A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members, such as "senators".

Members of parliament tend to form parliamentary groups (also called parliamentary parties) with members of the same political party. In everyday use, the term Member of Parliament is almost always shortened to the initialism "MP", and this is also common in the media.

Westminster system[link]

Australia[link]

In Australia, the term "MP" refers to a Member of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Commonwealth (i.e. federal) parliament. Members may use "MP" after their names; "MHR" is not used, although it was used as a post-nominal in the past. A member of the upper house of the Commonwealth parliament, the Senate, is known as a "Senator".

In the Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria, a Member of the Legislative Assembly (lower house) may also use the post-nominal "MP". Members of the Legislative Council (upper house) use the post-nominal "MLC".

Bangladesh[link]

In Bangladesh members of the Jatiyo Sangshad, or National Assembly, are elected every five years and are referred to in English as Members of Parliament. The assembly has 345 seats, including 45 reserved for women.

List of 9th Parliament Members: http://www.parliament.gov.bd/MP%20List%20Partywise_9th%20Edition.pdf

List of 8th Parliament Members: http://www.parliament.gov.bd/M_P%20List-300.pdf

Canada[link]

In Canada, the Parliament of Canada consists of the upper house, the Senate of Canada, and the lower house, the Canadian House of Commons. Theoretically, members of both houses could be termed as "Member of Parliament"; however, in practice, only members of the lower house are referred to as Members of Parliament (French: député), while members of the upper house are called Senators (French: sénateur).^[1] There are 105 seats in the Senate and 308 in the House of Commons; this will increase to 338 in the next election scheduled for 2015.^[2] Members of the lower house are elected, while members of the Senate are appointed by the governor-general at the direction of the prime minister. Mandatory retirement for Senators is at age 75.

Each province has its own unicameral legislature, with each member usually known as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), although in certain provinces they carry other titles: Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in Ontario; Member of the National Assembly (MNA) in Quebec (French: député); or Member of the House of Assembly (MHA) in Newfoundland and Labrador.

India[link]

In India, the term Member of Parliament refers to all the members of the Sansad, the Indian Parliament, whether in the Lok Sabha or in the Rajya Sabha.

The members of the Lok Sabha are elected popularly by constituencies in each of the Indian states and Union territories, while members of the Rajya Sabha are elected indirectly by the State legislatures. Each state is allocated a fixed number of representatives in each chamber, in order of their respective population. The state of Uttar Pradesh has the greatest number of representatives in both the houses. Some members are appointed to represent the Anglo-Indian community by the President of India. The political party with the highest representation in the Lok Sabha shall form the Government. In case, any political party fails to form a government, a Coalition Government is formed.

Ireland[link]

In Ireland, the term Member of Parliament can refer to the members of the pre-1801 Irish House of Commons of the Parliament of Ireland. It can also refer to Irish members elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1801 to 1922.

Northern Ireland continues to elect MPs to the modern Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Following the formation of the independent Irish Free State in 1922, members of the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament), Dáil Éireann (or "the Dáil") are termed Teachtaí Dála (Teachta Dála singular) or TDs. The upper house is called Seanad Éireann and its members are called Senators.

Kenya[link]

The National Assembly of Kenya consists of 210 elected members and twelve who are nominated, all being called Members of Parliament.^[3]

Malaysia[link]

The Malaysian Parliament is modelled after the Parliament of the United Kingdom and consists of two houses, known as the Dewan Rakyat, which is the House of Representatives, and Dewan Negara, the Senate.

The members of the Dewan Rakyat are elected in general elections or by-elections, whereas the members of the Dewan Negara are either appointed by the king, in recognition of outstanding service to their country or chosen by the states. Each state appoints a number of senators proportional to its size.

Members of Parliament are styled Yang Berhormat ("Honourable") with the initials Y.B. appended prenominally. A prince who is a Member of Parliament is styled Yang Berhormat Mulia.

Malta[link]

The Parliament of Malta consists of the President of Malta and the House of Representatives currently made up of 69 members (article 51 of the Constitution). Only these members of the House are referred to as "Members of Parliament" (article 52(1) of the Constitution). When appointed from outside the House, the Speaker is also considered a member of the Parliament. The Constitution lists the qualifications and disqualifications from serving as a Member of Parliament.^[4]

Privileges of Members of Parliament as well as their Code of Ethics are laid out in the House of Representatives (Privileges and Powers) Ordinance.^[5]

Nauru[link]

The Parliament of Nauru consists of 18 seats. Members of Parliament are entitled to use the prefix The Honourable.

