Jonathan Sayeed (born 20 March 1948) was a Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom 1983-1992 and 1997-2005. He was the only member of the Conservative front bench to openly and publicly oppose the invasion of Iraq in 2003, but was then deselected as the Conservative candidate for his seat in the House of Commons shortly before the 2005 General Election, following criticism by the Standards and Privileges committee for being "at the least negligent at the worst careless" in respect of a company in which he had an interest.

Early Life

Jonathan Sayeed was the son of the late M M Sayeed, chartered electrical engineer, and L S Sayeed.^[1] He is sometimes described as 'Anglo-Indian' of 'half-Indian'; however Sayeed did not describe himself as a member of an ethnic minority.^[2][3] Sayeed was educated in Suffolk.^[4]

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.^[4]

Career in Business

After leaving the Royal Navy, Sayeed joined Marks and Spencer PLC and has held Directorships in various international companies since 1974:^[4]

• 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 Sayeed married Nicola Anne Power (born 11 November 1956), daughter of Norman and Joy Power.^[1][5] Mrs Sayeed prefers to be known as Anne. They have 2 sons: Edward (born 1985)^[1][5], who spent some time as a research assistant to his father in the House of Commons.^[6]; and Richard (born 1988).^[1][5]

Whilst he was MP for Mid Bedfordshire, Sayeed lived in Westminster, and also had a house in Houghton Conquest.^[7]

He is (or was) a member of the Carlton Club. His interests include golf, sailing, tennis, skiing, classical music, reading and architecture. He has [allegedly] written and co-written several books.^[4][8]

MP for Bristol East 1983-1992

Sayeed was elected Member of Parliament for Bristol East at the 1983 General Election, where he defeated Tony Benn. The constituency was created for the 1983 general election, partly from the Bristol South East constituency, where Tony Benn had been MP for the previous 32 years.^[4] For the Conservatives, this was one of "the three great prizes" of the election, as Benn was "the man they most love to hate".^[9] 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."^[10]

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

Sayeed 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.^[4] In 1988, He secured an Urban Development Corporation for Bristol despite the opposition of the then Environment Secretary, Nicholas Ridley.^[11][4] Sayeed started to climb the ministerial ladder in 1991, when he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Lord Belstead as Paymaster General.^[1][4] However in 1992 his career took a step back, when he lost his seat to Labour in the General Election.^[4]

Career Interlude 1992-97

In 1996 Sayeed sold his Public Affairs company, and was appointed Chairman of the Training Division of Corporate Services Group Plc.^[12]. In May 1997, he stood down as Chairman after being elected Member of Parliament for Mid-Bedfordshire.^[4]

MP for Mid Bedfordshire 1997-2005

He returned to Parliament as MP for Mid Bedfordshire in the 1997 general election, and held the seat until 2005.

Hague Election Campaign

Sayeed's house at 28 Stafford Place was the headquarters for William Hague's successful bid to become Conservative Leader in 1997.^[13]

Progress with his Career

Sayeed served on the Broadcasting Select Committee, and was appointed by the Speaker of the House of Commons to the Chairman’s Panel. This small group of senior MPs act as Chairmen of the Committees that debate legislation.^[4]

In the 1999-2000 session of Parliament, Lord Weatherill and Sayeed introduced a private member's bill, which successfully became UK law. This was the "Census (Amendment)" bill.^[14][15]

Sayeed was chairman of European Standing Committee C,^[16] was joint-chairmen (together with Labour MP Bill O'Brien) of the Standing Committee on Regional Affairs.^[17]

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.^[18][19] This was a junior shadow ministerial post; the Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary was Peter Ainsworth.^[20] Sayeed continued as shadow Minister after a reshuffle by the Conservative leader The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith in July 2002.^[21]

The War on Terrorism and the War in Iraq

After the terrorist attack on 9 September 2001, the UK Parliament was recalled, and a solemn five-hour emergency sitting of the House of Commons debated the crisis. Jonathan Sayeed said that military might alone would not be enough to deal with the problem. "There has to be some understanding why there is such hatred for so many institutions within the United States. Unless we deal with some of the deep-seated causes, then more terrorists will come to the fore."^[22] However the Prime Minister was adamant that there should be no “moral ambiguity” about the events in the US, that the entitlement to dislike the US could never justify the actions carried out.^[23]

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. 'Every Conservative MP has been instructed by pager message not to voice doubts about a possible war to journalists, but to share them privately with Mr Duncan Smith or the chief whip, David Maclean. Despite this warning, several Tories, including one on the front bench, have openly dissented from the party line. Jonathan Sayeed, a shadow Environment minister, told the Commons last week that he had heard no convincing case for war. "Every television company will broadcast to the world, including the Arab world, harrowing pictures of the human catastrophe that warfare leaves in its wake, and the closer war comes to Baghdad the greater will be the innocent casualties."'^[24]

