Jonathan Sayeed (born 20 March 1948) was a Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom 1983-1992 and 1997-2005.

Early Life

Jonathan was the son of the late M M Sayeed, chartered electrical engineer, and L S Sayeed.^[1] He was educated in Suffolk.^[2]

He joined the Royal Navy in 1965, when he was 18. He spent two years at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth and then studied at the Royal Naval Engineering College, Manadon, Plymouth, for a BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.^[2]

Career in Business

After leaving the Royal Navy, Jonathan joined Marks and Spencer PLC and has held Directorships in various international companies since 1974:^[2]

• Founder director, Wade Emerson & Co Ltd 1974-82.^[1]
• Chairman and chief executive, Calmady Insurance Services Ltd 1982-83.^[1]
• Chairman, Ranelagh Ltd 1992-96.^[1]
• Non-executive director, Love Lane Investments Ltd (Holding Company) 1992-96.^[1]
• Chairman, Training Division Corporate Services Group PLC 1996-97.^[1]

Private Life

On 18 October 1980 Jonathan married Nicola Anne Power (born 11 November 1956), daughter of Norman and Joy Power.^[1][3] Mrs Sayeed prefers to be known as Anne. They have 2 sons:

• Edward (born 13 March 1985).^[1][3] Edward spent some time as a research assistant to his father in the House of Commons.^[4]
• Richard (born (16 Feb 1988).^[1][3]

Whilst he was MP for Mid-Bedfordshire, Jonathan lived in Lord North Street in Westminster, and also had a house in Houghton Conquest.^[5]

He is (or was) a member of the Carlton Club. His interests include golf, sailing, tennis, skiing, classical music, reading and architecture. He has written and co-written several books.^[2]

MP for Bristol East 1983-92

Sayeed was elected Member of Parliament for Bristol East at the 1983 General Election, where he defeated Rt Hon Anthony Wedgwood Benn (formerly Viscount Stansgate). The constituency was created for the 1983 general election, partly from the Bristol South East constituency, where Rt Hon Anthony Wedgwood Benn had been MP for the previous 32 years.^[2] For the Conservatives, this was one of "the three great prizes" of the election, as Anthony Wedgwood Benn was "the man they most love to hate".^[6] Nationally, Labour only got 28% of the vote, which was "the lowest proportion of the vote that Labour had won since 1900 when the party was founded."^[7]

In the 1987 General Election, Jonathan more than doubled his majority.

Jonathan served on the Select Committees for Defence and the Environment; was Chairman of the Shipping and Shipbuilding Committee; and Deputy Chairman of the All-Party Maritime Group.^[2] In 1988, He secured an Urban Development Corporation for Bristol despite the opposition of the then Environment Secretary, Nicholas Ridley.^[8] Jonathan started to climb the ministerial ladder in 1991, when he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Lord Belstead as Paymaster General.^[1][2] However in 1992 his career took a step back, when he lost his seat to Labour in the General Election.^[2]

Jonathan Sayeed's Parliamentary Election Results

Career Interlude 1992-97

In 1996 Jonathan sold his Public Affairs company, and was appointed Chairman of the Training Division of Corporate Services Group Plc.^[9]. In May 1997, he stood down as Chairman after being elected Member of Parliament for Mid-Bedfordshire.^[2]

MP for Mid Bedfordshire 1997-2005

He returned as MP for Mid Bedfordshire in the 1997 general election until 2005.

Despite his long parliamentary career, he only achieved his first front-bench post in 2001, when he was appointed as shadow Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.^[10][11] This was a junior shadow ministerial post; the Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary was Peter Ainsworth.^[12] Jonathan continued as shadow Minister after a reshuffle by the Conservative leader The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith in July 2002.^[13]

In early 2003, the British Prime Minster The Rt Hon Anthony C.L. Blair supported American plans for the invasion of Iraq. British armed forces were deployed to participate in the invasion. The British Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith supported British government policy on this. Three members of the Conservative front-bench and one Conservative whip resigned their posts so that they could vote against the war:

