Brian Arthur Roland Binley (1 April 1942 – 25 December 2020) was a

British Conservative Party The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. The party sits on the centre-right to right- ...

politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Northampton South from 2005 to 2015.

Early life

Educated at Finedon Mulso Secondary Modern School on Wellingborough Road, (now a

Junior School A junior school is a type of school which provides primary education to children, often in the age range from 8 and 13, following attendance at an infant school, which covers the age range 5–7. Since both infant and junior schools provide pri ...

), in the town of

Finedon Finedon is a town and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, with a population at the 2021 census of 4,552. In 1086 when the Domesday Book was completed, Finedon (then known as Tingdene) was a large royal manor, previously held by ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, Brian Binley joined the Conservative Party in 1958. He was an organiser with the National Young Conservatives from 1965 to 1968. He was chairman of the

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a market town in the North Northamptonshire, Unitary Authority area, England, from London and from Northampton, north of the River Nene. Originally named "Wendelingburgh" (the stronghold of Wændel's people), the Anglo ...

-based BCC Marketing Services Ltd, the company he founded from 1988 to 2001, when it was liquidated by the company that had bought it in late 2001.

Parliamentary career

Binley was the

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Agent for the

Wyre Forest __NOTOC__ Wyre Forest is a large, semi-natural (partially unmanaged) woodland and forest measuring which straddles the borders of Worcestershire and Shropshire, England. Knowles Mill, a former corn mill owned by the National Trust lies wi ...

Conservative Association during the 1997 general election campaign. He was elected to

Northamptonshire County Council Northamptonshire County Council was the county council for Northamptonshire in England from 1889 to 2021. It was originally created in 1889, reformed in 1974, and abolished in 2021. The headquarters of the council was County Hall, Northampton, ...

in 1997, where he was a Cabinet Member. He was selected to contest the Labour-held Parliamentary marginal

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

of Northampton South, and defeated the sitting Labour MP Tony Clarke at the 2005 general election by over 4,000 votes. Binley made his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

on 25 May 2005. He was also a Northamptonshire County Councillor for

Hackleton Hackleton is a village located in West Northamptonshire, just north of Buckinghamshire. It is south of Northampton town centre, and by road to the M1 motorway, M1 London to Yorkshire motorway junction 15 and north of junction 14. London is ...

division but did not restand for the

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

at elections held in 2009. Binley was re-elected in the 2010 general election, with an increased majority of 6,004. In March 2012, Binley was reported as being one of the Conservative MPs to have spoken critically of Party Co-Chairman Sayeeda Warsi at a meeting of the

1922 Committee The 1922 Committee, formally known as the Conservative Private Members' Committee, or sometimes simply the 22, is the parliamentary group of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party in the British House of Commons of the United Kingdom, H ...

, following Lady Warsi's handling of Roger Helmer MEP's defection to

UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...

and later called on her to resign saying she was guilty of "self-destructive lunacy". He was also a critic of

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

calling on him to "smell the coffee" after the Conservatives faced a terrible defeat in the 2012 local elections and even criticised Number 10 more widely and their attitude towards Conservative backbenchers. He also criticised

's decision to hire

Andy Coulson Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968) is an English journalist and political strategist. Coulson was the editor of the ''News of the World'' from 2003 to 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's reporters in relation to ...

Expenses

On 17 June 2009 it was revealed that Binley had claimed over £50,000 in expenses, renting a flat from his own company, BCC Marketing. Two months after beginning to rent the flat, expenses rules were changed to clarify that MPs could no longer rent properties from businesses in which they had an interest. Binley appealed to the Speaker of the House Michael Martin, whilst still claiming for the flat. Binley lost his appeal after two and a half years, during which time he still claimed for the flat in question. Binley was not required to repay the £57,000 he received while the Speaker deliberated.

Personal life

Binley lived in the constituency for over 20 years, and had two grown sons. In 2006, he became the victim of

identity theft Identity theft, identity piracy or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. ...

, when someone tried to divert his bank statements and unsuccessfully attempted to steal £9,000 from him whilst he was in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The perpetrator wrote to Binley boasting of his exploits. He received a six-month driving ban in May 2007 having totted up 12 points on his licence when caught doing 37 mph in a 30 mph zone in

, Northamptonshire. With nine points already, he was given three more and a ban by

Towcester Towcester ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. From 1974 to 2021, it was the administrative centre of the South Northamptonshire district. Towcester is on ...

magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

. In January 2013, Binley revealed he was suffering from "low-grade lymphoma affecting white blood cells" and would undergo chemotherapy. In July 2013 Binley stated he would not stand again at the next general election in 2015. Binley died at Northampton General Hospital on 25 December 2020, aged 78.

References

External links

Brian Binley MP Blog
official site
Jacquie Binley & Friends Charity Sky Dive
official site
Brian Binley MP
biography at the site of the Conservative Party
BBC Politics profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Binley, Brian 1942 births 2020 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople 21st-century English businesspeople Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) councillors English marketing people Members of Northamptonshire County Council People from Wellingborough UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015