New Zealand[link]

The Parliament of New Zealand is formally made up of the monarch and the unicameral House of Representatives. Member of Parliament is now the term for a member of the House of Representatives, which normally has 120 members, elected at a general election every three years. There are 69 constituency members, seven of whom are elected by the Māori who have chosen to vote in special Māori seats, while the remaining 51 members are elected by proportional representation from party lists.

Before 1951, New Zealand had a bicameral (or two-chamber) parliament. Members of the Legislative Council, abbreviated MLC, were appointed. Members of the lower house, the body which still exists today, have always been elected. Since 1907, elected members have been referred to as 'Members of Parliament', abbreviated MP. Since the 1860s until 1907, they were designated as Members of the House of Representatives, abbreviated MHR. Between 1853 (the year of the first general election) and the 1860s, the designation was Members of the General Assembly, abbreviated MGA.^[6]

Pakistan[link]

In Pakistan, Member of Parliament refers to a member of Parliament (National Assembly of Pakistan, Qaumi Assembly). The National Assembly is based in Islamabad.

Singapore[link]

In Singapore, Members of Parliament refers to elected members of the Parliament of Singapore, the appointed Non-Constituency Members of Parliament from the opposition, as well as the Nominated Members of Parliament, who may be appointed from members of the public who have no connection to any political party in Singapore.

Sri Lanka[link]

In Sri Lanka, Member of Parliament refers to a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka (since 1978), the National State Assembly (1972–78) and the House of Representatives of Ceylon (1947–72), the lower house of the Parliament of Ceylon.

United Kingdom[link]

The United Kingdom contains members of three different parliaments:

• the Parliament of the United Kingdom, in which only members elected at irregular intervals to the (lower) House of Commons are referred to as Members of Parliament, abbreviated to MP(s)
• the European Parliament, in which members representing the whole of the UK are elected every five years and are called Members of the European Parliament (MEPs)
• the Scottish Parliament, in which members representing the whole of Scotland are elected every four years and are called Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)
• the present Northern Ireland Assembly's members are known as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).Between 1921 and 1973, Northern Ireland was governed by the Parliament of Northern Ireland, a devolved assembly whose members were known as Members of Parliament.
• the National Assembly for Wales consists of sixty elected members, but it is not called a parliament, its members instead being referred to in English as Assembly Members (AMs) or in Welsh as Aelod y Cynulliad (AC).^[7]

Members of the House of Commons are elected in general elections and by-elections to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system of election, and may remain Members until Parliament is dissolved, which must occur within five years of the last general election, as laid down in the Parliament Act 1911.

A candidate to become a Member of Parliament must be a British or Irish or Commonwealth citizen, must be over 18, and must not be a public official or officeholder, as set out in the schedule to the Electoral Administration Act 2006^[8] (this was a reduction in the lower age limit, as candidates needed to be 21 until the law came into effect in 2006).

Members of Parliament are technically forbidden to resign their seats (though they are not forbidden from refusing to seek re-election). To leave the house between elections voluntarily, a Member of Parliament must accept a "paid office under the Crown". Two nominally paid offices under the Crown – the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds and the Manor of Northstead – exist to allow members to apply for a paid office under the Crown and thereby to achieve a resignation from the House. Accepting a salaried Ministerial office does not amount to a paid office under the Crown for these purposes.^[9]

The basic salary of a member of the House of Commons was increased to £64,766 with effect from 1 April 2009.^[10] Some MPs (ministers, the Speaker, senior opposition leaders etc.) receive a supplementary salary for their specific responsibilities. As of 1 April 2008 these increments range from £14,039 for Select Committee Chairs to £130,959 for the Prime Minister. Members also receive expenses, including paying for buying and furnishing accommodation required when away from their main homes.^[11] The pension arrangements of UK MPs are equally generous. The Member will normally receive a pension of either 1/40th or 1/50th of their final pensionable salary for each year of pensionable service depending on the contribution rate they will have chosen. Members who make contributions of 10% of their salary gain an accrual rate of 1/40th.^[12] An MP who has served 26 years and retiring today could look forward to receiving an annual inflation-proof payout of £40,000 from their pension. State contributions for British Members of Parliament are more than four times higher than the average paid out by companies for final-salary schemes, although they are not significantly more generous than most public sector pensions.^[13]

Members of the House of Lords, however their membership comes about, are members of a legislative chamber which is part of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Although technically they are part of the parliament, they are never referred to in the United Kingdom as members of parliament but as peers, or more formally as Lords of Parliament. They sit either for life, in the case of the Lords Temporal, or so long as they continue to occupy their ecclesiastical positions in the case of the Lords Spiritual. Hereditary peers may no longer pass on a seat in the House of Lords to their heir automatically. The ninety-two who remain have been elected from among their own number, following the House of Lords Act 1999 and, paradoxically, are the only elected members of the Lords.^[14]

Zimbabwe[link]

In Zimbabwe, the title "Member of Parliament" is used by members of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe. Members of the upper house of Parliament are instead referred to as Senators.

