Keith Vaz

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Person.png Keith Vaz   Powerbase Sourcewatch WebsiteRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(politician)
Keith Vaz.png
BornNigel Keith Anthony Standish Vaz
1956-11-26
Aden Colony
Alma materGonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Children2
SpouseMaria Fernandes
Member ofChinese In Britain All-Party Parliamentary Group
PartyLabour
Relatives • Valerie Vaz
• Penny McConnell
Dramatically snared while chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee.

Employment.png Chair of the Home Affairs Committee

In office
26 July 2007 - 6 September 2016
Resigned after being caught in a sting operation.

Employment.png Minister of State for Europe

In office
9 May 1999 - 11 June 2001
Succeeded byPeter Hain

Employment.png Member of Parliament for Leicester East

In office
11 June 1987 - 5 November 2019

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]

"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]

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