Paul Edward Winston White, Baron Hanningfield, (16 September 1940 – 20 October 2024), was a British politician and farmer. As a member of the Conservative Party, he served in various leadership roles in local government in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

and was influential in establishing the

Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local government in England, local authorities in England and Wales. Its core membership is made up of 317 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the ...

. He was a member of

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the non-metropolitan county excludes Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock which ...

from 1970 and 2011, and served in frontbench roles in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

after being nominated for a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

age in 1998. In the parliamentary expenses scandal, Hanningfield was convicted of

false accounting False accounting is a legal term for a type of fraud, considered a statutory offence in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. England and Wales This offence is created by section 17 of the Theft Act 1968 which provides: ...

in 2011, sentenced to nine months' imprisonment and expelled from the Conservative Party. He was twice suspended from the House of Lords for expenses fraud.

Early life and career

Paul Edward Winston White was born on 16 September 1940 in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

, Essex, to Edward Ernest William White and Irene Joyce Gertrude White (), into a farming family with eight older sisters. He was given the middle name Winston after his father's hero,

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

. The White family had been established in the village of

West Hanningfield West Hanningfield is a small village and civil parish in south Essex, England. It is located approximately south-south-east of the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the borough of Chelmsford and in the parliamentary constituency of ...

for centuries. White was educated at

King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford King Edward VI Grammar School, or KEGS, is a British grammar school with academy status located in the city of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It takes pupils between the ages of 11 and 18 (school years 7 to 13). For years 7 to 11 the school is boys ...

. He received a Nuffield Scholarship for agriculture and studied in the United States, then took up

pig farming Pig farming, pork farming, pig production or hog farming is the raising and breeding of domestic pigs as livestock, and is a branch of animal husbandry. Pigs are farmed principally for food (e.g. pork: bacon, ham, gammon (meat), gammon) and l ...

in West Hanningfield; he was named the youngest pig farmer in Britain at the age of 15. White joined the National Farmers' Union (NFU), chairing its quality pigs committee by the age of 22, and became the chairman of Essex Young Farmers in 1962.

Political career

White served as a member of the executive of the Chelmsford

Conservative Association A Conservative Association (CA) is a local organisation composed of Conservative Party members in the United Kingdom. Every association varies in membership size but all correspond to a parliamentary constituency in England, Wales, Scotland and N ...

from 1962 to 1999. First elected to

in 1970, he chaired the council's agricultural-estates and education committees. He served as chairman of the council from 1989 to 1992, and afterwards as 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 ...

group leader. While serving as a county councillor, White held senior positions in local government. He chaired the

Council of Local Education Authorities Local education authorities (LEAs) were defined in England and Wales as the local councils responsible for education within their jurisdictions. The term was introduced by the Education Act 1902, which transferred education powers from school boa ...

from 1990 to 1992, and the Eastern Area of the

Further Education Funding Council for England The Further Education Funding Council for England (FEFC) was a non-departmental public body of the Department for Education and Skills which distributed funding to Further Education and Sixth Form Colleges in England between 1992 and 2001. It w ...

from 1992 to 1997. White was the leader of the

Association of County Councils The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities in England and Wales. Its core membership is made up of 317 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the Welsh Local Government Assoc ...

from 1995 to 1997. He helped to establish the

and served as its deputy chair and Conservative group leader from 1997 to 2001. White was nominated to the

European Committee of the Regions The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice w ...

in 1998, and served as vice president of the committee's

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

group. In 2001, he co-founded and became the chairman of Localis, a local-government think tank that aimed to "challenge the growing powers of national government and unaccountable quangos". In 1998, White was nominated for a

age by Conservative leader

William Hague William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond (born 26 March 1961) is a British politician and life peer who was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001 and Deputy Leader from 2005 to 2010. He was th ...

in recognition of his work in local government. He was created ''Baron Hanningfield, of Chelmsford in the County of Essex'', on 31 July 1998, taking the name of the village in which he lived. In the