Other systems[link]

Member of Parliament can be used to translate the term used to describe representatives in other parliamentary democracies that do not follow the Westminster system, who are usually referred to in a different fashion such as Deputé in France, Diputado, Deputado in Portugal and Brazil, Mitglied des Bundestages (MdB) in Germany. However, better translations are often possible.

Afghanistan[link]

In Afghanistan the term Member of Parliament refers to the members of both chambers of the bicameral National Assembly of Afghanistan, the 249 members of the lower Wolesi Jirga (House of the People) and the 102 members of the upper Mesherano Jirga (House of Elders).

Austria[link]

In Austria, the term Member of Parliament refers to the members of the two chambers of the Parliament of Austria (Chesterfields Parliament). The members of the Nationalrat are called Abgeordnete zum Nationalrat. The members of the Bundesrat, elected by the provincial diets (Landtage) of the nine federal States of Austria, are known as Mitglieder des Bundesrats.

Bulgaria[link]

In Bulgaria there are 240 MPs in the normal parliament and 400 in the "Great Parliament". The Great Parliament is elected when a new constitution is needed. There have been seven Great Parliaments in modern Bulgarian history, in 1879, 1881, 1886, 1893, 1911, 1946 and 1990.

Germany[link]

In Germany, Member of Parliament refers to the elected members of the federal Bundestag Parliament at the Reichstag building in Berlin. In German a member is called Mitglied des Bundestages (Member of the Federal Diet) or officially Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestages (Member of the German Federal Diet), abbreviated MdB.^[15]

The 16 federal States of Germany (Länder) are represented by the Bundesrat at the former Prussian House of Lords, whose members are representatives of the respective Länder's governments and not directly elected by the people. In accordance with article 38 of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, which is the German constitution, "[m]embers of the German Bundestag shall be elected in general, direct, free, equal, and secret elections. They shall be representatives of the whole people, not bound by orders or instructions, and responsible only to their conscience."

Iceland[link]

Israel[link]

In Israel, the term Member of the Knesset (Hebrew: חבר הכנסת‎) refers to one of the 120 Members of the Knesset. The title is almost always shortened to the initialism "MK".

Italy[link]

In the Republican Italian Parliament the current term is Deputato (that is deputy as appointed to act on people's behalf) and so the Lower House takes the name of Camera dei Deputati. Similarly to other countries, the Upper House is called Senato and its members are the Senatori. The Deputati are known by the title onorevole (honorable).

Lebanon[link]

The Parliament of Lebanon is the Lebanese national legislature. It is elected to a four-year term by universal adult suffrage in multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's diverse Christian and Muslim denominations. Its major functions are to elect the President of the Republic, to approve the government (although appointed by the President, the Prime Minister, along with the Cabinet, must retain the confidence of a majority in the Parliament), and to approve laws and expenditure. The name of a deputy in Arabic is Naeb (نائب). The plural of Naeb is Nuwab (نواب).

Republic of Macedonia[link]

In the Republic of Macedonia there are 120 Members of Parliament (Macedonian: Sobranie) which are called 'Pratenici' (singular Pratenik).

The Netherlands[link]

The parliament of the Netherlands is known as the Staten-Generaal, literally States-General. It is bicameral, divided in two Kamers (Chambers). The Senate is known in Dutch as the Eerste Kamer (First Chamber) and its members as "senatoren", senators. The House of Representatives, known in Dutch as the Tweede Kamer (Second Chamber), is the most important one. The important debates take place here. Also, the Second Chamber can edit proposed laws with amendments and it can propose laws itself. The Senate does not have these capabilities. Its function is more a technical reviewing of laws. It can only pass a law or reject it. Both chambers are in The Hague which is the seat of parliament but not the official capital of the Netherlands, which is Amsterdam.

