Sir Michael Alan Penning (born 28 September 1957) is a British Conservative Party politician, who served as the member of parliament (MP) for

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 cens ...

from

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. Penning was the

minister of state for the Armed Forces The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces is a mid-level ministerial position at the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence in the Government of the United Kingdom. It has been held by Luke Pollard since ...

from 2016 to 2017, having previously served as the

minister of state for justice The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (a combined position). Its stated priorities are to reduce re-offending ...

and

minister of state for policing The Minister of State for Policing and Crime Prevention is a ministerial position held at the Home Office in the Government of the United Kingdom. Holders of this office have previously held additional responsibilities such as for security, coun ...

from 2014 to 2016, the

minister for disabled people The Minister of State for Social Security and Disability is a junior minister in the Department for Work and Pensions of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for disabled people. The role has also been known as the Parliamentary Un ...

from 2013 to 2014, the

minister of state Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

for Northern Ireland from 2012 to 2013, and the

minister of state for transport The Minister of State for Rail is a mid-level ministerial position in the Department for Transport of the Government of the United Kingdom. The minister is deputy to the Secretary of State for Transport. Ministers of State References Tr ...

from 2010 to 2012. Following his ministerial career he remained a

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 ...

until standing down in 2024.

Early life and career

Penning was born in

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. north of Charing Cross, nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, London, Whetstone, Mill Hill and Hendon. It is ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, and raised in the county of

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 ...

. He first went to

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

South Benfleet South Benfleet is a town in the Castle Point district of Essex, England, 30 miles east of London. It is adjacent to the village of North Benfleet. The Benfleet (SS7) post town includes South Benfleet, Thundersley, New Thundersley and Hadleigh, ...

before attending King Edmund School in

Rochford Rochford is a town and civil parish in the Rochford (district), Rochford District in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford. At the 2011 census, the Civil parishes in England, civil parish had a population ...

. After leaving school, Penning enlisted in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

as a Grenadier Guardsman, and served several tours in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. During his time in the

Grenadiers A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word ''grenade'') was historically an assault-specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in siege operation battles. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when ...

, an officer,

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Robert Nairac Captain Robert Laurence Nairac (31 August 1948 – 15 May 1977) was a British Army officer in the Grenadier Guards. He was abducted by republicans from a pub in South Armagh, during an undercover operation he was undertaking, and killed by th ...

, GC, was abducted and murdered by the IRA. After leaving the Army, Penning subsequently worked as a

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

for

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Essex in the east of England, and is one of the largest fire services in the country, covering an area of and a population of over 1.7mill ...

, before joining his family business and then becoming a

political journalist Political journalism is a broad branch of journalism that includes coverage of all aspects of politics and political science, although the term usually refers specifically to coverage of civil governments and political power. Political journ ...

Political career

In the mid-1990s, Penning worked as a media adviser to the Euro-rebels who had had the Conservative Party whip removed by Prime Minister John Major during the Maastricht rebellion. He was subsequently the election agent to

Sir Teddy Taylor Sir Edward MacMillan Taylor (18 April 1937 – 20 September 2017), known as Teddy Taylor, was a British Conservative Party politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for forty years, from 1964 to 1979 for Glasgow Cathcart and from 1980 ...

during the 1997 general election. He stood for election in

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Essex, England. It lies on the north bank of the River ...

at the 2001 general election, coming second to Labour's

Andrew MacKinlay Andrew Stuart MacKinlay (born 24 April 1949) is a British Liberal Democrat politician, who was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Thurrock from 1992 until he stepped down at the 2010 general election. In 2021 he was elected as a Li ...

. Following this, he was appointed as a chief adviser to

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 ...

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

, later becoming the Conservative Party's deputy head of media under the brief and unpopular leadership of

Iain Duncan Smith Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Le ...

Member of parliament

At the 2005 general election Penning stood in the Labour-held seat of

, narrowly defeating sitting MP

Tony McWalter Joseph Anthony McWalter, generally known as Tony McWalter, (born 20 March 1945 in Worksop) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Labour Party and Co-operative Member of Parliament for Hemel Hempstead between 1997 and 2005. Early ...

. Penning overturned McWalter's 2001 majority of 3,742 votes and won the seat (after a partial recount) by 499 votes. In July 2007, Penning was promoted by Conservative leader

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 ...

to the post of shadow minister for public health. The

Buncefield fire The Buncefield fire was a major fire at an oil storage facility that started at 06:01 UTC on Sunday 11 December 2005 at the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal, located near the M1 motorway, Hemel Hempstead, in Hertfordshire, England. The ter ...

occurred on 11 December 2005 and led to some 2,700 claims for compensation. In the words of neighbouring MP

Peter Lilley Peter Bruce Lilley, Baron Lilley, PC (born 23 August 1943) is a British politician and life peer who served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Pa ...

, "There is something providential about the fact that the worst fire in western Europe since the Second World War should occur in a constituency represented by a fireman. It was undoubtedly in the interests of all his constituents and mine to have someone so knowledgeable, as well as so vigorous in their response, to represent their interests." Penning, who arrived on the scene within half an hour of the explosion, had himself been trained to deal with much smaller petroleum fires; the scenario was that one tank not twenty was affected.

