Editing Greg Pope

{{Short description|British politician}}
{{distinguish|Pope Gregory (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Greg Pope
| honorific-suffix =
| image = 
| office2 = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br> for [[Hyndburn (UK Parliament constituency)|Hyndburn]]
| parliament2 = 
| majority2 =
| predecessor2 = [[Ken Hargreaves]]
| successor2 = [[Graham Jones (politician)|Graham Jones]]
| term_start2 = 10 April 1992
| term_end2 = 12 April 2010
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1960|08|29}}
| birth_place = [[Blackburn]], England, United Kingdom
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = British
| spouse = Catherine Fallon
| party = [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
| relations =
| children = 3
| residence = [[Blackburn]], Lancashire
| alma_mater = [[University of Hull]]
| occupation = Assistant General Secretary, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales
| profession =
}}

'''Gregory James Pope''' (born 29 August 1960) is a [[Labour Party (UK)|British Labour Party]] politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for [[Hyndburn (UK Parliament constituency)|Hyndburn]] from [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992]], until retiring at the general election of [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010]]. He was a government [[whip (politics)|whip]] from 1997 until 2001.

==Early life==
Pope was born and raised in Great Harwood, the only son of Sam and Sheila Pope. He went to St Marys College R.C. Grammar School on ''Shear Brow'' in [[Blackburn]], now [[St. Mary's College, Blackburn|St Mary's Sixth Form College, Blackburn]]. He studied Politics at the [[University of Hull]], graduating in 1981.

Pope was elected to serve on [[Hyndburn Borough Council]] in 1984 until 1988, and he also served briefly on [[Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council|Blackburn Borough Council]] from 1989 to 1990.

==Parliamentary career==
Pope unsuccessfully fought [[Ribble Valley (UK Parliament constituency)|Ribble Valley]] at the election of [[1987 United Kingdom general election|1987]], placing third, before gaining Hyndburn from the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Ken Hargreaves]] in April 1992. Considered a [[Tony Blair|Blairite]],<ref>[http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,,1832868,00.html Cabinet concern over PM's stance], Tania Branigan and Alexi Mostrous, The Guardian, 29 July 2006</ref> Pope is a signatory of the [[Henry Jackson Society]]. He was a member of the backbench committee on Northern Ireland from 1997 to 2001.

In April 2000, as a whip, Pope inadvertently approved a Liberal Democrat clause in the government's utilities bill, committing the government to meet 10% of electricity requirements from green sources by 2010. Pope said: “We were doing a series of government amendments. I realised I'd shouted aye too many times. I'm not overjoyed about it.” The error led the government to instruct its MPs to vote against the clause.<ref>''Whip's error on Lib-Dem clause "farcical"'', Financial Times, 19 April 2000</ref>

In July 2003, Pope admitted leaking confidential [[Foreign Affairs Select Committee]] evidence, to ''[[The Guardian]]'' chief political correspondent [[Patrick Wintour]]. The move was described{{by who|date=February 2021}} as an attempt to “bounce” MPs on the committee into clearing [[Alastair Campbell]] of “sexing up” the so called [[Dodgy Dossier]]. This was of evidence into the threat, posed by Iraqi leader [[Saddam Hussein]].{{cn|date=February 2021}}

On 11 June 2009, Pope announced that he would stand down at the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 Election]].<ref>[http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/4433816.Hyndburn_MP_to_step_down/ "Greg Pope to step down as Hyndburn MP"], ''[[Lancashire Telegraph]]'', 11 June 2009</ref> In November 2009, [[Graham Jones (politician)|Graham Jones]], who later became his successor, was chosen as an candidate to succeed him by [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/4753551.Hyndburn_Labour_successor_to_Greg_Pope_announced/|title=Hyndburn Labour successor to Greg Pope announced|publisher=lancashiretelegraph.co.uk|date=22 November 2009 |accessdate=7 July 2016}}</ref> In April 2010, he revealed he nearly didn't stand in [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005]]. However, quite a few of his friends and family talked to him and persuaded him to have one more term, which he did have.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accringtonobserver.co.uk/news/local-news/highs-and-lows-but-no-regrets-for-greg-1271610|title=Highs and lows, but no regrets for Greg Pope MP|publisher=accringtonobserver.co.uk|date=9 April 2010|accessdate=3 January 2017}}</ref>

==Parliamentary expenses==
In December 2009, Greg Pope claimed £21,613 in expenses in a single year (2008–2009) and £7,295 of '' Additional Cost Allowance'', which included household furnishings and mortgage payments. This was over a two-year period.<ref>[http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/4789751.Expenses__Hyndburn_MP_Greg_Pope_claims___21_000/ "Expenses: Hyndburn MP Greg Pope claims £21,000"], ''[[Lancashire Telegraph]]'', 11 December 2009</ref><ref>[http://mpsallowances.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/hocallowances/allowances-by-mp/greg-pope/ "Allowances by MP – Greg Pope"], ''UK Parliament''</ref><ref>[http://www.accringtonobserver.co.uk/news/local-news/revealed-mp-greg-popes-7295-1270918 "Revealed: MP Greg Pope’s £7,295 claim for house expenses"], ''[[Accrington Observer]]'', 18 June 2009</ref>

==After politics==
On 19 April 2010, Pope was appointed as the deputy director of the [[Catholic Education Service]] (CES).<ref>[http://www.cesew.org.uk/standardnews.asp?id=9332 Greg Pope joins CESEW as its new Deputy Director] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928045143/http://www.cesew.org.uk/standardnews.asp?id=9332 |date=28 September 2011 }}, ''[[Catholic Education Service]]'', 19 April 2010</ref> In March 2017, he left the CES to become the Assistant General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales; in October 2019 he became its Executive Director, and in November 2024 its General Secretary.

==Personal life==
He married Catherine Fallon on 2 August 1985; they have three children. Catherine, known as Kate, is the General Secretary of the Association of Educational Psychologists, a registered trade union representing educational psychologists working in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.aep.org.uk/about-the-aep/organisation/ |title = AEP - Organisation}}</ref> Their son, Conor, was previously deputy editor of pressure group by [[New Labour]], [[Progress (organisation)|Progress]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.progressonline.org.uk/about-progress/the-progress-team/|title=Progress {{!}} News and debate from the progressive community {{!}} The Progress Team|website=www.progressonline.org.uk|access-date=2017-02-06}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.gregpope.co.uk Official Website]
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-greg-pope | Greg Pope }}
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-4221,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Greg Pope MP]
* [http://www.hull.ac.uk/pas/undergraduate/what_our_students_say/Greg_Pope/index.html His experience at Hull] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070303024033/http://www.hull.ac.uk/pas/undergraduate/what_our_students_say/Greg_Pope/index.html |date=3 March 2007 }}
* [https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/greg_pope/hyndburn TheyWorkForYou.com – Greg Pope MP]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/334.stm BBC Politics page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070820142144/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/334.stm |date=20 August 2007 }}

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{{succession box
  | title  = Member of Parliament for [[Hyndburn (UK Parliament constituency)|Hyndburn]]
  | years=1992–2010
  | before = [[Ken Hargreaves]]
  | after = [[Graham Jones (politician)|Graham Jones]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Greg}}
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1992–1997]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1997–2001]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2001–2005]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2005–2010]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Hull]]
[[Category:Politics of Hyndburn]]
[[Category:English Roman Catholics]]