, Hanningfield served as a Conservative Party

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

and a spokesman on education and transport. Hanningfield served as the leader of Essex County Council from 1998 to 1999, and from 2000 until his resignation in 2010. As council leader, he set up a scheme to reopen closed

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

branches, and announced plans for a "Bank of Essex" in partnership with Santander that would help local firms get finance during the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

. In 2009, the

Countryside Alliance The Countryside Alliance (CA) is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as farming, rural services, small businesses and field sports, aiming to "Give Rural Britain a voice". History The Countryside Allian ...

awarded Hanningfield the Rural Vision Award for his work to protect and promote rural communities. He was the county councillor for the electoral division of

Stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

(Chelmsford Rural No. 2) from 15 April 1970 until his disqualification on 29 July 2011 after being convicted for false accounting. The seat was retained by the Conservative Party at the subsequent September 2011 by-election.

Expenses scandals

In February 2010, Hanningfield was charged with

, under section 17 of the

Theft Act 1968 The Theft Act 1968 (c. 60) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of offences against property in England and Wales. On 15 January 2007 the Fraud Act 2006 came into force, redefining most of the offences of d ...

, in connection with claims for overnight accommodation from parliamentary authorities. He immediately resigned as the Lords

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comedy ...

spokesman for communities, local government, and transport. He also resigned as the leader of Essex County Council, and the Conservative

party whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips a ...

was withdrawn from him on 5 February. On 27 May, Hanningfield, along with MPs

Jim Devine James Devine (born 21 May 1953) is a former Labour Party politician in Scotland. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Livingston from 2005 until 2010 and chairman of the Scottish Labour Party between 1994 and 1995. On 16 June 2009, fol ...

Elliot Morley Elliot Anthony Morley (born 6 July 1952) is a British former Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glanford and Scunthorpe from 1987 to 1997 and then Scunthorpe from 1997 to 2010. In 2009, he was accused by ''The ...

and

David Chaytor David Michael Chaytor (born 3 August 1949) is a former British Labour Party politician, who was the member of parliament (MP) for Bury North from 1997 to 2010. He was the first member of Parliament to be sentenced following the United Kingdo ...

, appeared at

Southwark Crown Court The Crown Court at Southwark, usually referred to as Southwark Crown Court, is a Crown Court venue at 1 English Grounds (off Battlebridge Lane) on the south bank of the River Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge in London. It operates ...

for a preliminary hearing. Hanningfield was charged with six counts of false accounting and his trial at

Chelmsford Crown Court Chemsford Crown Court is a Crown Court venue, which deals with criminal cases, in New Street, Chelmsford, England. History Until the early 1980s, all criminal court hearings in Chelmsford were held in the Shire Hall on the north side of Tindal ...

began on 16 May 2011. He was accused of falsely claiming for overnight stays in London when he had in fact returned to his home in Essex; on one occasion for which he claimed reimbursement for an overnight stay in London, he was in fact on a plane to India. Hanningfield denied all charges, telling police that he had been "singled out"; in an August 2009 interview, he told police that he had "done the same as 500 or 600 other peers". Hanningfield was found guilty on all six counts of false accounting. On 1 July 2011, he was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, mitigated by his poor health, for falsely claiming £13,379 in parliamentary expenses. His appeal against the conviction was rejected by the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

, and he was expelled from the Conservative Party. Hanningfield and Lord Taylor of Warwick, a fellow former Conservative peer, were released from prison on home detention curfew in September 2011, after having served a quarter of their sentences. They were the only two peers to be imprisoned over the parliamentary expenses scandal. Hanningfield was suspended from the House of Lords for nine months with effect from 1 July, subsequent to a report of the

Committee for Privileges and Conduct A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

that detailed £30,254.50 of "false claims" for night-subsistence expenses between July 2007 and April 2009. Essex County Council initiated a separate investigation into Hanningfield after discovering that he had spent £286,000 on a council credit card between 2005 and 2010. He was arrested in September 2011, a few days after his early release from prison, and began legal action against

