Sir Hugh Nigel Edward Bayley (born 9 January 1952) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for York Central, previously

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

and

City of York The City of York, officially simply "York", is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. ...

, from 1992 to 2015.

Early life

Bayley was born in

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...

, Berkshire, and was educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College, the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

, where he obtained a Politics BSc degree in 1974, before pursuing further studies at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

, where he was awarded a BPhil degree in Southern African studies in 1976. After his studies in 1975 he became a District Officer and later a National Officer with NALGO until 1982. Bayley was elected as a councillor in the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London boroughs, borough in Inner London, England. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the former Metropolitan boroughs of the Cou ...

in 1980 and became the general secretary of the International Broadcasting Trust in 1982. Bayley stepped down as a councillor and moved to

to take up a post as research officer in

health economics Health economics is a branch of economics concerned with issues related to Health care efficiency, efficiency, effectiveness, value and behavior in the production and consumption of health and healthcare. Health economics is important in dete ...

at the

from 1987 to 1992. He was a lecturer in social policy at the university from 1986 until 1998.

Parliamentary career

Hugh Bayley was nominated as the Labour candidate for York at the 1987 general election but was defeated by just 147 votes by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Conal Gregory. After the election, Hugh Bayley became a Health Economics Research Fellow at the University of York, and became a member of the local health authority. Conal Gregory and Hugh Bayley again fought it out at the 1992 general election in York and this time Bayley won by a comfortable margin. After his election he made his maiden speech on 7 May 1992 and joined the

Health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

Select committee. The name of the York constituency was changed (though with unaltered boundaries) and Bayley won a majority of over 20,000 at the 1997 general election. After the election, Bayley became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Health Frank Dobson, who lived near York. In 1998 he was appointed to

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

's Government as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department of Social Security, responsible for Incapacity, Maternity, Disability benefits and Vaccine damage. He was deputed to bring the Welfare Reform and Pensions Bill through the Commons, which attracted much criticism from backbench Labour MPs over plans to means-test and restrict access to incapacity benefit. He was dropped from government after the 2001 general election. Bayley has since served on the International Development Committee and pioneered the foundation of the Africa All-Party Parliamentary Group, serving as chair for several years, now being its vice-chair. He was president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly from November 2012 to 2014. He was also a chairman of the Public Bill Committee. The City of York constituency was abolished in 2010, with Bayley being elected in the 2010 general election to represent the successor constituency York Central. A loyal backbencher, Bayley rarely voted against his party whip. At the outset of the 2010 parliament, Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow appointed Bayley as a temporary Deputy Speaker to serve for two weeks until the election of Deputy Speakers. Bayley accepted the appointment, but stated that he would serve only temporarily and would not run for a Deputy Speakership, as he preferred to be able to represent his constituents by speaking out on issues before the House. On 5 December 2014, Bayley announced his intention to stand down as a Labour MP at the 2015 general election. Bayley was knighted in the 2015 New Year Honours for his "services to parliamentary engagement with NATO".

Personal life

Sir Hugh was active in the Anti-Apartheid Movement in his student days. On 22 December 1984, in Camden, he married Fenella Jeffers from

Nevis Nevis ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation of Saint Kitts ...

; they have a son and a daughter.

References

External links

Hugh Bayley's official site

''Debrett's People of Today''
* *

News items

''Terrys'' closure in April 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayley, Hugh 1952 births Living people Alumni of the University of York Councillors in the London Borough of Camden Knights Bachelor Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College People from Maidenhead UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 Labour Party (UK) councillors Alumni of the University of Bristol Politics of York