Paul Holmes (Chesterfield MP)
Paul Robert Holmes (born 16 January 1957) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Chesterfield, previously held by Tony Benn, from 2001 to 2010. Early life He grew up in Sheffield on a council estate. He went to Prince Edward Primary School, Manor Top, then Firth Park Secondary School (now Firth Park Community Arts College), a comprehensive from 1969 (when he was 12). Career Holmes graduated in History from the University of York in 1978 and before being elected an MP, was a history teacher for 22 years. He gained a PGCE from the University of Sheffield. He taught from 1979 to 1984 at Chesterfield School (now Brookfield Community School), then Buxton College from 1984–90, and from 1990–2001 he was Head of Sixth Form at Buxton Community School (the successor to Buxton College). Political career Holmes joined the SDP in 1983. From 1987 to 1995, representing the Liberal Democrats, he was a councillor for Brimington Sou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Councillor
A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or regional government, or other local authority. The title of a councillor varies geographically, with a name generally being preceded by their title (or the shortened version Cllr when written) in formal or council-related situations in many places. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unlike most provincial elections, municipal elections are usually held on a fixed date of 4 years. Finland ''This is about honorary rank, not elected officials.'' In Finland councillor (''neuvos'') is the highest possible title of honour which can be granted by the President of Finland. There are several ranks of councillors and they have existed si ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Postgraduate Certificate In Education
The Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE/PGCertEd) is a one- or two-year higher education course in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and South Africa -where it can take up to three years- which provides training in order to allow graduates to become teachers within maintained schools. In England, there are two routes available to gaining a PGCE – either on a traditional university-led teacher training course or school-led teacher training. In South Africa the PGCE degree is one of only two ways to become a teacher, with the other being a Bachelor of Education degree. In addition to gaining the PGCE qualification itself, those who have successfully completed the course in England or Wales are recommended for qualified teacher status (QTS) - the requirement to teach in state maintained schools in England and Wales. Those passing PGCEs in Northern Ireland are granted 'eligibility to teach' in Northern Ireland (equivalent to QTS). Though the QTS/eligibility to teach only ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Humanists UK
Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent Irreligion in the United Kingdom, non-religious people in the UK through a mixture of charitable services, campaigning on issues relating to humanism, secularism, and human rights, and through publishing the magazine ''New Humanist''. The charity also supports Humanist celebrant, humanist and non-religious wedding, funeral, and humanist baby naming, baby naming ceremonies in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Crown dependencies, in addition to a network of volunteers who provide like-minded pastoral care, support and comfort to non-religious people in hospitals and prisons. Its other charitable activities include providing free educational resources to teachers, parents, and institutions; a Faith to Faithless, peer-to-peer support service for people who face difficulties leaving coercive religions ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National Secular Society
The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. The Society was founded in 1866 by Charles Bradlaugh. Objectives The NSS, whose motto is "Challenging religious privilege", campaigns for a secular state where there is no established state religion; where religion plays no role in state-funded education, does not interfere with the judicial process nor does it restrict freedom of expression; where the state does not intervene in matters of religious doctrine nor does it promote or fund religious activities, guaranteeing every citizen's freedom to believe, not to believe or to change religion. Although the organisation was explicitly created for those who reject the supernatural, the NSS does not campaign to eradicate or prohibit religion, arguing that freedom of religion, as well as freedom f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Beveridge Group
The Beveridge Group is a centre-left group within the Liberal Democrat party in the UK. It was set up in 2001 by MPs Alistair Carmichael, Paul Holmes, John Barrett and John Pugh to promote debate within the party regarding public service provision. The group was set up largely in response to a perceived rightwards drift in Liberal Democrat thinking, typified by the economic liberalism of Lib Dem economic spokesman Vince Cable and former Home Affairs spokesman Mark Oaten. The Beveridge group later emerged as an ideological counterforce to supporters of The Orange Book. In its first article, written by Alistair Carmichael in 2003, the group questioned the claim in the Liberal Democrat policy paper ''Setting Business Free'' that the party should "start with a bias in favour of market solutions". Responding to this argument, the paper asked: "should the party of Beveridge and Keynes approach issues with a prejudice in favour of the free market system? Should we enter e ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president from 1976 to 2008. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1965 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a One-party state, one-party communist state; industry and business were nationalized, and socialist reforms were implemented throughout society. Born in Birán, the son of a wealthy Spanish farmer, Castro adopted leftist and anti-imperialist ideas while studying law at the University of Havana. After participating in rebellions against right-wing governments in the Dominican Republic#Trujillo Era (1930–61), Dominican Republic and La Violencia, Colombia, he planned the overthrow of Cuban ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Royal Mail
Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels). Formed in 2001, the company used the name Consignia for a brief period but changed it soon afterwards. Prior to this date, Royal Mail and Parcelforce were (along with Post Office Counters Ltd) part of the Post Office, a UK state-owned enterprise the history of which is summarised below. Long before it came to be a company name, the 'Royal Mail' brand had been used by the General Post Office to identify its distribution network (which over the centuries included horse-drawn mail coaches, horse carts and hand carts, ships, trains, vans, motorcycle combinations and aircraft). The company provides mail collection and delivery services throughout the UK. Letters and parcels are deposited in post or parcel boxes, or are collected in bul ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated population of over 449million as of 2024. The EU is often described as a ''sui generis'' political entity combining characteristics of both a federation and a confederation. Containing 5.5% of the world population in 2023, EU member states generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around €17.935 trillion in 2024, accounting for approximately one sixth of global economic output. Its cornerstone, the European Union Customs Union, Customs Union, paved the way to establishing European Single Market, an internal single market based on standardised European Union law, legal framework and legislation that applies in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where the states ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paddy Ashdown
Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon (27 February 194122 December 2018), better known as Paddy Ashdown, was a British politician and diplomat who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 to 1999. Internationally, he is recognised for his role as High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2002 to 2006, following his vigorous lobbying for military action against Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Ashdown had an interpretership qualification in Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin and was fluent in several other languages, including Malay language, Malay, German, French and Bosnian language, Bosnian. After serving as a Royal Marine and Special Boat Service officer and as an intelligence officer in the UK security services, Ashdown was elected Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Yeovil (UK Parliament constituency), Yeovil in 1983 before retiring in 2001. Ashdown was appointed Knight Grand Cro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Simon Hughes
Sir Simon Henry Ward Hughes (born 17 May 1951) is a British former politician. He is now the Chancellor of London South Bank University, and a strategic adviser to Talgo, a Spanish manufacturer of trains. Hughes was deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2010 to 2014, and from 2013 until 2015 was Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark (and its predecessors) from 1983 until 2015. He declined a position in the House of Lords in 2015. Until 2008, he was president of the Liberal Democrats (the party president chairs the Federal Executive board of the party, is the senior elected party official and also represents the party at official functions). Hughes has twice run unsuccessfully for the leadership of the party and was its unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of London in the 2004 election. He was appointed as a Privy Councillor on 15 December 2010. In December 2013, Hughes ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Backbencher
In Westminster system, Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no Minister (government), governmental office and is not a Frontbencher, frontbench spokesperson in the Parliamentary opposition, Opposition, being instead simply a member of the "wikt:rank and file, rank and file". The term dates from 1855. The term derives from the fact that they sit physically behind the frontbench in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. A backbencher may be a new parliamentary member yet to receive a high office, a senior figure dropped from government, someone who for whatever reason is not chosen to sit in the government or an opposition spokesperson (such as a shadow cabinet if one exists), or someone who prefers to be a background influence, not in the spotlight. In most parliamentary systems, individual backbenchers have little power to affect government policy. However, they play a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Borough Of Chesterfield
The Borough of Chesterfield is a non-metropolitan district with borough status in Derbyshire, England. It is named after the town of Chesterfield, its largest settlement, and also contains the town of Staveley and the large village of Brimington. In 2022 it had a population of 104,110. The borough borders the North East Derbyshire district to the north, west and south, and the Bolsover district to the east. History The town of Chesterfield had been an ancient borough. It was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, governed by a corporate body called "the mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Chesterfield", generally known as the corporation or town council. The modern district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as one of nine non-metropolitan districts within Derbyshire. The new district covered the area of two former districts and a single parish from a third, which were all abolished ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |