British Conservative politician (born 1960)
Michael Whitney Freer
(born 29 May 1960) is a British
Conservative Party
politician and former banker serving as
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
for Courts and Legal Services since September 2022.
[2]
[3]
He was first elected as the
Member of Parliament
(MP) for the constituency of
Finchley and Golders Green
at the
2010 general election
, and stood down in
2024
.
Freer is a former leader of
Barnet Council
and a former councillor for the
Church End
and St Paul's wards in
Finchley
.
Early life and career
[
edit
]
Michael Freer was born in
Manchester
on 29 May 1960. Part of his childhood was spent in a council house, which was then bought by his parents following the Conservative government's
Right to Buy
policy.
[4]
He was educated at the
Chadderton Grammar School for Boys
and subsequently at
St Aidan's County High School
(now
Richard Rose Central Academy
) in
Carlisle
. He read accountancy and business law at the
University of Stirling
but did not graduate with a degree.
[4]
Freer worked for a number of fast-food chains, including
Pizzaland
,
Pizza Hut
and
KFC
, prior to a management career in the financial sector.
[4]
Freer worked for
Barclays Bank
as an "Area Performance Manager".
[5]
Local government
[
edit
]
Freer was first elected to Barnet Council in 1990 as a
Conservative
for the St. Paul's ward, winning the seat from
Labour
. However, he lost the seat back to Labour in 1994 and went on to lose in the East Finchley ward in 1998.
[6]
[7]
He was re-elected to the council, for the Church End ward, in 2002. He was unanimously elected leader of the council by his party on 11 May 2006, replacing Brian Salinger as Conservative group leader, having previously been Salinger's deputy.
[8]
[9]
Following the
collapse
of Icelandic banks
Glitnir
and
Landsbanki
in October 2008 in which Barnet Council had invested £27.4m of council taxpayers' money, Freer was named
Private Eye
'
s "Banker of the Year" in its Rotten Borough Awards of 2008.
[10]
The money was subsequently recovered.
[11]
In 2009, Freer announced a new model of local government delivery for the London Borough of Barnet, called "Future Shape" which he stated could save Barnet Council £24 million a year. The scheme has been dubbed easyCouncil because of its similarity to
easyJet
's business model.
[12]
Parliamentary career
[
edit
]
In the
2005 general election
, Freer contested
Harrow West
, coming second with 38.3% of the vote behind the incumbent
Labour
MP
Gareth Thomas
.
[13]
At the
2010 general election
, Freer was elected to Parliament as MP for
Finchley and Golders Green
with 46% of the vote and a majority of 5,809.
[14]
[15]
He was re-elected as MP for Finchley and Golders Green at the
2015 general election
with an increased vote share of 50.9% and a decreased majority of 5,662.
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
At the snap
2017 general election
, Freer was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 47% and a decreased majority of 1,657.
[20]
[21]
He was again re-elected at the
2019 general election
, with a decreased vote share of 43.8% and an increased majority of 6,562.
[22]
[23]
Positions
[
edit
]
Freer was appointed
Parliamentary Private Secretary
to the
Secretary of State for Transport
following the
2015 general election
, and served in this post until the
2017 general election
.
On 15 June 2017, Freer was appointed as an Assistant
Government Whip
.
[24]
In July 2018, he was appointed
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
, before being promoted to
Comptroller of the Household
in December 2019 in the
second Johnson ministry
.
On 16 September 2021, Freer was appointed
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports
at the
Department for International Trade
during the
cabinet reshuffle
.
[25]
He resigned on 6 July 2022 in protest over Boris Johnson's leadership.
[26]
In his resignation letter, he accused Johnson's government of "creating an atmosphere of hostility for LGBT+ people."
[27]
In the
House of Commons
he has sat on the Work and Pensions Committee, the Scottish Affairs Committee and the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee.
[28]
Views
[
edit
]
Freer is a member of
Conservative Friends of Israel
(CFI). Although he is not
Jewish
,
The Jewish Chronicle
in 2008 ranked him 99th in its list of 100 most powerful influences on the Jewish community.
[29]
In 2014, Freer resigned as parliamentary private secretary to
Nick Boles
in order to vote against a backbench motion recognising
Palestine
as a state alongside
Israel
, arguing "the two-state solution we all want to see should be the end not the start of the process".
[30]
In January 2016, the Labour Party unsuccessfully proposed an amendment in Parliament that would have required private landlords to make their homes "fit for human habitation". According to Parliament's register of interests, Freer was one of 72 Conservative MPs who voted against the amendment who personally derived an income from renting out property. The Conservative Government had responded to the amendment that they believed homes should be fit for human habitation but did not want to pass the new law that would explicitly require it.