The 150 members of the House of Representatives are elected by general elections every 4 years (unless the government falls). The 75 members of the Senate are elected indirectly. The members of the 12 provincial parliaments elect the senators. The value of a vote of a member of a provincial parliament is relative to the population of the province. Provincial parliaments, the States-Provincial, are elected by general elections every four years.

Norway[link]

In Norway, the term Members of Parliament refers to the elected members of the Norwegian parliament, Stortinget. These members are called stortingsrepresentanter (literal translation: Representatives of the Storting). Since 2009, Norway has had a unicameral parliament, which previously consisted of Odelstinget and Lagtinget, Odelstinget with three quarters, or 127, of the total 169 members, Lagtinget with the remainder. The dividing of the parliament into chambers was only used when dealing with passing regular laws and in cases of prosecution by the national court (riksrett). In other matters, such as passing the national budget or changing the constitution (the latter requiring a majority of two-thirds), the chambers were united.

The members of the present unicameral Parliament of Norway are chosen by popular vote at the beginning of each parliamentary period of four years.

Poland[link]

Portugal[link]

In Portugal a Member of the Portuguese Parliament is known as deputado, a person who is appointed after democratic election to act on people's behalf. The parliament takes the name of Assembleia da República.

Spain[link]

In Spain the word parlamento -of the same origin as Parliament in English- is used as a common name for all legislative assemblies, and hence parlamentario for the member of any of them, which can usually refer:

• To members of both chambers of the national legislature (Cortes Generales), that is the Congress of Deputies and the Senate.
• To members of the regional devolved legislatures of the Autonomous Communities.
• To members of the European Parliament.

Members of the Congress of Deputies, as can be implied from its name, are called diputados (deputies), impliying that they are elected to act in the name and on behalf of the people they represent. It is also usual to mention the members of the European Parliament as eurodiputados.

Sweden[link]

In Sweden, Members of Parliament refers to the elected members of the Parliament of Sweden (Swedish: Sveriges riksdag). In Swedish, an MP is usually referred to as a riksdagsledamot or a riksdagsman (the former is in more common use today, especially in official contexts, due its status as a unisex word, while the latter was used more often historically and literally refers to a male MP exclusively).

The parliament is a unicameral assembly with 349 members who are chosen every four years in general elections. To become an MP, a person must be entitled to vote (i.e. be a Swedish citizen, be at least 18 years old and be or have been resident in Sweden) and must be nominated by a political party.^[16]

The salaries of the MPs are decided by the Riksdag Pay Committee (Riksdagens arvodesnämnd), a government agency under the parliament. Since 1 November 2007, the basic monthly pay of an MP is SEK52,900 (ca. US$8,300). The pay of the Speaker is SEK126,000 a month (ca. US$20,000), which is the same as that of the Prime Minister.^[17] The Deputy Speakers receive an increment of 30 % of the pay of a member. The chairs and deputy chairs of the parliamentary committees receive a similar increment of 20 % and 15 % respectively.^[18]

According to a survey investigation by the sociologist Jenny Hansson,^[19] Swedish national parliamentarians have an average work week of 66 hours, including side responsibilities. Hansson's investigation further reports that the average Swedish national parliamentarian sleeps 6.5 hours per night.

Thailand[link]

In the Kingdom of Thailand, Members of Parliament (สมาชิกสภาผู้แทนราษฎร or ส.ส.) refers to the elected members of the National Assembly of Thailand. Following the military coup d'état on 19 September 2006, all its 500 members are suspended from duty until the next election. The House of Representatives of Thailand was fully reconvened after the general elections under a new constitution. Under the 2007 Constitution there are 500 Members of Parliament, 375 elected from constituencies and the other 125 through party-list.

Turkey[link]

In the Republic of Turkey, the term member of parliament refers to the elected members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, or TGNA (Turkish: Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi, TBMM), which has 550 members elected at a general election for a term of office of four years.

See also[link]

• Deputy (legislator)
• Member of Congress

Footnotes[link]

Scott Simms (born August 12, 1969 in Bishop's Falls, N.L.) is a Canadian politician. He is the Liberal Member of Parliament for the Newfoundland and Labrador riding of Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor.

Early life[link]

Simms graduated from Mount Allison University with a Bachelor in Commerce and Loyalist College in Journalism. Before entering elected politics, Simms worked for The Weather Network, prior to which he had worked as a radio reporter in Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor. He was an active campaigner for the "No" side in the 1995 Quebec referendum.^[1]

Politics[link]

He was elected in the 2004 election and beat out four other candidates, including Conservative incumbent Rex Barnes.^[2] Simms was re-elected on Jan. 23, 2006, beating Conservative candidate Aaron Hynes by approximately 5,000 votes.^[1] On May 2, 2011, Simms was again re-elected, defeating Conservative candidate Aaron Hynes by approximately 9,200 votes, with a total of 17,895 votes in his riding.

