Neale Hanvey

James Neale Hanvey (born December 1964)[1][2] is a Scottish politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath since 2019.[3] He was selected as the Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate for the seat, but suspended from the party prior to his election and sat as an Independent until June 2020, when he was re-admitted to the SNP.[4]

Neale Hanvey MP
Hanvey in 2019
Member of Parliament for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 December 2019
Preceded by	Lesley Laird
Majority	1,243 (2.6%)
Councillor, Fife Council
In office 3 May 2012 – 4 May 2017
Constituency	Dunfermline Central
Personal details
Born	James Neale Hanvey December 1964 (age 55)
Political party	SNP (since 2020; until 2019)
Other political affiliations	Independent (2019–2020)

Career

Prior to the start of his political career, Hanvey worked in the National Health Service for 25 years, latterly as Divisional Nurse Director for Rare Cancer at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.[5] After returning to Scotland, he was elected as a Scottish National Party councillor in the 2012 Scottish local elections for the Dunfermline Central ward in Fife.[6] He became the SNP group leader on the council in 2017,[7] but lost his seat three months later at the 2017 local elections.[8] In October 2019, he was selected as the SNP candidate for the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency at the 2019 general election.

Shortly after his selection, Hanvey was criticised by rival candidates and trans people within and outwith his party[9] for voicing his opposition to the SNP's policy of support for transgender self-identification. Discussing proposed reforms to the Gender Recognition Act 2004, Hanvey said his "biggest concern is that there has been a growing attempt by MAP (minor attracted person) and paedophiles to add their initials to the LGBT+ group".[10]

Later in November, he was suspended from the party following allegations that he had made anti-Semitic social media posts, in which he compared Israeli treatment of the Palestinian people to the Holocaust and criticised the alleged influence of George Soros.[11] Hanvey had SNP support for his campaign withdrawn but remained as the party candidate on the ballot paper, as the 14 November 2019 deadline for nominations had already passed.[12] Hanvey supported the decision to suspend him and apologised for the offending posts, stating "Although I do not in anyway consider myself anti-Semitic, on reflection the language I used was, and this is clearly unacceptable."[13][11]

Hanvey was elected as MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath at the 2019 general election, gaining the seat from the Labour Party's shadow Scottish secretary Lesley Laird by a narrow majority of 1,243 votes or 2.6%.[14] He sat as an independent MP upon his election.[15] It is thought to be the first time a challenger has undergone suspension as candidate from a party, won the seat and then sat as an independent.[11] In March 2020, the SNP's conduct committee agreed to readmit Hanvey to the party in May 2020, on completion of an education course at a Holocaust centre.[16][17] Hanvey announced that he had been re-admitted to sit as an SNP MP in June 2020.[4]

Personal life

Hanvey is one of 45 openly LGBT MPs.[18] He is a supporter of the controversial "LGB Alliance" group.[10]

References

1. "UK Parliamentary Election for the constituencies of Dunfermline and Fife West; Glenrothes; Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath; North East Fife" (PDF). Returning Officer, Fife Council. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
2. "James Neale HANVEY - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
3. "General Election 2019: Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
4. Smith, Craig (1 June 2020). "Fife MP 'welcomed back' into SNP after six-month suspension". The Courier. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
5. "Health and Social care appointment". Central Fife Times. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
6. "Jim Leishman elected as Labour councillor in Dunfermline Central". BBC News. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
7. "Dunfermline Central Councillor Neale Hanvey elected as new SNP group leader in Fife". Dunfermline Press. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
8. Watson, Johnathon (5 May 2017). "Fife Council election results — Tory in, SNP leader out in Ward 3: Dunfermline". The Courier. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
9. "SNP members 'victims of LGBT campaign'". The Times. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
10. "'WOMEN NOT BEING HEARD' AS SNP CANDIDATE DEFENDS HIS GRA CONCERNS". Pink Saltire. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
11. "Axed SNP candidate elected to Westminster". 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
12. "Nicola Sturgeon: SNP members must stop supporting candidate Neale Hanvey". The Scotsman. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
13. @JNHanvey (28 November 2019). "Statement from Neale Hanvey regarding his suspension as SNP candidate for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
14. "Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath parliamentary constituency - Election 2019" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
15. Peeble, Sheryl (13 December 2019). "Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath: Neale Hanvey hails victory after being 'cast aside' by SNP". The Courier. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
16. ."SNP to readmit MP Neale Hanvey after anti-Semitism probe". BBC. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
17. Farquharson, Kenny. "Suspended candidate Neale Hanvey vows to overturn SNP ban". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
18. Brown, Steve (16 December 2019). "The new UK Parliament reportedly has the highest number of LGBTQ MPs in the world". Attitude.co.uk. Retrieved 4 June 2020.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Lesley Laird	Member of Parliament for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath 2019–present	Incumbent