Eric Evlyn Illsley was born on 9 April 1955 and is a former British Labour politician who was the Member of Parliament for Barnsley Central from 1987 until 2011.
16 Facts About Eric Illsley
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Eric Illsley was a Labour Party representative until suspended from the party after being charged with false accounting as part of the United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal, and then sat as an Independent.
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Eric Illsley was born in Kendray, West Riding of Yorkshire and educated at Hunningley Lane Junior School, Barnsley's Holgate Grammar School for Boys and the University of Leeds, where he obtained an honours degree in Law in 1977.
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When former Northern Ireland Secretary Roy Mason announced his retirement in October 1986, Eric Illsley was nominated by the NUM in the selection of a Labour candidate for Barnsley Central.
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Eric Illsley was viewed as being on the left of the Labour Party while his main opponent was Ronnie Fisher, a Barnsley Borough councillor identified as a moderate.
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The general secretary of the Yorkshire NUM, Sam Thompson, wrote to NUM members encouraging them to attend the selection meeting in January 1987, Eric Illsley was selected and then easily elected to the House of Commons in the general election in June 1987.
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Eric Illsley was on the frontbench while Labour were in opposition, but was a backbencher after they won power in 1997.
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John Lewis 8.
Eric Illsley voted against the privatisation of the National Air Traffic Services.
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Eric Illsley voted in favour of the introduction of identity cards in the UK.
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Eric Illsley voted against a bill proposing transparency in MPs' allowances and the publication of a list of allowed expenses, otherwise known as the John Lewis List.
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Shortly after re-election as a Labour MP in the 2010 general election, on 19 May 2010, Eric Illsley was charged with three counts of false accounting.
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Eric Illsley was suspended from the Labour Party and had the Labour whip withdrawn in the House of Commons.
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Eric Illsley was to be sentenced in February 2011 and if he received a prison sentence of more than 12 months, he would have been automatically disqualified as a member of parliament under the Representation of the People Act 1981, causing a by-election at Barnsley Central.
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Eric Illsley was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment on 10 February 2011, and was released on 13 May 2011 after serving three months.
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Eric Illsley wore an electronic tag for the remainder of his term.
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Eric Illsley revealed that he receives a Parliamentary pension, although he refused to disclose the amount.