He is a member of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage and the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. Since January 18, 2006, he has been the critic for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. He was the critic for the Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency from February 23, 2006 until January 17, 2007.^[3]

Scott Simms is also now known by a number of people who live on the west coast of Ireland following the epic voyage of one of his election posters across the Atlantic Ocean to Keem Bay in the village of Dooagh on Achill Island, County Mayo. The story was published by a local news paper called The Mayo News after a lifeguard at the beach, Conal Dixon, found the poster washed up on the sand.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Scott Simms - Parliament of Canada biography

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Altaf Hussain الطاف حسین
Personal details
Born	(1953-09-17) 17 September 1953 (age 58) Karachi, Pakistan
Nationality	United Kingdom
Political party	Mutahidda Qaumi Movement
Spouse(s)	Faiza Altaf (divorced)
Children	Afzaa Altaf
Residence	London, United Kingdom
Alma mater	University of Karachi Islamia Science College (Karachi)
Occupation	Politician
Religion	Islam
Website	www.mqm.org

Altaf Hussain (Urdu: الطاف حسین) (born 17 September 1953 in Karachi) is the founder and leader of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM).^[1] The MQM emerged as the third largest political party in the national assembly of Pakistan during 1988^[2] and 1990^[3] elections. The MQM secured representation in the parliamentary elections held in the northern areas of Pakistan comprising Kashmir^[4] & Gilgit-Baltistan.^[5] Since 1992 he has lived in the United Kingdom in self exile after surviving an assassination attempt in Pakistan.^[6]

Background[link]

Altaf Hussain was born to Nazir Hussain and Khursheed Begum on 17 September 1953 in Karachi.His parents belonged to religious families from Agra, India. After the formation of Pakistan in 1947, his parents migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi.^[7] Hussain’s grand-father, Mufti Mohammad Ramazan, was Grand Mufti of the town of Agra, UP, India and his maternal grand-father Haji Hafiz Raheem Bhux was a reputed religious scholar in India.^[8]

Education[link]

Altaf Hussain got his early education from Govt Comprehensive School, Azizabad No. 8 Karachi. He then completed his matriculation in 1969 from Government Boys Secondary School. He attended National College Karachi during First Year of his Intermediate Education (Pre-Medical/Science) but switched to City College Karachi during Second Year of Intermediate from where he completed Intermediate.After that he went on to complete his Bachelors of Science from Islamia Science College (Karachi) in 1974^[9] apart from completing his Bachelor of Pharmacy by 1979 from the University of Karachi. After completion of his Bachelor of Pharmacy he later enrolled for his Master’s degree.^[9]

Early career[link]

Hussain began his career as a trainee at Karachi’s Seventh Day Advent Hospital. At the same time, he also worked for a multi-national pharmaceutical company.^[10] Between 1970 and 1971, Hussain joined the National Service Cadet Scheme. Soon afterwards, he also joined the Baloch Regiment of Pakistan Army.^[10]

Political Involvement[link]

Altaf Hussain was politically active from a very young age. While attending Karachi University, on 11 June 978, Hussain founded the “All Pakistan Mohajir Student Organization” APMSO. This day is celebrated as APMSO foundation day. The APMSO was formed as a student rights group campaigning for the rights of Muhajir students at Karachi University. It later gave birth to the Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) on 18 March 1984, which afterward transformed into Muttahida Qaumi Movement on 26 June 1997.^[11] Before creating the APMSO, Hussain served as General Secretary and later as President of the National Student’s Action Committee at Karachi University.^[11]

The Pakistani government launched Operation Clean-up in 1992 and sent the military into Karachi to crack down on the MQM. Hussain escaped Karachi one month before the operation began because of an attack on his life on 21 December 1991.^[12] Hussain fled to London and applied for political asylum.^[13]

Assassination Attempt[link]

Altaf Hussain returned to Pakistan on 21 December 1991 after a short visit to London. He left Karachi International Airport for his hometown, Azizabad. He was intercepted by armed terrorists near Ayesha Manzil,F.B Area Karachi. The terrorists attacked his car with a hand grenade but the grenade exploded in the terrorist's hand and he died on the spot. The other terrorist was killed by counter attack from the police.^[7]

