Editing Stephen Pound

{{for|the lawyer, senator and judge in Nebraska|Stephen Bosworth Pound}}
{{Short description|British politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Stephen Pound
| honorific-suffix = 
| image = Official portrait of Stephen Pound crop 2.jpg
| caption = Official portrait, 2017
| office1 = [[Northern Ireland Office|Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland]]
| leader1 = [[Ed Miliband]]<br />[[Harriet Harman]] (Acting)<br />[[Jeremy Corbyn]]
| predecessor1 = [[Eric Joyce]]
| successor1 = [[Karin Smyth]]
| term_start1 = 20 November 2010
| term_end1 = 6 November 2019
| office2 = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Ealing North (UK Parliament constituency)|Ealing North]]
| predecessor2 = [[Harry Greenway]]
| successor2 = [[James Murray (London politician)|James Murray]]
| term_start2 = 1 May 1997
| term_end2 = 6 November 2019
| birth_name = Stephen Pelham Pound
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1948|07|3|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Hammersmith]], [[London]], England <ref>{{cite web|url=http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/ealingnorth/ |title=UKPollingReport Election Guide » Ealing North |publisher=Ukpollingreport.co.uk |access-date=12 November 2012}}</ref>
| nationality = [[British people|British]]
| spouse = Maggie Pound<ref>{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/110124/part2.htm |title=House of Commons – The Register of Members' Financial Interests – Part 2: Part 2 |publisher=Publications.parliament.uk |access-date=12 November 2012}}</ref>
| party = [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
| relations = 
| children = 3
| residence = 
| alma_mater = [[London School of Economics]]
| occupation = 
| profession = [[Politician]]
| signature = 
| website = http://www.stevepound.org.uk/
}}
{{Republicanism sidebar}}
'''Stephen Pelham Pound''' (born 3 July 1948) is a British former [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] [[politician]] who was the [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Ealing North (UK Parliament constituency)|Ealing North]] from [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997]] to [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019]].

==Background==
His father, Pelham Pendennis Pound (1922–1999) was a [[BBC]] sub-editor and former journalist (including for the ''[[News of the World]]'' and ''[[Daily Mirror]]'') and literary agent whose clients included the osteopath [[Stephen Ward]]. When Ward was arrested for his role in the [[Profumo affair]] it was at Pound's home and Pound claims he had a minor role in the events leading to Ward's suicide.<ref>{{cite web|author=Quentin Letts |url=http://www.tatler.com/news/articles/may-2015/quentin-lettss-sketchbook-stephen-pound |title=Stephen Pound Labour MP – Bio & wiki |publisher=Tatler |date=21 May 2015 |access-date=10 March 2017}}</ref> Pound's grandfather, [[Reginald Pound]] (1894–1991) [[Royal Society of Literature|F.R.S.L.]] was a journalist and biographer (including of [[Lord Northcliffe]] and [[A. P. Herbert]]), employed by, amongst others, the ''[[Daily Express]]'' and ''[[Strand Magazine]]'' (editor 1942–46).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.henrywilliamson.co.uk/57-uncategorised/249-henry-williamson-and-reginald-pound|title=Henry Williamson and Reginald Pound|website=www.henrywilliamson.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Reginald Pound|url=http://btckstorage.blob.core.windows.net/site15733/Web%20M/M%202017%20Reginald%20POUNDv2.pdf |date=2017}}{{rs|date=January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/56115701?q&versionId=69094961|title = Trove}}</ref>

Pound went to [[Hertford]] [[Grammar School]] (now called [[Richard Hale School]]) on Hale Road in Hertford. He was educated, as a mature student from 1979–84, at the [[London School of Economics]] where he gained a Diploma in [[Industrial Relations]] and a [[Bachelor of Science|BSc]] in [[Economics]]. He was General Secretary of the [[Students' union|student union]] from 1981–82.<ref name=official>{{cite web|url=http://www.stevepound.org.uk/about.html|title=Stephen Pound's official site|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060921045357/http://www.stevepound.org.uk/about.html|archive-date=21 September 2006|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

He was a boxer in the [[Royal Navy]] when at sea from 1964–66, leading ''[[Private Eye (magazine)|Private Eye]]'' magazine to refer to him as "Ealing North's tattooed bruiser". He also played football for [[Hanwell Town F.C.|Hanwell Town]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8106650.stm |title=UK &#124; UK Politics &#124; What you've spotted on expenses |work=BBC News |date=25 June 2009 |access-date=12 November 2012}}</ref> worked as a [[bus conductor]] for [[London Transport Board|London Transport]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_objectid=16246836&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=tory-mp-wallops-labour-mp-name_page.html|title=EXCLUSIVE: TORY MP WALLOPS LABOUR MP|work=Mirror|date=13 October 2005}}</ref> from 1966–68, and was a hospital porter from 1969–79. Prior to becoming an MP he worked for Paddington Churches [[Housing Association]] as a housing manager from 1984 until he became an MP. He was based at their office in [[Willesden]].

