Martin John Callanan, Baron Callanan (born 8 August 1961) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) for

North East England North East England, commonly referred to simply as the North East within England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of County DurhamNorthumberland, , Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and part of northern North Yorkshire. ...

from 1999 to 2014 and Chairman of the

European Conservatives and Reformists European Conservatives and Reformists may refer to: *European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), a soft Eurosceptic European political party *European Conservatives and Reformists Group The European Conservatives and Reformists ...

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

from 2011 to 2014. Callanan failed his bid to win re-election in the 2014 European Parliament elections, becoming the first sitting chairman of a European parliamentary group to lose his seat. On 8 August 2014, it was announced that he would be made a Conservative life peer in the House of Lords. Following the 2017 general election, Callanan was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport. In October the same year, he was appointed

Minister of State for Exiting the European Union The Minister of State for Exiting the European Union was a position in the Department for Exiting the European Union in the Government of the United Kingdom His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Governme ...

Early life

Callanan was born on 8 August 1961 in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

. In 1985, he graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree (BSc) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from

Newcastle Polytechnic Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

. He worked as an engineer at

Scottish and Newcastle breweries Scottish & Newcastle plc was a brewing company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, which expanded from its home base to become an international business with beer volumes growing almost tenfold. The company was listed on the London Stock Exc ...

from 1986 to 1998.

Political career

Local councillor

Callanan was a

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 ...

councillor on

Tyne and Wear County Council Tyne and Wear County Council was the county council of the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear in northeast England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1974 and was abolished on 1 April 1986. The county council was based at Sandyford House in Ne ...

between 1983 and 1986 (when the council was abolished) and Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council between 1987 and 1996, for the Low Fell ward. He worked as a project engineer at

from 1986 to 1998, when he was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. He unsuccessfully stood as a parliamentary candidate for

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

(in the 1987 election), Gateshead East (in the 1992 election), and

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne, hence its name. It is east-northeast of Newcastle up ...

(in the 1997 election).

Member of European Parliament

He was a

for the

constituency from 1999, re-elected in 2004 and 2009. In December 2011, he became the leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the Parliament; as a leader of a parliamentary group, he had a seat in the political leadership of the European Parliament, the Conference of Presidents. He was a member of the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, and of the European Parliament's committee on the environment, public health and food safety (ENVI). Callanan was a regular contributor to

ConservativeHome ConservativeHome is a politically conservative news website and events company. It was first established by Tim Montgomerie in 2005 with the aim of arguing for a broad conservative spectrum, which is serious about both social justice and a fair ...

, writing a monthly report. Callanan failed to win re-election in the

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 22 and 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties field ...

, becoming the first sitting chairman of a European parliamentary group to lose his seat.

Peer and government minister

Callanan was created 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 ...

on 24 September 2014, taking the title Baron Callanan, of Low Fell in the County of Tyne and Wear. Following the 2017 general election, Callanan was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport. In the role he introduced the Space Industry Bill. In October the same year he was appointed

. The following month he was obliged to apologise for incorrectly stating in the Lords that the Supreme Court had ruled

Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) provides for the possibility of an EU member state leaving the European Union "in accordance with its own constitutional requirements". Currently, the United Kingdom is the only state to hav ...

was irreversible. Callanan was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the newly created

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was established on 7 February 2023 by a February 2023 British ...

, on 7 February 2023, following a Cabinet reshuffle. He piloted many significant Bills through the Lords, including the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 and the landmark Energy Bill, which is still in Parliament. In June 2025, Lord Callanan, Shadow Foreign Secretary in the House of Lords, tabled a motion opposing the ratification of the treaty to return the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius, an archipelago located in the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Notes

References

External links

Profile on European Parliament website
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Callanan, Martin Callanan, Baron 1961 births Alumni of Northumbria University Conservative Party (UK) MEPs Living people MEPs for England 1999–2004 MEPs for England 2004–2009 MEPs for England 2009–2014 Conservative Party (UK) life peers Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Life peers created by Elizabeth II