Arrests and Imprisonments[link]

First Arrest[link]

During his political struggle, Altaf Hussain was arrested and imprisoned thrice. He was first arrested on 14 August 1979 when he was attending a peaceful demonstration at Mazar-e-Quaid, Karachi for the return of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh. On 2 October 1979, he was sentenced to 9 months imprisonment and flogging five times. According to MQM sources, he was offered several deals by the then government officials but he refused any deal and became free only after fully completing his sentence on 28 April 1980.^[14]

Second Arrest[link]

Altaf Hussain was arrested the second time when he was returning after his historic address at Pakka Qila, Hyderabad on 31 October 1986 and was implicated in several criminal cases. His arrest enraged the people of Sindh, especially Karachi and they launched public movements for his freedom. Once again, the government offered him conditional freedom several times but he plainly refused his freedom without the freedom of his companions. Finally, due to great public pressure, Altaf Hussain and his companions were released from Central Prison Karachi on 24 February 1987 and all the charges placed on him were unconditionally lifted.^[14]

Third Arrest[link]

During 1987, the government began widespread arrests of Mutahidda Qaumi Movement workers all over Sindh. As a result, Altaf Hussain submitted himself to the law enforcement agencies on 30 August 1987 on the condition that the further arrests of his party's workers will be stopped immediately. During his imprisonment, MQM achieved great results in the Local Bodies election of 1987. Once again, government faced widepsread movements by the people for the freedom of Altaf Hussain. On 7 January 1988, Altaf Hussain was released from jail.^[14]

Killing of Brother and Nephew[link]

During October 1993 to November 1996, a large number of MQM's workers and sympathizers were killed without judicial intervention. Among them, Altaf Hussain's 66 years old elder brother Nasir Hussain and 28 years old nephew Arif Hussain were also killed. According to MQM sources, both of them were arrested by the law enforcement agents on 5 December 1995 and were kept in torture cell where they were brutually tortured for 4 days. They were then killed on 9 of December 1995 and their corpses were discovered from Gadap Town, Karachi.^[14]

Ideology/Philosophy[link]

Altaf Hussain believes history has proved the two-nation theory wrong.^[15] He contended that:

Altaf Hussain and his party, MQM, follow the philosophy of Realism and Practicalism.^[17]

Talking about his party MQM, Hussain stated that “We stand for equal rights and opportunities for all irrespective of colour, creed, cast, sect, gender, ethnicity or religion. We strive tirelessly for tolerance, religious or otherwise and oppose fanaticism, terrorism and violence in all their manifestations.”^[18]

In the last few years, Hussain has warned against the growing influence of the Taliban in Karachi. Hussain stated that the “advocates of Jihad, a medieval concept to tame the infidel, are wantonly killing followers of the faith as they level places of worship.”^[18] In 2008, he stated that a “well planned conspiracy to intensify sectarian violence in the city, was being hatched.”^[19][20][21]

Views on Pak-Indo Relations[link]

Hussain has stated on numerous occasions that the

He believes that the partition divided the Muslims of the subcontinent and made them weaker as a result.^[22] Hussain favors peace between India and Pakistan and stated in his 2004 address in India that “India and Pakistan being the two largest in the region, need to demonstrate magnanimity and the necessary political wisdom and desire to truly seek peace. The Confidence Building Measures contemplated to bring the people of both countries closer must be implemented vigorously.”^[18] On the issue of Kashmir, Hussain stated that Indo-Pak dialogue should be allowed to “proceed on the basis of mutual adjustment and agreement…[and] It should be clear to all concerned that there can be no military solution to any of the contentious issues, let alone the issue of Kashmir.”^[18]

National Reconciliation Ordinance[link]

In November 2009, Hussain was a beneficiary when the Government of Pakistan enabled a legal act (in December 2009 it was repealed) called National Reconciliation Ordinance which granted amnesty to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats who were accused of crimes between 1986 and October 1999, the time between two occurrences of Martial law.^[23]

See also[link]

• Farooq Sattar
• Muttahida Qaumi Movement
• Imran Farooq
• Mustafa Kamal
• Babar Khan Ghauri
• Fatima Qazilbash

References[link]