==Political career==
Pound served as a councillor in [[Ealing]] from 1982 to 1998. In 1982, he won Elthorne ward and in 1986 he was re-elected in his home ward of Hobbayne.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} He was the MP for Ealing North from 1997 to 2019.

He served as the [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]] (PPS) to [[Hazel Blears]] until he resigned in protest at the [[British replacement of the Trident system|decision to replace Trident]] on 14 March 2007.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6448173.stm Nuclear weapons 'essential to UK'], BBC News, 14 March 2007</ref> He supported Blears in the [[2007 Labour Party (UK) deputy leadership election|2007 Labour Party deputy leadership election]].

Pound held the position of PPS to Minister [[Stephen Timms]] at the [[Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform]] from October 2008 until May 2010. In April 2009 he was reported to have announced his resignation from this position, in order to vote against the government's policy of restricting the right of former [[Gurkha]]s to settle in the UK.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8023882.stm Brown defeated over Gurkha rule], BBC News, 29 April 2009</ref>

After the election of [[Ed Miliband]] as Labour leader in October 2010, he became an assistant whip. In November of that year he became shadow minister for Northern Ireland. He had served on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee between 1997 and 2010.

In 2012, despite his republican views, Pound criticised protests arranged during [[Elizabeth II]]'s Diamond Jubilee stating "You can hold republican views but you respect the current monarch – particularly in this year of all years. There is no need to lose your manners, and this is deliberately provocative."<ref>{{cite web|title = Republicans provoke Labour|url = https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/republicans-provoke-labour-7444317.html|website = Evening Standard|date = 10 April 2012|access-date = 18 October 2015|language = en}}</ref>

In February 2013, Pound voted against the second reading of the [[Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-02-05 |title=MP-by-MP: Gay marriage vote |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-21346694 |access-date=2024-05-02 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> Subsequently, in May 2013 the MP voted against the bill’s third and final reading,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Public Whip — Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill — Third Reading - 21 May 2013 at 18:59 |url=https://www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=2013-05-21&number=11&display=allpossible&sort=vote |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=www.publicwhip.org.uk}}</ref> opposing the legalisation of same-sex marriage within England and Wales.

He supported [[Owen Smith]] in the failed attempt to replace [[Jeremy Corbyn]] in the [[2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election|2016 Labour leadership election]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mps-nominating-owen-smith-labour-8451186|title=Which MPs are nominating Owen Smith in the Labour leadership contest?|last1=Smith|first1=Mikey|date=20 July 2016|work=Mirror|access-date=10 November 2018|last2=Bloom|first2=Dan}}</ref>

In 2019, Pound announced that he would not seek re-election at the next general election.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/6-labour-mps-stand-down-17544372|title=6 Labour MPs stand down amid reselection drive as election looms - full list|first1=Nicola|last1=Bartlett|first2=Dan|last2=Bloom|date=8 July 2019|website=mirror}}</ref>

==Voting record==
How Stephen Pound voted on key issues since 2001:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/stephen_pound/ealing_north|title=Find your MP|website=TheyWorkForYou}}</ref>

* Voted against introducing a [[smoking ban]].
* Voted for introducing [[ID card]]s.
* Voted for introducing [[foundation hospital]]s.
* Voted for introducing student top-up fees.
* Voted for Labour's [[anti-terrorism laws]].
* Voted for the [[Iraq War]].
* Voted against investigating the Iraq War.
* Voted against replacing [[Trident (missile)|Trident missile]] system.
* Voted for the [[hunting ban]].
* Voted against [[same-sex marriage]].
* Voted for laws to stop [[climate change]].

==MPs' expenses scandal==
{{main|United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal}}
In May 2009 it was discovered Pound had claimed a mileage allowance of £4,251, equating to 11,004 miles of travel between his constituency and Parliament 11 miles away. He explained this by saying he made the trip "two or three times a day".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://metro.co.uk/2009/05/25/mps-travel-expenses-cost-us-5-5m-a-year-147930/|title=MPs' travel expenses cost us £5.5m a year|date=25 May 2009|work=[[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]]|publisher=[[DMG Media]]|access-date=4 July 2017}}</ref> He later said he had abandoned his ageing car altogether in favour of public transport.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Pound|first1=Steve|title=Steve Pound MP: Why I no longer have a car and don't miss it|url=http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/news-opinion/steve-pound-mp-no-longer-6366546|access-date=29 March 2015|publisher=Get West London|date=3 December 2013}}</ref>

==Media involvement==
In 2003 [[BBC]]'s ''[[Today (BBC Radio 4)|Today]]'' asked its listeners to suggest a law that they would like to see put onto the statute books. The BBC received 10,000 nominations and five were short-listed, from which listeners then voted to select their preferred choice. Pound agreed to sponsor in [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] whichever idea eventually won the final vote.

