Alan Meale
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Sir Alan Meale MP |
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Member of Parliament for Mansfield |
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Assumed office 11 June 1987 |
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| Preceded by | Don Concannon |
| Majority | 6,012 (12.4%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
31 July 1949 Bishop Auckland, County Durham, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | Diana Gilhespy |
| Alma mater | Sheffield |
| Website | www.alanmeale.co.uk |
Sir Joseph Alan Meale (born 31 July 1949) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mansfield since 1987.
Meale attended St Joseph RC School in Bishop Auckland and studied at Ruskin College, and Durham University, his CV also mentions Sheffield Hallam.
Meale's website lists his previous occupations as Author, Editor, Development Officer, Trade Union Official, Researcher, Political Adviser and Journalist.
Meale entered Parliament on 11 June 1987 and made his maiden speech on 3 July 1987 in the Tourism debate where he commented on the poverty, lack of provision, opportunity and services in the Mansfield community. Meale was a whip from 1992 to 1994 when he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Prescott in Prescott's different roles until 1998.
Meale served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions under John Prescott from January 1998 to January 1999. He became UK Government whip Council of Europe Delegation in 2007 and acting Leader of the UK Delegation in 2010. He has been the chair of the British Section of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Cyprus Group since 2007.
In 1998 Michael Ancram accused Meale of "cronyism" following allegations in the Sunday Times that he had lobbied on behalf of Anthony Kleanthous, the millionaire Greek-Cypriot chairman of Barnet football club. Kleanthous wanted to build a £14m stadium on green belt land, 140 miles from Meale's constituency. The Sunday Times article noted that Britain's Greek-Cypriot lobbying groups had paid for Meale and his wife to go to Cyprus and donated thousands of pounds to Labour. Meale denied cronyism, whilst Kleanthos insisted he had not donated to the Labour party and said it was "a bit racist" to link his business interests to Greek-Cypriot political lobbying efforts based on his ethnicity.
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