An article by Sayeed was published in the Guardian on 24 January 2003: entitled An undemocratic war He wrote: "I believe that although a war against Iraq may become necessary, I am not convinced that it is necessary now, and that more should be done to avert war."^[25]

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^[26]
• John Randall - Whip^[18][27]

Views

Whilst he was MP for Bristol East, Sayeed called for establishment of charity-run hostels for the homeless on derelict council land.^[4]

Economically, Sayeed 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.^[18]

Sayeed urged for new roads to regenerate towns and inner-cities. He campaigned against a proposed 17-tonne lorry ban, against illegal sites for travellers, and against 'unnecessary' development of the Bedfordshire countryside.^[4]

Ruin

For much of the time when Sayeed was MP for Mid-Bedfordshire, the chairman of the local constituency party was Mrs Alexandra Messervy. Mrs Messervy also became one of Sayeed's paid assistants in the House of Commons. In June 2001 Mrs Messervy set up a travel company called The English Manner Ltd.^[28] The business of this company was to provide luxury travel holidays to the UK for Americans; the holidays included lessons in English etiquette from members of the English upper classes and access to exclusive events and institutions.^[29] Mrs Messervy had a 60% shareholding, Sayeed had 30%, and 10% was owned by Mrs Genie Ford (who ran operations in the US).^{[30][31][32][33]}

In May/June 2003 or 2004, Ashley Green succeeded Alexandra Messervy as local constituency party chairman.^[34][31][35]

In the Summer of 2004, the Sunday Times claimed "The English Manner Ltd charges clients up to £500 per day for access to the Palace of Westminster through Jonathan Sayeed".^[31] On a number of occasions Sayeed provided entertainment in the House of Commons for individuals on holidays arranged by The English Manner. However, there is no evidence that Sayeed received any direct financial benefit for this.^[33][30]

There was a meeting of the local constituency party's executive council on 13 September 2004 to discuss the allegations in the Sunday Times article. It is claimed that at the meeting Alexandra Messervy anounced that a local donor, Martin Randall, had agreed to give the party some £10,000, so long as "Jonathan is still the candidate at the general election." (Martin Randall was chairman of a double-glazing company called Crystal Clear, which Sayeed was a director of.]^[36]

"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."^[37][38]

Sayeed said that the suspension was "unjust and wrong" but he made an "unreserved" apology to MPs in the Commons chamber: "I accept that a complaint was brought because of ineffectual internal controls in a company in which I had an interest and that as an MP I was negligent in not checking the actions of that company. For that I unreservedly apologise to the House." He told colleagues he had disposed of his shares in The English Manner and resigned as a consultant to it. He said: "I can assure the House that I have never used my access to the House or its facilities for direct or indirect commercial benefit and I have never solicited or received any payment for any tour or entertainment within the Palace of Westminster." ^[31]

On 17 Feb 2005, the Mid-Bedfordshire Conservative Association held a meeting at the Rufus Centre in Flitwick to consider Jonathan Sayeed's future.^[31] The meeting decided by a majority of 173 to 126, that Sayeed should remain the Conservative candidate in the forthcoming General Election. After the vote, Constituency association president Sir Stanley Odell resigned in protest.^{[39][33][40][41]} One constituency party member, Geoffrey Beckwith, said: "I think the membership was strongly against the motion. Mr Sayeed has behaved impeccably. This is just a storm in a teacup. I think the chairman of the party [Ashley Green] might now have to look to his own position."^[42]

On 21 Feb 2005, the constituency party chairman's wife Mrs Valmai A Green and another member wrote to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, enclosing a letter Sayeed had sent to members of the Mid-Bedfordshire Conservative Association, and asking if Sayeed should have used House of Commons stationery and facilities for this.^[43] "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."^[37] 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.^[44] This enables the Conservative Party leader to over-rule local constituency Conservative Party branches who want to retain their sitting MP as candidate.

In March 2005, Jonathan Sayeed was criticised by the House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges for his use of allowances and Parliament's stationary. He was ordered to pay back £12,500 which was spent on his Bedfordshire home - the money is allocated for London expenses only. A further £9,500 in expenses were investigated by the Standards and Privileges Committee.^[45] Sayeed's total expenses in 2004/05 were £129,499, which was 205th out of 659 MPs.^[46]

On 14 March 2005, it was announced that Jonathan Sayeed would not be contesting the May 2005 general election, on grounds of ill health."^[39]

Jonathan Sayeed was one of two Conservative MP had the party whip withdrawn at the time of the election.^[47] The other was Howard Flight, who was deselected over comments he made on Tory spending plans.^[48]

Since 2005

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

References