Keith Vaz
 Keith Vaz       (politician) | ||||||||||||
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| Born | Nigel Keith Anthony Standish Vaz 1956-11-26 Aden Colony | |||||||||||
| Alma mater | Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge | |||||||||||
| Children | 2 | |||||||||||
| Spouse | Maria Fernandes | |||||||||||
| Member of | Chinese In Britain All-Party Parliamentary Group | |||||||||||
| Party | Labour | |||||||||||
| Relatives | • Valerie Vaz • Penny McConnell | |||||||||||
Dramatically snared while chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee.
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Keith Vaz is the former Labour Party Member of Parliament who was dubbed "Mr Vazeline" and the "ultimate 'Teflon' politician",[1] due to his ability to slip loose from scandal.
In October 2019, Keith Vaz was suspended from Parliament for six months by the House of Commons Standards Committee[2] and in November 2019, Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) was considering whether Keith Vaz can stand for the party at Leicester East in the UK/2019 General Election.[3]
On 10 November 2019, Keith Vaz announced he was not standing for re-election to Parliament.[4]
Contents
"A crook of the first order"?
Vaz was one of the members of the Commons who agreed to be on the all-party parliamentary group on Fiji proposed by Patrick Mercer MP, as part of his paid advocacy for lobbyists. Mercer was recorded describing Vaz as "a crook of the first order", adding that he had "never met an operator like him ... I mean it's not always completely ethical but it's stunning, he is an operator". Such comments on Vaz and on other politicians were a reason for the Committee on Standards deciding that Mercer had brought the House of Commons into disrepute.[5][6]
Standing down
In a statement, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said:
- "Keith Vaz was among the pioneering group of black and Asian Labour MPs elected in 1987. I was proud to support his selection and incredibly proud when he won, taking the seat from the Tories.
- "Keith has made a substantial and significant contribution to public life, both as a constituency MP for the people of Leicester and for the Asian community across the country. He has helped to pave the way for more BAME people to become involved in politics."
Keith Vaz said in a statement:
- "I have decided to retire after completing 32 years as the Member of Parliament for Leicester East.
- "In that time I have won eight general elections. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve my constituency since I came to the city in 1985.
- "I want to thank the people of Leicester East for their absolute loyalty and support."
Chair of the Home Affairs Committee
As Chair of the Home Affairs Committee, he was responsible for the investigation[Which?] into the VIPaedophile child abuse rings. After a sting operation involving male prostitutes and cocaine, he resigned as chair, after 2 days of criticism, on 6 September 2016. He did not deny the accusations.[7]
References
- ↑ "The 'Teflon' MP who counts leaders among his friends"
- ↑ "Labour MP Keith Vaz faces six-month suspension after drug and sex probe"
- ↑ "General Election 2019: Labour bans three former MPs from standing again"
- ↑ "General election 2019: Labour's Keith Vaz will not stand for re-election"
- ↑ https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmstandards/1225/1225.pdf
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140502031829/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/Standards%20Committee/Patrick%20Mercer%20Evidence%2012.03.14%20reordered.pdf
- ↑ "THE WEEK VAZELINE BECAME UNSTUCK: The downfall of controversial MP Keith Vaz whose slimy reputation finally caught the better of him"
