Rudolf Jan Vis (4 April 1941 – 30 May 2010) was a Dutch-born British Labour politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Finchley and Golders Green Finchley and Golders Green is a constituency created in 1997. It is represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Sarah Sackman of the Labour Party. Boundaries The constituency covers Finchley, Golders Green, Childs Hill, Te ...

from

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Early life

Vis was born in 1941 in the town of

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Alkmaar is well known fo ...

, in the Netherlands, where he attended high school. He gained a BSc in economics from the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

, in 1970 and was a graduate of the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, gaining an MSc in economics in 1972. He gained a PhD in economics from

Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

in 1976. From 1971 to 1996, he was a lecturer at the North East London Polytechnic, which became the

University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...

Parliamentary career

Vis was elected as MP for the newly drawn constituency of

in the 1997 general election, defeating the Conservative MP

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American statesman, jurist, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remai ...

with a majority of 3,189 votes. This was one of Labour's more unexpected victories – part of the constituency formed the

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 ...

constituency once held by Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

– and Vis had not even taken leave of his post as an economics lecturer prior to the victory. He was re-elected at

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

with a slightly increased majority of 3,716, again defeating Conservative Party candidate John Marshall, but in

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 ...

his majority was greatly reduced to 741 votes, following an increase in support for the Liberal Democrats in the constituency. His constituency was one of the top Conservative targets at the 2010 general election, needing only a swing of 0.2% to the Tories. Knowing he was suffering from cancer, Vis stood down at the 2010 general election. Vis sat on the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

. His views were generally, though not dogmatically, to the left-wing of the party. He abstained in the mayoral candidate selection of 2000. He opposed the use of PPP for the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

, the war on Iraq,

top-up fees Tuition fees were first introduced across the entire United Kingdom in September 1998 under the Labour government of Tony Blair to help fund tuition for undergraduate and postgraduate certificate students at universities; students were required ...

and foundation hospitals. However, he voted in favour of the government's controversial counter-terrorism legislation.

Expenses scandal

On 5 April 2009 ''The Times'' reported that he had used his parliamentary expenses to help buy a £520,000 home for his retirement near the Suffolk coast having taken out a mortgage on his London home to pay for the country property. By informing the parliamentary authorities that his main home had moved to Suffolk, he was able to claim the interest payments on the loan secured on his London home. Over the previous two years, he had claimed more than £40,000. "The rules are questionable," Vis said, "but this is well within the rules and I would have been advised if it wasn't." He was also discovered to have claimed £5,292 for 15,168 miles of travel between Parliament and his home nine miles away.

Death

Rudi Vis died in his sleep on 30 May 2010 from cancer diagnosed five months earlier.

References

External links

*
TheyWorkForYou.com – Rudi Vis MP

BBC Politics Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vis, Rudi 1941 births 2010 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Dutch emigrants to England Deaths from cancer in England Alumni of the London School of Economics University of Maryland, College Park alumni Alumni of Brunel University London Academics of the University of East London People from Alkmaar