Eric Illsley
| Eric Illsley | |
|---|---|
|
Member of Parliament for Barnsley Central |
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In office 12 June 1987 – 8 February 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Roy Mason |
| Succeeded by | Dan Jarvis |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
9 April 1955 Kendray, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party |
Labour (1987–2010) Independent (2010–2011) |
| Spouse(s) | Dawn Illsley |
| Alma mater | University of Leeds |
Eric Evlyn Illsley (born 9 April 1955) is a former British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Barnsley Central from 1987 until 2011. He 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. When he pleaded guilty to three counts of false accounting on 11 January 2011, he became the first sitting Member of Parliament to be convicted of a criminal offence in the scandal. Illsley resigned from the House of Commons on 8 February 2011, following his conviction, and was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment on 10 February 2011.
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. He was an official for the NUM for ten years, including during the miners' strike of 1984–1985. In the NUM, he was a compensation officer from 1978 to 1981, assistant head of general department from 1981 to 1984, and head of general department and chief administration officer from 1984 to 1987.
When former Northern Ireland Secretary Roy Mason announced his retirement in October 1986, Illsley was nominated by the NUM in the selection of a Labour candidate for Barnsley Central. He 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. The general secretary of the Yorkshire NUM, Sam Thompson, wrote to NUM members encouraging them to attend the selection meeting in January 1987, Illsley was selected and then easily elected to the House of Commons in the general election in June 1987. He was on the frontbench while Labour were in opposition, but was a backbencher after they won power in 1997. He voted against the privatisation of the National Air Traffic Services (NATS).
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