[31]
Freer was opposed to Brexit prior to the
2016 referendum
.
[32]
He was a vocal defender of the Prime Minister
Theresa May
after she and the Conservative Party received criticism for her role in the
Windrush scandal
in 2018. After a constituent wrote to him complaining about the Conservative Party's role in the scandal, he responded that it was nothing to do with the party and that they should not believe 'misrepresentations' from the Labour Party.
[33]
On 1 April 2019 Freer was one of fifteen Conservative MPs to vote in favour of a
People's Vote
? a second referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union.
[34]
Other events
[
edit
]
In October 2011, Freer was the target of "a disturbance" at a constituency surgery in a mosque in his constituency of
Finchley
by members of
Muslims Against Crusades
.
[35]
In October 2019, Freer hosted a
crocus
planting ceremony in memory of the 1.5 million children who were murdered in the
Holocaust
, which was attended by around 100 members of the local community.
[36]
Chair of the local
constituency Labour Party
Matt Staples subsequently claimed that Freer had "politicised" the event by not inviting "representatives from across the political spectrum".
[37]
In April 2022, after the conviction of Ali Harbi Ali for the
murder of David Amess
, Freer revealed that he had been told by anti-terrorism police that Ali had visited his constituency office on 17 September 2021. Freer would normally have been at the office, but was not there as he was attending other meetings. Freer upgraded his security arrangements following the incident.
[38]
In December 2023, Freer's constituency was the target of a suspected arson attack.
[39]
In January 2024, he announced that he would not seek re-election at the
2024 general election
citing concerns over his personal safety from
Muslims Against Crusades
,
Ali Harbi Ali
and the arson attack on his constituency office.
[40]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Freer is gay, which he revealed to fellow MPs during a speech in the debates over the
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
.
[41]
He lives with his husband, Angelo Crolla,
[42]
in
Finchley
, north London.
[7]
He entered into a
civil partnership
in January 2007. On the eighth anniversary of their civil partnership, in January 2015, they converted it into a
marriage
.
[43]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
As Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitution and Legal Services from September to October 2022. He assumed responsibilities for Courts from
Gareth Johnson
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"No. 61961"
.
The London Gazette
. 19 June 2017. p. 11776.
- ^
"Ministerial Appointments: September 2022"
.
GOV.UK
. Retrieved
21 September
2022
.
- ^
"Mike Freer MP"
.
GOV.UK
. Retrieved
12 November
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Mr easyCouncil defends his local government model"
.
The Guardian
. 3 February 2010.
Archived
from the original on 3 August 2020
. Retrieved
15 August
2014
.
- ^
"Mike Freer's LinkedIn profile"
.
LinkedIn
. Retrieved
15 May
2019
.
- ^
"Barnet Council Election Results 1964?2010"
(PDF)
. Plymouth University.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 26 August 2018
. Retrieved
25 August
2018
.
- ^
a
b
Marc, Shoffman (11 December 2006).
"Gay councillor to fight key Tory target"
.
Pink News
. Archived from
the original
on 21 April 2013
. Retrieved
3 June
2008
.
- ^
Marzouk, Lawrence (18 May 2006).
"Right-wing coup"
. Times Series Newspapers
. Retrieved
3 June
2008
.
- ^
"About the Leader"
. Barnet Council Conservatives
. Retrieved
3 June
2008
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Lowe, Rebecca (8 January 2009).
"Something rotten in the state of Barnet"
. Times Series.
Archived
from the original on 25 October 2011
. Retrieved
12 July
2009
.
- ^
"Response"
. London Borough of Barnet. Archived from
the original
on 27 April 2015
. Retrieved
20 August
2021
.
- ^
Mulholland, Helene (3 February 2010).
"Mr easyCouncil defends his local government model"
. Guardian News and Media Limited.
Archived
from the original on 3 August 2020
. Retrieved
18 February
2010
.
- ^
"Election Data 2005"
.
Electoral Calculus
. Archived from
the original
on 15 October 2011
. Retrieved
18 October
2015
.
- ^
"Election Data 2010"
.
Electoral Calculus
. Archived from
the original
on 26 July 2013
. Retrieved
17 October
2015
.
- ^
BBC News|Election 2010|Constituency|Finchley & Golders Green
, BBC News, retrieved 27 July 2012
- ^
"Election Data 2015"
.
Electoral Calculus
. Archived from
the original
on 17 October 2015
. Retrieved
17 October
2015
.
- ^
"Election results in Barnet - barnet.gov.uk"
. 9 July 2015. Archived from
the original
on 20 November 2015
. Retrieved
21 August
2015
.
