (6 July 2004). "Shirley Porter pays Pounds 12m settlement". Financial Times. p. 4.
  7. ^ "Kit Malthouse". Kit Malthouse. 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
  8. ^ "Boris Johnson announces further senior appointments to his administration". london.gov.uk. 6 May 2008. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ [1] Archived 5 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "Mayor of London – Time for Action". Static.london.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ BBC News; Kit Malthouse 'should resign over phone-hacking comments' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17261391
  12. ^ Hughes, Mark (6 March 2012). "Deputy mayor Kit Malthouse questioned hacking investigation". London: Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  13. ^ "Boris Johnson deputy questioned Met on 'resources' for phone hacking probe". YouTube.com. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  14. ^ Lisa O'Carroll. "Boris Johnson's deputy complained 'several times' about hacking inquiry | Media". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  15. ^ Malthouse, Kit (2 November 2009). "Muzzles are not enough dogs are weapons". The Times. London.
  16. ^ "Dangerous dog seizures 'may rise'". BBC News. 2 June 2009.
  17. ^ Whalley, Kirsty. "London Mayor's office pledges support for Newsquest's sex ads ban (From This Is Local London)". Thisislocallondon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ Hewitt, David (28 July 2012). "London battles its urban fox problem". Toronto Star. Toronto. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  19. ^ Gregory, Chris (25 June 2015). "Basingstoke MP Maria Miller backs fox hunting ban repeal". Basingstoke Gazette. Basingstoke. Retrieved 22 July 2015. Mr Malthouse's office said he would vote to repeal the act, but did not provide a reason.
  20. ^ "Kit Malthouse selected as North West Hampshire PPC | North West Hampshire". Nwh-tories.co.uk. 4 July 2014. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ "Chief whip Sir George Young to retire as MP in 2015 – BBC News". Bbc.co.uk. 1 December 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  22. ^ Watt, Nicholas; Mason, Rowena; Gani, Aisha (18 March 2016). "Disability benefit cuts not acceptable, Conservative rebels tell Osborne". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for North West Hampshire

2015–present
Incumbent