Political Career
Alan Haselhurst worked as an election agent for the Conservative MP for Hertford Robin Balniel at both the 1964 and 1966 general elections. Beginning in 1964, he served for two years as the Chairman of the National Young Conservatives. He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1970 general election for the Lancashire seat of Middleton and Prestwich, defeating the Labour MP Denis Coe by 1,042 votes. Haselhurst lost the seat at the next February 1974 general election to Labour's Jim Callaghan by just 517 votes (this is not the same James (Jim) Callaghan who later became Prime Minister, and later still Lord Callaghan of Cardiff). The Conservative MP for the Essex seat of Saffron Walden, Peter Kirk, died on 17 April 1977, and Haselhurst was selected to contest the subsequent by-election on 7 July. Alan Haselhurst won the seat with a majority of 12,437 and has been returned as its MP ever since.
In Parliament, he served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Home Secretary Robert Carr from 1973 until his defeat at the February 1974 general election. He also served as the PPS to the Secretary of State for Education and Science Mark Carlisle for two years from 1979. He served on the European Legislation Select Committee for fifteen years from 1982, and was a member of the Transport Select Committee from 1992 to 1997. He asked the first question in Margaret Thatcher's final Prime Minister's Question Time on 27 November 1990.
Following the 1997 general election, he was appointed Chairman of Ways and Means (Deputy Speaker), remaining in that post under successive Speakers Betty Boothroyd, Michael Martin, and John Bercow until May 2010.
Alan Haselhurst was considered a contender to succeed Martin at the announcement of Martin's resignation as Speaker on 19 May 2009. Sir Alan became embroiled in the MPs' expenses controversy and was accused by The Daily Telegraph of claiming £12,000 for gardening expenses over 4 years, claiming £249 every month—£1 below the threshold which meant he was not required to provide receipts. In an attempt to wipe his slate clean, he later paid back the gardening expenses "out of respect to his constituents". He withdrew from the race after getting 66 votes in the first round of voting and 57 in the second.
Sir Alan Haselhurst chose not to seek re-election as a Deputy Speaker after the 2010 general election. As the Chairman of Ways and Means must come from a different party than the Speaker was formerly a member of, he would have had to stand for 1st Deputy Chairman, a lesser position. Nevertheless, he was entrusted to continue as a temporary Deputy Speaker chairing debates in the period between the State Opening of Parliament and the election of new Deputy Speakers.
In July 2010, Haselhurst was appointed Chairman of the House of Commons Administration Committee, having earlier been defeated in the election for chair of the Backbench Business Committee by Natascha Engel. He turned down an offer of a Life Peerage and continues to represent his Saffron Walden constituents in the Commons.
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