- ^
"Finchley & Golders Green parliamentary constituency - Election 2017"
– via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^
"UK ELECTION RESULTS"
.
electionresults.blogspot.co.uk
.
- ^
"Finchley & Golders Green parliamentary constituency"
. BBC News.
- ^
"House Of Commons Library 2017 Election report"
(PDF)
.
- ^
"Election of a Member of Parliament for the Finchley and Golders Green Parliamentary Constituency: Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll"
(PDF)
. London Borough of Barnet
. Retrieved
14 November
2019
.
- ^
"Finchley & Golders Green parliamentary constituency - Election 2019"
. BBC News.
- ^
"Assistant Government Whip ? GOV.UK"
.
www.gov.uk
.
Archived
from the original on 17 June 2017
. Retrieved
18 June
2017
.
- ^
"Ministerial appointments: September 2021"
. 16 September 2021.
Archived
from the original on 17 September 2021
. Retrieved
17 September
2021
.
- ^
Rigby, Beth.
"BREAKING. Mike freer resigns"
.
Twitter
. Retrieved
6 July
2022
.
- ^
Milton, Josh (6 July 2022).
"Second Tory equalities minister, Mike Freer, quits as Johnson hangs on by thread"
.
PinkNews
.
- ^
"Michael Ellis"
.
Parliament UK
.
Archived
from the original on 26 August 2018
. Retrieved
25 August
2018
.
- ^
"JC Power 100: The people shaping Jewish life in Britain"
.
Jewish Chronicle
. 25 April 2008. Archived from
the original
on 2 April 2015
. Retrieved
27 January
2015
.
- ^
Kinder, Tabitha (14 October 2014).
"Golders Green MP Mike Freer Resigns Role Over Commons Vote to Recognise Palestine as a State"
.
International Business Times
.
Archived
from the original on 19 June 2015
. Retrieved
24 March
2015
.
- ^
"Tories vote down law requiring landlords make their homes fit for human habitation"
.
Independent
. 13 January 2016.
Archived
from the original on 6 September 2018
. Retrieved
25 August
2018
.
- ^
Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016).
"Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?"
.
The Spectator
.
Archived
from the original on 3 February 2017
. Retrieved
11 October
2016
.
- ^
Craig, Jon (23 April 2018).
"Tory whip: Windrush critics 'opportunistic'
"
.
Independent
. Retrieved
21 March
2022
.
- ^
"The Public Whip ? Voting Record ? Mike Freer MP, Finchley and Golders Green (24934)"
.
www.publicwhip.org.uk
.
Archived
from the original on 15 August 2020
. Retrieved
21 December
2021
.
- ^
"MP Mike Freer 'threatened at mosque surgery'
"
. BBC News. 29 October 2011.
Archived
from the original on 31 October 2011
. Retrieved
29 October
2011
.
- ^
Wolfisz, Francine (4 October 2019).
"Mike Freer hosts crocus garden planting to remember child Shoah victims"
.
Jewishnews.timesofisrael.com
.
Archived
from the original on 7 October 2019
. Retrieved
23 October
2019
.
- ^
Harpin, Lee (4 October 2019).
"Finchley and Golders Green MP Mike Freer accused of 'Politicising' Holocaust Memorial Bulb Planting Event"
.
The Jewish Chronicle
. Retrieved
20 August
2021
.
- ^
Rose, David (11 April 2022).
"Golders Green MP reveals how last minute call from Boris prevented Amess killer from murdering him"
.
The Jewish Chronicle
. Retrieved
13 April
2022
.
- ^
"Tory MP Mike Freer's office hit by suspected arson attack"
.
BBC News
. 25 December 2023.
- ^
"Finchley and Golders Green MP Mike Freer quits amid personal safety concerns"
.
Evening Standard
. 31 January 2024
. Retrieved
31 January
2024
.
- ^
Freer, Mike (6 February 2013).
"Mike Freer: A gay Tory MP on why he went public"
.
The Independent
.
Archived
from the original on 2 April 2015
. Retrieved
24 March
2015
.
- ^
Lamden, Tim (6 February 2013).
"Gay Tory MP Mike Freer 'respects' opposition to 'landmark' gay marriage vote"
.
Ham & High
.
Archived
from the original on 26 September 2019
. Retrieved
26 September
2019
.
- ^
"Congratulations! Tory MP Mike Freer and partner Angelo convert their civil partnership to marriage"
.
Pink News
. 22 January 2015.
Archived
from the original on 23 January 2015
. Retrieved
23 January
2015
.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Mike Freer
.