Frank Field (politician) 413976 225823219 2008-07-15T15:53:35Z Kanguole 5563803 redirect link to school {{otherpeople|Frank Field}} {{Infobox MP | honorific-prefix = [[Rt. Hon.]] | name = Frank Field | honorific-suffix =[[Member of Parliament|MP]] | image = Replace this image male.svg | constituency_MP = [[Birkenhead (UK Parliament constituency)|Birkenhead]] | parliament = | majority = 12,934 (46.5%) | predecessor = [[Edmund Dell]] | successor = [[Incumbent]] | term_start = [[3 May]] [[1979]] | term_end = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1942|07|16|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[London]] | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = [[United Kingdom|British]] | spouse = | party = [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] | relations = | children = | residence = | alma_mater = [[University of Hull]] | occupation = | profession = | religion = [[Church of England]] | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Frank Ernest Field''' (born [[July 16]], [[1942]]) is a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[politician]] and [[author]]. He is the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Birkenhead (UK Parliament constituency)|Birkenhead]]. ==Early life== Born in [[London]], he was educated at [[St Clement Danes School|St Clement Danes]] Holborn Estate Boys Grammar School before studying economics at the [[University of Hull]]. In his youth, he was a member of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], but left due to his opposition to [[History of South Africa in the apartheid era|South Africa's apartheid system]].<ref name=observer-20060702>{{cite news|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/7days/story/0,,1810702,00.html|title=Frank Field: Still thinking the unthinkable|author=Jay Rayner|date=2006-07-02|publisher=[[The Observer]]|accessdate=2007-07-30}}</ref> He was elected as a councillor in the [[London Borough of Hounslow]] for four years from 1964 and in the same year became a further education teacher in [[Southwark]] and [[Hammersmith]] until he became the Director of the [[Child Poverty Action Group]] 1969-79, and of the [[Low Pay Unit]] 1974-1980. ==Political career== Field unsuccessfully contested [[Buckinghamshire]] South at the [[United Kingdom general election, 1966|1966 General Election]] where he was defeated soundly by the sitting [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] veteran MP [[Ronald Bell (UK politician)|Ronald Bell]]. He was selected to contest the safe seat at [[Birkenhead]] at the [[United Kingdom general election, 1979|1979 General Election]] on the retirement of the sitting Labour MP [[Edmund Dell]]. Field held the seat safely with a majority of 5,909 and has remained the constituency MP since then. In [[Palace of Westminster|Parliament]] Field was made a member of the Opposition [[frontbencher|frontbench]] by [[Michael Foot]] as a spokesman on [[Department for Education and Skills|education]] in 1980 but was dropped a year later. Following the appointment of [[Neil Kinnock]] as the [[Leader of the Opposition (UK)|Leader of the Opposition]] in 1983 he was appointed as a spokesman on [[Department of Health and Social Security|health and social security]] for a year. He was appointed the chairman of the social services [[Select Committee (Westminster System)|select committee]] in 1987, becoming the chairman of the new social security select committee in 1990, a position he held until the [[United Kingdom general election, 1997|1997 election]]. Following the 1997 election, with Labour in power, Field joined the government of [[Tony Blair]] as the Minister of Welfare Reform at the [[Department of Social Security]] with the rank of [[Minister of State]]. Field viewed his task as 'thinking the unthinkable' in terms of social security reform; however, others report that the Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted some simpler vote-winning policy ideas.<ref name=observer-20060702 /> There were clashes with the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], [[Gordon Brown]], and the [[Secretary of State for Social Security]], [[Harriet Harman]]. He resigned his ministerial position in 1998 rather than accept a move from the Department of Social Security offered by [[Tony Blair]] in a reshuffle. It was reported that Mr Field argued for Tony Blair to promote him to [[Secretary of State for Social Security]].