On 1 January 2004 it was announced on air that first place with 37 per cent of the vote had gone to the proposal to authorise homeowners to use any means to defend their home from intruders. (The controversial farmer [[Tony Martin (farmer)|Tony Martin]] was still very much in the news.) Pound's on-air reaction to the result was that, "The people have spoken—the bastards".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/misc/law_result_20040101.shtml|publisher=BBC – Radio 4 |title=Today Programme Iraq Report}}</ref>

In May 2005, Pound appeared on British TV quiz show ''[[Have I Got News For You]]'' and in December of that year in a special edition of ''[[University Challenge]]''.

In April 2015, a video circulated on social media where Pound asked Cameron whether he was willing to disassociate himself from the "snobbish and disdainful" bingo and beer advertisement tweeted by the Conservative Party chairman [[Grant Shapps]]. The Prime Minister thanked him for advertising the Conservative's strong economic policy, and ended his reply concerning Pound by saying: "I am sure that the honourable gentleman enjoys a game of bingo – it's the only time he'll ever get close to Number 10". After going viral it picked up more than 3.6 million views in less than 24 hours.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/david-cameron-thug-life-video-5444334|title=Watch David Cameron cracking joke in Parliament to Sean Paul hip hop tune|first=Sam|last=Adams|date=2 April 2015|work=Mirror}}</ref> 

==Personal life==
He married Maggie in 1976. They have a son and daughter. He is a Roman Catholic.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=15748|title=Winning motion: 'England should be a Catholic country again' - Independent Catholic News|first=Purple Ninja|last=Ltd|website=www.indcatholicnews.com|date=3 March 2010 }}</ref> In 2004, he discovered that he fathered a daughter when he was eighteen years old; this information was revealed to the public in January 2005.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4202513.stm|title=BBC NEWS - UK - Politics - MP's shock at long lost daughter|website=news.bbc.co.uk|date=24 January 2005}}</ref> Pound is a [[Fulham F.C.|Fulham FC]] fan, and also the Patron of [[Hanwell Town F.C.|Hanwell Town FC]].

Pound was made Vice-President of the [[Catholic Union of Great Britain]] in February 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Union |first=Catholic |date=2024-02-28 |title=New faces at the Catholic Union |url=https://catholicunion.org.uk/2024/02/new-faces-at-the-catholic-union/ |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=The Catholic Union of Great Britain |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://www.stevepound.org.uk Official website]
*{{UK MP links | parliament = stephen-pound/161 | hansardcurr = 218 | hansard = mr-stephen-pound | guardian = 4236/stephen-pound | publicwhip = Stephen_Pound | theywork = stephen_pound | record = Stephen-Pound/Ealing-North/418 | bbc = 25409.stm | journalisted = }}
*[http://www.ealinggazette.co.uk/ealing-news/ealing-columnists/constituency_matters/ 'Ealing Gazette' newspaper column] written by Stephen Pound and other Ealing MPs
*[http://www.ealingtimes.co.uk/news/yourmps/ 'Ealing Times' newspaper column] written by Stephen Pound and other Ealing MPs until 2008

;Articles
BBC News:
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4202513.stm MP's shock at long lost daughter]
''The Guardian'':
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,2033579,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1 MPs vote to renew Trident], with information of his resignation.
On his dressing up as a [[The Cheeky Girls|Cheeky Girl]] for charity:
* From the [https://web.archive.org/web/20080215203613/http://www.defamer.com.au/2008/02/memo_to_krudd_some_possible_ideas_for_upcoming_publicity_stunts.html Defamer Australia]
* From [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7234753.stm BBC News]

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{{s-bef|before=[[Harry Greenway]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Ealing North (UK Parliament constituency)|Ealing North]]|years=[[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997]]–[[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[James Murray (London politician)|James Murray]]}}
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{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pound, Stephen}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1997–2001]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2001–2005]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2005–2010]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2010–2015]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2015–2017]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2017–2019]]
[[Category:British republicans]]
[[Category:English Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:People educated at Hertford Grammar School]]
[[Category:People from Hammersmith]]
[[Category:Politicians from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]