Dexion Dexion is a company name and brand particularly associated with the development of the "Dexion" slotted angle steel strip construction system, widely used since the 1950s for domestic and commercial Shelf (storage), shelving, warehouse, storage ...

workers, 700 of whom worked in the constituency, lost their pensions when the company went into receivership in 2003. Dexion played a prominent part in Ros Altmann's Pensions theft campaign. Penning, whose support for Dexion preceded his election, offered compensation from unclaimed assets in his 2005 Manifesto and has spoken on the issue 26 times in Parliament. Dexion pensioners were featured celebrating a victory at the High Court in February 2007 which eventually led to increased compensation from the then-Labour government. According to Theyworkforyou.com, Penning spoke in an "above average" number of debates from 2009 to 2010 and replied to a "very high number" of messages. He also received replies to an "above average" number of written questions. The quality of those questions was disputed by a 2006 ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' article about the Theyworkforyou website which Penning used to email constituents. His 624 questions in 10 months included one on sales of lost property in

Royal Parks The Royal Parks make up land that was originally used for the recreation, mostly hunting, by the royal family. They are part of the hereditary possessions of The Crown, now managed by The Royal Parks, a charity which manages eight royal pa ...

since records began. The newspaper suggested the objective was to increase ratings on the website, an allegation rejected by Penning. Penning "occasionally rebelled", with two per cent of his votes being against the

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 was "very strongly" in favour of a smoking ban. Penning's parliamentary expenses details have been published as part of a general publication of all MPs' expenses. In 2009, he claimed a total of £135,078, 502nd of all MPs. The

Legg Report Legg may refer to: People *Adrian Legg, English guitar player *Andy Legg (born 1966), Welsh footballer *Barry Legg (born 1949), British former Member of Parliament *John Legg (politician) (born 1975), American educator and politician *John Legg (fo ...

found no problem with his expenses. Penning did, however, voluntarily repay £2.99 for a dog bowl, which was the lowest recorded repayment by any MP.

Subsequent elections

Penning achieved one of the largest increases in his majority of all MPs at the 2010 general election, when he took 50% of the vote share to hold the seat with a majority of 13,406. This result relegated Labour's Ayfer Orhan to third place behind the

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

candidate Richard Grayson, representing the largest swing from the Labour Party to the Conservative Party (a 14.4% swing) in the country. In the 2015 general election, Penning increased his majority by 2.9% to 52.9% to hold his seat with a 14,420 majority. In the subsequent reshuffle, Penning was appointed as

in the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

for policing and criminal justice. In the June 2017 general election he held Hemel Hempstead with a reduced majority of 9,445, but with an increased share of the vote (55%). He was re-elected in the 2019 general election. On 17 May 2022, he announced that he would stand down at the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

Minister of state

After the 2010 election, Prime Minister

appointed him a

for transport, with roads and shipping being among his responsibilities. In his capacity as minister for shipping, Penning presented Efthimios Mitropoulos (immediate past- IMO

secretary-general Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

) with the insignia of in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

on behalf of the

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

. In his role as road safety minister, he suggested that the Dutch could learn about cyclist safety from the British. However, cycling ambassador Roelof Wittink said that although the UK had a lower death toll per head of population, the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

use bicycles far more and have one third of the fatalities per mile cycled. In the reshuffle of 4 September 2012, Penning was moved to become

for Northern Ireland, a position he held for just over a year until being promoted to become

minister of state for disabled people The Minister of State for Social Security and Disability is a junior minister in the Department for Work and Pensions of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for disabled people. The role has also been known as the Parliamentary Und ...

on 7 October 2013. He was subsequently promoted a second time on 15 July 2014 to serve as both the

and the

, and was also sworn of the Privy Council. Following the 2017 election, he was sacked as a minister by Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

Political positions

Penning was a supporter of Brexit during the 2016 referendum. In May 2021, Penning tabled and was the sole signatory of an

early day motion In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by a member of Parliament, which the Government (in charge of parliamentary business) has not yet scheduled for debate. Hi ...

stating as the "UK has left the European Union, the UK should now leave the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

, calling on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

to no longer spend licence fee money on an event designed to humiliate the UK and notes that, if the winning song is to be broadcast on the public airwaves, it should be preceded by a public health warning." Penning resigned as vice chairman of the Conservative Party in order to publicly support Penny Mordaunt's campaign in the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.

Personal life

Penning lives in Hemel Hempstead with his wife Angela. He employs his wife as his Office Manager on an annual salary up to £40,000. He has two daughters. He is a supporter of

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

Honours

General Service Medal with ‘NORTHERN IRELAND’ Clasp *

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

(2014) *

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

(

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

)

References

External links

*
Conservative Party – Mike Penning
biography *

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20130618213548/http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/p/24178/Michael+PENNING.aspx Debrett's People of Today , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Penning, Mike 1957 births Military personnel from the London Borough of Barnet Grenadier Guards soldiers Alumni of the University of Reading Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Government ministers of the United Kingdom Hemel Hempstead Knights Bachelor Living people Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People from Hemel Hempstead People from Rochford People from South Benfleet Politicians from the London Borough of Barnet Politics of Dacorum UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 Northern Ireland Office junior ministers UK MPs 2019–2024 Military personnel from Essex 20th-century British Army personnel