{{Fact|date=February 2007}} After holding office he was a member of the Ecclesiastical and public accounts committees, although since the [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005 General Election]] he has remained solely on the [[backbencher|backbenches]]. He is now a vocal critic of the government from the backbenches, notably voting against [[NHS Foundation Trust|Foundation Hospitals]] in November 2003. He was a significant critic of the abolition of the [[10p tax rate]].<ref name=independent-20080518>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/frank-field-frank-ndash-but-so-sorry-830365.html|title=Frank Field: Frank – but so sorry|date=2008-05-18|publisher=[[The Independent]]|accessdate=2008-05-18}}</ref> In June 2008, Frank Field joined calls for England to get a [[Devolved english parliament|devolved parliament]].<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article4061785.ece Gordon Brown pressed on English parliament] www.timesonline.co.uk, accessed July 14th, 2008</ref> Frank Field has been a member of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] in 1997. ==Personal beliefs== His political stance is somewhat at odds with the rest of the Labour Party. He is a member of the advisory board of the free-market [[think tank]] [[Reform (think tank)|Reform]] and of the new conservative magazine, ''[[Standpoint]]'', and in May 2008 said that [[Margaret Thatcher]] "is certainly a hero" and that "I still see Mrs T from time to time – I always call her 'Mrs T', when I talk to her."<ref name=independent-20080518/> A practising [[Anglican]], he is chairman of the [[Churches Conservation Trust]], and a member of the [[Church of England]] [[General Synod]]. ==Publications== * ''Twentieth Century State Education: Readings for General Studies'' by Frank Field and Patricia Haikin, 1971, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-913006-X * ''Black Britons: Readings for General Studies'' by Frank Field and Patricia Haikin, 1971, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-913007-8 * ''One Nation: The Conservatives Record since 1970'' by Frank Field, 1972, Child Poverty Action Group, ISBN B0000E9CMI * ''Abuse and the Abused'' by Frank Field, 1972, Child Poverty Action Group, ISBN 0-9500051-3-4 * ''Low Pay'' by Frank Field, 1973, Arrow Books, ISBN 0-09-908240-3 * ''Incomes Policy for Families'' by Frank Field, Child Poverty Action Group, ISBN 0-903963-07-8 * ''Unequal Britain'' by Frank Field, 1974, Arrow Books, ISBN 0-09-909820-2 * ''Housing and Poverty'' by Frank Field, 1974, Catholic Housing Aid Society, ISBN 0-903113-07-4 * ''Poor Families and Inflation'' by Michael Brown and Frank Field, 1974, Child Poverty Action Group, ISBN 0-903963-12-4 * ''The Stigma of Free School Meals: Welfare in Action'' by Frank Field, 1974, Child Poverty Action Group, ISBN 0-903963-23-X * ''Low Wages Councils'' by Frank Field and Steve Winyard, 1975, Spokesman Books, ISBN 0-85124-118-2 * ''Social Contract for Families: Memorandum to the Chancellor of the Exchequer'' by Frank Field and Peter Townsend, 1975, Child Poverty Action Group, ISBN 0-903963-21-3 * ''Unemployment: The Facts'' by Frank Field, 1975, Child Poverty Action Group, ISBN 0-903963-22-1 * ''Poverty: The Facts'' by Frank Field, 1975, Child Poverty Action Group, ISBN 0-903963-24-8 * ''Back to the Thirties for the Poor?: A Report on the Living Standards of the Poor in 1975'' by Frank Field, 1975, Child Poverty Action Group, ISBN 0-903963-27-2 * ''Education and the Urban Crisis'' Edited by Frank Field, 1976, Routlegde, ISBN 0-7100-8536-2 * ''To Him who Hath'' by Frank Field, 1976, Penguin Books Ltd, ISBN 0-14-021976-5 * ''The new Corporate Interest'' by Frank Field, 1976, Child Poverty Action Group, ISBN 0-903963-28-0 * ''Conscript Army: Study of Britain's Unemployed'' by Frank Field, 1977, Routlegde, ISBN 0-7100-8779-9 * ''Are Low Wages Inevitable?'' by Frank Field, 1977, Spokesman Books, ISBN 0-85124-165-4 * ''Wasted Labour: Call for Action on Unemployment'' by Frank Field, 1978, Child Poverty Action Group, ISBN 0-903963-58-2 * ''Rising Tide of Poverty: A Challenge for Political Parties'' by Frank Field, 1978, Low Pay Unit, ISBN B0000EDRIP * ''The Wealth Report'' by Frank Field, 1979, Routledge, ISBN 0-7100-0164-9 * ''Fair Shares for Families: Need for a Family Impact Statement'' by Frank Field, 1980, Study Commission on the Family, ISBN 0-907051-02-2 * ''Inequality in Britain: Freedom, Welfare and the State'' by Frank Field, 1981, Fontana, ISBN 0-00-635759-8 * ''Poverty and Politics'' by