The Right Honourable Alan Milburn
Minister for the Cabinet Office Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office 8 September 2004 – 6 May 2005
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Douglas Alexander
Succeeded by	John Hutton
Secretary of State for Health
In office 11 October 1999 – 13 June 2003
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Frank Dobson
Succeeded by	John Reid
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In office 23 December 1998 – 11 October 1999
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Stephen Byers
Succeeded by	Andrew Smith
Member of Parliament for Darlington
In office 9 April 1992 – 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Michael Fallon
Succeeded by	Jenny Chapman
Personal details
Born	(1958-01-27) 27 January 1958 (age 54) Tow Law, United Kingdom
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	Lancaster University

Alan Milburn (born 27 January 1958) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Darlington from 1992 until 2010. He served for five years in the Cabinet, firstly as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 1998 to 1999, and subsequently as Secretary of State for Health until 2003, when he resigned, citing a lack of balance with his family life, before briefly rejoining it as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in order to manage Labour's 2005 re-election campaign. In June 2009, he told his local party he would not be standing at the 2010 general election, saying "Standing down as an MP will give me the chance to balance my work and my family life with the time to pursue challenges other than politics."^[1]

Early life[link]

Milburn was born in the village of Tow Law in County Durham, England and grew up in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

He was educated at John Marlay School, Newcastle and Stokesley Comprehensive School. He went on to Lancaster University. After leaving university, he returned to Newcastle where, with Martin Spence, he operated a small radical bookshop in the Westgate Road, called Days of Hope (the shop was given the spoonerised nickname Haze of Dope).^[2] From there he worked as a co-ordinator at the Trade Union Studies Information Unit. During this period, he married future Labour MEP Mo O'Toole, but the couple split up in the late 1980s.^[3]

Alan Milburn was Co-ordinator of the Trade Union Studies Information Unit (TUSIU) from the mid-1980s onwards.

From 1988, Milburn co-ordinated a campaign to defend shipbuilding in Sunderland, and was elected as Chairman of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central Constituency Labour Party. In 1990 he was appointed as a Business Development Officer for North Tyneside Borough Council and elected as President of the North East Region of the Manufacturing Science and Finance (MSF) Trade Union. Meanwhile, he won the seat of Darlington in the 1992 general election.

He is a supporter of Newcastle United Football Club.^{[citation needed]}

Member of Parliament[link]

In Parliament, Milburn allied himself with the Blairite modernisers in the Labour Party, becoming close to Tony Blair who sat for the next-door constituency of Sedgefield. This led to his appointment as Minister of State at the Department of Health when Labour came into government in 1997, an important post in which he had responsibility for driving through Private Finance Initiative deals on hospitals. In the reshuffle caused by Peter Mandelson's resignation on 23 December 1998, Milburn was promoted to the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

In government[link]

He became Secretary of State for Health in October 1999, with responsibility for continuing the reduction in waiting times and delivering modernisation in the National Health Service (NHS). The government increased expenditure on the NHS, although the public was sceptical over claims of improved performance.^{[citation needed]} Milburn was thought to be a candidate for promotion within the Government, but on the day of a reshuffle (12 June 2003) he announced his resignation. He cited the difficulties combining family life in North-East England with a demanding job in London as his reason for quitting.^{[citation needed]} While on the backbenches he continued to be a strong supporter of Tony Blair's policies, especially his continued policy of increased private involvement in public service provision. Following his resignation as Secretary of State for Health (to spend more time with his family), Milburn took a post for £30,000 a year as an advisor to Bridgepoint Capital, a venture capital firm heavily involved in financing private health care firms moving into the NHS, including Alliance Medical, Match Group, Medica and the Robinia Care Group.^[4] He has been Member of Advisory Board of PepsiCo since April 2007.^[5] He returned to government in September 2004, with the title of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He was brought back to lead the Labour Party's campaign in the 2005 general election, but the unsuccessful start to the campaign led to Alan Milburn taking a back seat, with Gordon Brown returning to take a very prominent role.

Backbenches[link]

On election night in 2005, he announced he would be leaving the Cabinet for a second time, although rumours persisted that he would challenge Brown for the succession. On 10 April 2006, The Sun newspaper reported that Alan Milburn was still unsure whether to enter the leadership election when Tony Blair left office, which eventually occurred on 27 June the following year, with Brown subsequently assuming the prime ministerial role unopposed. On 8 September 2006, after Tony Blair had announced his intention to step down within a year, Charles Clarke suggested Milburn as leader in place of Gordon Brown. On 28 February 2007, he and Charles Clarke launched The 2020 Vision, a website intended to promote policy debate in the Labour Party. He was the honorary president of the political organisation Progress, which was founded by Derek Draper. In 2007 Alan Milburn worked as an advisor to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd^[6] and again in 2010 acted as an advisor to the election campaign of Julia Gillard.^[7] Between January and July 2009, Alan Milburn chaired a governmental commission on social mobility, the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions.^[8] The Panel reported in July 2009 with recommendations to improve social mobility by acting at every life stage - including through schools, universities, internship practices and recruitment processes.