Essex Police Essex Police is a territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Essex, in the East of England. Essex Police is responsible for a population of over 1.8 million people and an area of . The chief constable is Ben-Julian Harring ...

for wrongful arrest. The investigation was dropped in November 2012 over insufficient evidence. Hanningfield sought £6,500 in compensation from the police and was awarded £3,500. In December 2011, the House Committee of the House of Lords recommended that Hanningfield and

Baroness Uddin Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight, ...

, another peer implicated in the expenses scandal, should not be allowed back to the Lords until their wrongly claimed expenses were repaid. Hanningfield returned to the House of Lords in April 2012 after repaying £30,000. In September 2012, Hanningfield was ordered under the

Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (c. 29) (POCA) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provides for the confiscation or civil recovery of the proceeds from crime and contains the principal money laundering legislation in the ...

to repay a further £37,158.50, covering a six-year period of expenses, or face 15 months' imprisonment. Following Hanningfield's return to Parliament, a ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' investigation found that, on 11 of 19 days in July 2013, he attended the House of Lords for less than 40 minutes but nonetheless claimed the £300 daily attendance allowance and travel costs, and did not speak in a debate from his return in April 2012 until October 2013. An investigation by the

House of Lords commissioner for standards There are currently two House of Lords Commissioners for Standards, officers of the United Kingdom House of Lords. When the post was created in 2010 there was a single commissioner who was "responsible for the independent and impartial investigat ...

found that he did not undertake parliamentary work on those days and had "failed to act on his personal honour" by wrongly claiming expenses, and a report of the Committee for Privileges and Conduct recommended that he repay the £3,300 wrongly claimed and be suspended from the House of Lords until the end of the Parliament (the maximum sanction available). His suspension took effect on 13 May 2014 and lasted until the

dissolution of Parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly (or parliament) is the simultaneous termination of service of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy ...

in 2015. A court case over the expenses claims was abandoned in July 2016 after Parliament claimed exclusive cognisance over the matters indicted.

Personal life and death

Hanningfield never married. In 2011, he lived in West Hanningfield, Essex, with his

Bernese mountain dog The Bernese Mountain Dog, or , is a large dog breed originating from the canton of Bern, Switzerland and the Swiss Alps. It is one of four Sennenhund-dog type, type breeds, with ancestral roots in Ancient Rome, Roman mastiffs. The name ''Berner ...

Jefferson; he told his trial that year: "As I lived alone I wouldn't survive without my dog – it's someone I could talk to and walk with." He was made a member of the court of the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

in 1980, and was appointed a deputy lieutenant (DL) of Essex in 1990. Hanningfield died on 20 October 2024, at the age of 84.

References

External links

*
Biography
at ''

Dod's Parliamentary Companion ''Dods Parliamentary Companion'' (formerly "Dod's Parliamentary Companion") is an annual politics reference book published in the United Kingdom. It provides biographies and contact information on members of the Houses of Parliament and the ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanningfield, Paul White, Baron 1940 births 2024 deaths 20th-century English farmers 20th-century English politicians 21st-century English farmers 21st-century English politicians British politicians convicted of fraud Conservative Party (UK) councillors Conservative Party (UK) life peers Deputy lieutenants of Essex English politicians convicted of crimes English prisoners and detainees Leaders of local authorities of England Life peers created by Elizabeth II Members of Essex County Council People associated with the University of Essex People educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford People from Chelmsford Politicians from Essex Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales UK councillors 1973–1977 UK councillors 1977–1981 UK councillors 1981–1985 UK councillors 1985–1989 UK councillors 1989–1993 UK councillors 1993–1997 UK councillors 1997–2001 UK councillors 2001–2005 UK councillors 2005–2009 UK councillors 2009–2013