Frank Field, 1982, Heinemann Education, ISBN 0-435-82306-X * ''The Wealth Report 2'' by Frank Field, 1983, Routledge, ISBN 0-7100-9452-3 * ''Policies Against Low Pay'' by Frank Field, 1984, Policy Studies Institute * ''The Minimum Wage'' by Frank Field, 1984, Ashgate, ISBN 0-435-83300-6 * ''What Price a Child?: A Historical Review of the Relative Costs of Dependants'' by Frank Field, 1985, Policy Studies Institute, ISBN 0-85374-251-0 * ''Freedom and Wealth in a Socialist Future'' by Frank Field, 1987, Constable, ISBN 0-09-467380-2 * ''The Politics of Paradise: A Christian Approach to the Kingdom'' by Frank Field, 1987, Fount, ISBN 0-00-627114-6 * ''Losing Out: Emergence of Britain's Underclass'' by Frank Field, 1989, Blackwell Publishers, ISBN 0-631-17149-5 * ''An Agenda for Britain'' by Frank Field, 1993, Harper Collins, ISBN 0-00-638226-6 * ''Making Sense of Pensions'' by Matthew Owen and Frank Field, 1993, Fabian Society, ISBN 0-7163-0557-7 * ''Private Pensions for All'' by Frank Field and Matthew Owen, 1993, Fabian Society, ISBN 0-7163-3016-4 * ''Europe Isn't Working'' by Frank Field, 1994, Institute of Community Studies, ISBN 0-9523355-0-6 * ''Beyond Punishment'' by Frank Field and Matthew Owen, 1994, Institute of Community Studies * ''National Pensions Savings Plan'' by Frank Field and Matthew Owen, 1994, Fabian Society, ISBN 0-7163-4018-6 * ''Making Welfare Work: Reconstructing Welfare for the Millennium'' by Frank Field, 1995, Institute of Community Studies, ISBN 0-9523355-2-2 * ''The Measurement of Poverty and Low Income at the Millennium'' by Frank Field, 1995, Manchester Statistical Society, ISBN 0-85336-130-4 * ''Who Gets What, How and for How Long?'' by Frank Field and Paul Gregg, Fabian Society, ISBN 0-7163-4021-6 * ''How to Pay for the Future'' by Frank Field, 1996 * ''The Operation of the Child Support Agency'' by Frank Field, 1996, The Stationery Office Books, ISBN 0-10-207596-4 * ''Reflections of Welfare (Discussion Paper]]'' by Frank Field, 1998, The Social Market Foundation, ISBN 1-874097-32-1 * ''Stakeholder Welfare'' by Frank Field, Alan Deacon, Pete Alcock, David G. Green, Melanie Phillips, 2000, Civitas ISBN 1-903386-93-4 * ''The State of Dependency: Welfare Under Labour'' by Frank Field, 2000, The Social Market Foundation, ISBN 1-874097-52-6 * ''Capitalism, Morality and Markets by Brian Griffiths, Robert A Siciro, Norman Berry and Frank Field, 2001, Institute of Economic Affairs ISBN 0-255-36496-2 * ''William Temple: A Calling to Prophecy'' by Stephen Spencer and foreword by Frank Field, 2001, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, ISBN 0-281-05437-1 * ''Debating Pensions: Self-Interest, Citizenship and the Common Good'' by Frank Field and Alan Deacon, 2002, Civitas ISBN 1-903386-24-1 * ''Welfare Titans'' by Frank Field, 2002, Civitas, ISBN 1-903386-20-9 * ''Neighbours from Hell: The Politics of Behaviour'' by Frank Field, 2003, Politico's Publishing, ISBN 1-84275-078-X ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.frankfield.co.uk/ Frank Field MP] official site *[http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/Frank+Field/ ePolitix.com - Frank Field MP] *[http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-1704,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Frank Field MP] *[http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/frank_field/birkenhead TheyWorkForYou.com - Frank Field MP] *[http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=Frank_Field&mpc=Birkenhead The Public Whip - Frank Field MP] voting record *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/52.stm BBC News - Frank Field MP] profile 14 February, 2005 {{start box}} {{s-par|uk}} {{incumbent succession box | title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Birkenhead (UK Parliament constituency)|Birkenhead]] | start = [[United Kingdom general election, 1979|1979]] | before = [[Edmund Dell]] }} {{end box}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Field, Frank}} [[Category:Labour MPs (UK)]] [[Category:UK MPs 1979-1983]] [[Category:UK MPs 1983-1987]] [[Category:UK MPs 1987-1992]] [[Category:UK MPs 1992-1997]] [[Category:UK MPs 1997-2001]] [[Category:UK MPs 2001-2005]] [[Category:UK MPs 2005-]] [[Category:Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies]] [[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Councillors in Hounslow]] [[Category:English political writers]] [[Category:English Anglicans]] [[Category:1942 births]] [[Category:Living people]]