Alan Milburn now also holds a place on the board of PepsiCo as an advisor.^[9]

Return to government?[link]

Despite the change of government following the May 2010 General Election. it was reported in August 2010 that Milburn had been offered a role in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition as 'social mobility tsar'.^[10] Although not officially politically-affiliated, the role would involve advising the government on how to break down social barriers for people from disadvantaged backgrounds, and help people who feel they are barred from top jobs on grounds of race, religion, gender or disability. Milburn provoked criticism from former Cabinet colleague John Prescott, and his former ally Andy Burnham, for advising the government. However, David Miliband defended Milburn claiming that Milburn was serving the country and was not working for the Coalition Government. In 2011, Milburn was asked by Andrew Lansley to chair the new clinical commissioning board, as part of the Coalition Government's health reforms but he rejected the offer labelling the reforms as "privatization", "cuts" and a "car crash".^[11] In 2011, Milburn contributed to the The Purple Book (alongside other key figures in the Labour Party such as Ed Miliband, Peter Mandelson, Jacqui Smith, Liam Byrne, Tessa Jowell, Tristram Hunt, Stephen Twigg, Rachel Reeves and Liz Kendall). In the book, he called for the Labour Party to adopt a policy of 'educational credit', a system whereby lower and middle-income families whose children attend failing schools can withdraw their children and get funding, worth 150% the cost of education at the failing school, in order to pay for a place at a higher achieving school for the child, with the money coming from the budget of the failing school. The policy was rejected by the leftwing MP Michael Meacher but was welcomed by Labour's Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg and other shadow cabinet members. In 2012, a senior Number 10 adviser called for Andrew Lansley to be "taken out and shot", and that Alan Milburn should be ennobled and join the Coalition Government, as Secretary of State for Health. This was rejected by David Cameron and it is understood that Milburn rejected such offer and remains in the Labour Party. He wrote in the The Times attacking the reforms, and again in March 2012 wrote in the New Statesman also attacking the reforms, but calling for the left to give an alternative.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Alan Milburn (Archive of official site at Wayback Machine)
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Alan Milburn MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Alan Milburn MP
• Alan Milburn on BBC One's This Week
• Alan Milburn gives his career story on the non-profit website icould.
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Alan Milburn

v t e Ministers for the Cabinet Office David Clark · Jack Cunningham · Mo Mowlam · Gus Macdonald · Douglas Alexander · Alan Milburn · John Hutton · Jim Murphy · Hilary Armstrong · Ed Miliband · Liam Byrne · Tessa Jowell · Francis Maude All but Jowell and Maude have served concurrently as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

v t e Secretaries of State for Health of the United Kingdom Ministers of Health Christopher Addison · Alfred Mond · Arthur Griffith-Boscawen · Neville Chamberlain · William Joynson-Hicks · John Wheatley · Neville Chamberlain · Arthur Greenwood · Neville Chamberlain · Edward Hilton Young · Kingsley Wood · Walter Elliot · Malcolm MacDonald · Ernest Brown · Henry Willink · Aneurin Bevan · Hilary Marquand · Harry Crookshank · Iain Macleod · Robin Turton · Dennis Vosper · Derek Walker-Smith · Enoch Powell · Anthony Barber · Kenneth Robinson Secretaries of State for Social Services Richard Crossman · Sir Keith Joseph · Barbara Castle · David Ennals · Patrick Jenkin · Norman Fowler · John Moore Secretaries of State for Health Kenneth Clarke · William Waldegrave · Virginia Bottomley · Stephen Dorrell · Frank Dobson · Alan Milburn · John Reid · Patricia Hewitt · Alan Johnson · Andy Burnham · Andrew Lansley

v t e Chief Secretaries to the Treasury Brooke · Boyd-Carpenter · Diamond · Macmillan · Jenkin · Boardman · Barnett · Biffen · Brittan · Rees · MacGregor · Major · Lamont · Mellor · Portillo · Aitken · Waldegrave · Darling · Byers · Milburn · Smith · Boateng · Browne · Timms · Burnham · Cooper · Byrne · Laws · Alexander