Ann Keen
Ann Lloyd Keen is a British Labour Party politician, who served as Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament] for Brentford and Isleworth from 1997, until she was defeated by Conservative candidate Mary Macleod in 2010. She served as a health minister in the government of Gordon Brown.
Early life
Keen is the daughter of steelworker John Lloyd Fox and Ruby Hughes. She went to Elfed Secondary Modern School in Buckley, Clwyd, then gained a PGCEA from the University of Surrey. She worked in the National Health Service before training as a registered nurse at Ashford General Hospital in Ashford, Middlesex, and won prizes as Nurse of the Year and Children's Nurse of the Year. She later became a district nurse. From 1989 to 1993, she was Head of the Faculty of Advanced Nursing at Queen Charlotte's College in Hammersmith and she also served as General Secretary of the Community and District Nursing Association.Parliamentary career
Keen stood for the Brentford and Isleworth seat in 1987 and 1992 though was unsuccessful on both occasions. For the 1997 election she was again selected, on this occasion through an all-women shortlist. This method of selection was declared unlawful in January 1996 as it breached sex discrimination laws. Despite the ruling she remained in place as the candidate for the 1997 general election, when she became an MP defeating Conservative MP Nirj Deva.Keen's first role in Parliament came in 1999 when she was appointed as parliamentary private secretary to Frank Dobson, Secretary of State for Health, though this appointment lasted less than a month. She then moved to the Treasury, later becoming Parliamentary Private Secretary to the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown. In 1999, The Guardian newspaper revealed that she had acted as a "secret go-between" for the Labour Party and Shaun Woodward, at the time the MP for Witney, as he attempted to defect from the Conservative Party in the same year. In 2000 Keen became well known for campaigning on gay rights, her interest in the issue sparked when she was reunited with her gay son who she had given up for adoption. In the same year she also successfully ran a campaign to elect Michael Martin as Speaker [of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker to the House of Commons].
She was defeated at the 2010 general election by Conservative candidate Mary Macleod on a swing of 6%.
Health minister
Keen campaigned in parliament on health issues as a backbencher, and served on the health select committee. In 1998, Keen proposed an early day motion calling for equitable care for women with ovarian cancer, which was supported by over 100 other MPs.On 29 June 2007, in Brown's first reshuffle as Prime Minister of [the United Kingdom|Prime Minister] she was promoted to become a parliamentary under-secretary of state in the Department of Health, where her brief included NHS dentistry.
In 2009–2010, Keen led the Prime Minister's independent commission on the future of nursing and midwifery in England, which resulted in the report Front Line Care (Report).
Policies
Heathrow Airport expansion
On 28 January 2009, Keen voted against a motion in Parliament calling for a review of the decision to add a third runway at Heathrow Airport. Keen had claimed to be opposed to expansion at Heathrow for many years; her website stated in 2007 that "one of her most successful campaigns was against the Third Runway at Heathrow." Friends of the Earth said she had "betrayed her constituents."Expenses
Keen and her MP husband Alan Keen used their combined second homes allowances to buy an apartment on the South Bank of the River Thames. The Waterloo apartment was nine miles from their constituency home in Brentford, a 30-minute drive from Westminster.In 2009, their Brentford home was occupied by squatters after it was unoccupied for 9–12 months following a dispute with a building firm undertaking renovation work.
In defending their part in the expenses scandal the Keens stated "we have advocated, strongly supported, and voted for the introduction of Freedom of Information legislation. We are pleased that the point has been reached when full details of MPs' expenses are being published on a regular basis for everyone to see".
A formal investigation into the Keens' expenses by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards ruled in March 2010 that the Keens had breached the expenses rules and that he regarded the breach of the rules as "serious", and involving "significant public funds". He suggested the Keens pay back four months worth of their claims – some £5,678. However, The Commons Standards and Privileges Committee of MPs disagreed with his findings and ordered them to repay £1,500.
Misuse of stationery
In May 2009 the Parliamentary ombudsman instructed Keen to repay £4,583 for sending unsolicited letters to her constituents. Keen invited them to coffee mornings using prepaid envelopes and on House of Commons headed stationery, a breach of Parliamentary rules as they are only permitted to be used for replies. Keen said the correspondence was sent by "a new member of staff... on House of Commons instead of constituency stationery. When it was brought to my attention I immediately refunded the cost."In April 2005 Keen also attracted criticism for using schools to distribute party political material to children's parents.