• John Baron - Shadow Minister for Health
• Humfrey Malins - Shadow Minister for Home Affairs
• Jonathan Sayeed - Shadow Environment Minister^[14]
• John Randall - Whip^[10][15]

Views

Economically, Jonathan was on the right of the Conservative party, opposing British entry into the single European currency. He had strong views on defence. On social matters, he was on the more liberal wing of the party, with the exception of gay rights where opposed the lifting of the ban on homosexuals in the armed forces. As an MP he was a well informed and thoughtful contributor to debates on foreign policy in the Middle East.^[10]

Ruin

"The Conservative whip was suspended from Sayeed from 3rd February to 7th March 2005 after the House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges recommended that he be suspended from the service of the House. The Committee found that a company in which he had an interest had appeared to derive financial benefit from his offering tours of Parliament and risked damaging the reputation of Parliament."^[16]

"The Committee issued a second report on 17th March 2005 criticising Sayeed for failing to apologise for his conduct as the first report had ordered, for sending out a circular on House of Commons stationery to members of the Mid Bedfordshire Conservative Association asking for their support in his reselection, and misuse of allowances to pay for work on his home. Following this report, the Conservative Party removed the whip from Sayeed permanently."^[17]

Jonathan was one of two Conservative MP had the party whip withdrawn at the time of the election.^[18] The other was Howard Flight, who was deselected over comments he made on Tory spending plans.^[19]

Under Conservative Party rules, a sitting MP can only be an approved Conservative party candidate in a parliamentary election if he/she has the Conservative Party whip.^[20] This enables the Conservative Party leader to over-rule local constituency Conservative Party branches who want to retain their sitting MP as candidate.

BBC Bias in Coverage of Jonathan's Ruin

BBC News Online's coverage of the scandal involving Jonathan was "fulsome and detailed, leaving no doubt that Sayeed was, to use their term, a Tory."^[21] "It had headlines such as Sayeed to stand down as Tory MP and Tour row MP loses Tory party whip."^[21]

At about the same time there was a scandal involving a Labour Government minister, Chris Pond who was "arrested after launching a violent attack on a young mother's house".^[22] BBC News Online's coverage was sparse; BBC News Online had a story MP cautioned for criminal damage. "Nowhere in the headline or even in the story is it mentioned that Chris Pond is a Labour MP. Nor is it mentioned in the headline that Pond is a government minister".^[21]

"As with much BBC bias, either of these stories, Sayeed or Pond, taken in isolation, would be fine. It is when you put them together and compare the detailed coverage of 'Tory' Sayeed with the bland coverage of 'MP' Pond that the BBC's 'angle' becomes apparent. If Pond were a Conservative Minister in a Conservative government in the run up to a general election you could bet that the BBC, along with much of Fleet Street, would be much more interested in his story, leading bulletins with it and generally baying for his head. Lucky for Pond that he's not a 'Tory'."^[21]

Under treatment

He has served on the Environment, Defence and Broadcasting select committees; has been a member of the Chairman's Panel - chairing Standing Committees and acting as Deputy Speaker in Westminster Hall; was shadow Environment Minister until he resigned in opposition to the second Iraq war.

proposed sweeping changes to the Nuclear non proliferation treaty - some of which were subsequently adopted; was Parlaimentary Private secretary Northern Ireland; was criticised by the Standards and Privileges committee for being 'at the least negligent at the worst careless' in respect of a company in which he once had an interest; has introduced a number of Bills one of which, the Census (Amendment) Act became law.

He was suspended from the House of Commons for two weeks in February 2005 after the Committee on Standards and Privileges found that, by conducting tours around the Palace of Westminster for indirect financial benefit, his conduct "[fell] well below the standards the House expects, and risked damaging its reputation"^[23]. He subsequently won a de-selection battle in his local Conservative Association, but on March 14 announced he would not be contesting the May 2005 general election, on grounds of ill health.

He retired from Parliament at the General Election of 2005 and currently is Chairman of a Public Affairs company.

External links

• BBC story about resignation
• BBC story about suspension

References