Jonathan Sayeed


Jonathan Sayeed is a British politician who was a Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2005.
He was the only member of the Conservative front bench who consistently, openly and publicly opposed the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Even though he was reselected by the Mid Bedfordshire Conservative Association as the Conservative candidate to recontest his seat in the House of Commons shortly before the 2005 General Election, he was forced to retire by ill health.
He was criticised by the Committee on Standards and Privileges for being "at the least negligent, at the worst careless" in respect of a company in which he had an interest but was completely cleared of any impropriety. In the investigation by Sir Thomas Legg into MPs expenses he was one of the minority of MPs who were completely cleared of any misuse of their second home allowances.

Early life

Jonathan Sayeed was the son of the late M M Sayeed, chartered electrical engineer, and L S Sayeed. He is sometimes described as 'Anglo-Indian' or 'half-Indian' due to his father being Indian; however Sayeed did not describe himself as a member of an ethnic minority. Sayeed was educated at Woolverstone Hall School in Suffolk.
He joined the Royal Navy in 1965, when he was 17. He spent two years at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth and then studied at the Royal Naval Engineering College, Manadon, for a BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He left the Navy aged 24 in 1973.

Career in business

After leaving the Royal Navy, Sayeed joined Marks and Spencer PLC as a management trainee. Since 1974 "he worked as a shipping and insurance consultant", and held directorships in various international companies:
Whilst he was MP for Mid Bedfordshire, Sayeed lived in Westminster, and also had a house in Houghton Conquest.
He was a member of the Reform Club and is a member of the Carlton Club. His interests include golf, sailing, tennis, skiing, classical music, books and architecture.

MP for Bristol East, 1983-1992

Sayeed was twice an unsuccessful candidate for the Greater London Council before entering Parliament at his first attempt. He was elected MP for Bristol East at the 1983 General Election, where he defeated Tony Benn. The constituency was created for the 1983 general election, partly from the Bristol South East constituency, where Tony Benn had been MP for much of the previous 32 years. For the Conservatives, this was one of "the three great prizes" of the election, as Benn was "the man they most love to hate". Nationally, "Labour gained 27.6 per cent, its lowest showing since 1918 and not much above the Liberal/SDP Alliance."
In the 1987 General Election, Sayeed more than doubled his majority.
Sayeed served on the select committees for Defence and the Environment; was chairman of the Shipping and Shipbuilding Committee; and deputy chairman of the All-Party Maritime Group. In 1988, he secured an Urban Development Corporation for Bristol despite the opposition of the then Environment Secretary, Nicholas Ridley. Sayeed started to climb the ministerial ladder in 1991, when he was appointed parliamentary private secretary to Lord Belstead as Paymaster General. However, in 1992 his career took a step backward when he lost his seat to Labour in the General Election.

Career Interlude 1992-97

In 1996 Sayeed sold his public-affairs company, and was appointed chairman of the training division of Corporate Services Group Plc. In May 1997, he stood down as chairman after being elected Member of Parliament for Mid-Bedfordshire.

MP for Mid Bedfordshire 1997-2005

He returned to Parliament as MP for Mid Bedfordshire in the 1997 general election, having defeated the incumbent MP, Sir Nicholas Lyell, the Attorney General, for the nomination and held the seat until 2005.

Hague election campaign

Sayeed's offices at 28 Stafford Place were the headquarters for William Hague's successful bid to become Conservative leader in 1997.

Career progress

Sayeed served on the Broadcasting Select Committee, and was appointed by the Speaker of the House of Commons to the Chairman's Panel. This small group of senior MPs comprises chairmen of the Committees that debate legislation.
In the 1999-2000 session of Parliament, Lord Weatherill and Sayeed introduced a private member's bill which was passed into law. This was the Census Bill.
Sayeed was chairman of European Standing Committee C, was joint-chairmen of the Standing Committee on Regional Affairs.
Jonathan Sayeed achieved his first front-bench post in 2001, when he was appointed as shadow minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This was a shadow-ministerial post; the Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary was Peter Ainsworth. "Among his first roles has been to lead for the Conservatives on the Home Energy Conservation Bill, for which he declared his party's support strongly at Second Reading. In Committee he made plain that this support was entirely conditional upon the continued inclusion of firm targets in the final text." The Association for the Conservation of Energy praised his efforts saying: "In a few months in post Mr Sayeed has proved himself to be a doughty fighter for strong policies backing energy conservation." Sayeed continued as shadow minister after a reshuffle by the Conservative leader The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith in July 2002.

War on terrorism and the Iraq war

After the 11 September terrorist attacks against the United States, the UK Parliament was recalled, and a solemn five-hour emergency sitting of the House of Commons debated the crisis. Jonathan Sayeed said that military might alone would not be enough to deal with the problem. "There has to be some understanding why there is such hatred for so many institutions within the United States. Unless we deal with some of the deep-seated causes, then more terrorists will come to the fore." However, the Prime Minister was adamant that there should be no "moral ambiguity" about the events in the US, that the entitlement to dislike the US could never justify the actions carried out.
In early 2003, the British Prime Minister Tony Blair supported American plans for the invasion of Iraq. British armed forces were deployed to participate in the invasion. The British Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith supported British government policy on this.
An article by Sayeed was published in The Guardian on 24 January 2003: entitled An undemocratic war. He wrote: "I believe that although a war against Iraq may become necessary, I am not convinced that it is necessary now, and that more should be done to avert war."
Three members of the Conservative front bench and one Conservative whip resigned their posts so that they could vote against the war:
Whilst he was MP for Bristol East, Sayeed called for establishment of charity-run hostels for the homeless on derelict council land.
Economically, Sayeed was on the right of the Conservative party, opposing British entry into the single European currency. He had strong views on defence. On social matters, he was on the more liberal wing of the party, with the exception of gay rights in the Armed Forces where he opposed the lifting of the ban on homosexuals. As an MP he was considered a well informed and thoughtful contributor to debates on foreign policy in the Middle East and on economic, defence and social matters.
Sayeed urged for new roads to regenerate towns and inner-cities. He campaigned against a proposed 17-tonne lorry ban, against illegal sites for travellers, and against 'unnecessary' development of the Bedfordshire countryside. He successfully persuaded the UK government to propose amendments to the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty and, despite opposition from the then Secretary of State for the Environment Nicholas Ridley, persuaded the Conservative government to permit an Urban Development Corporation in Bristol. In 2004 he proposed the end of male primogeniture for the British Monarchy though such a principle would not have been applied to the Prince of Wales or Prince William.

Back to business

For much of the time when Sayeed was MP for Mid-Bedfordshire, the chairman of the local constituency party was Alexandra Messervy. Messervy also became one of Sayeed's part-time paid assistants in the House of Commons. In June 2001 Messervy set up a travel company called The English Manner Ltd. The business of this company was to provide luxury travel holidays to the UK for Americans; the holidays included lessons in English etiquette from members of the English upper classes and access to exclusive events and institutions. Mrs Messervy had a 60% shareholding, Sayeed had 30%, and 10% was owned by Mrs Genie Ford.
In May–June 2003 or 2004, Ashley Green succeeded Alexandra Messervy as local constituency party chairman.
In summer 2004, the Sunday Times claimed "The English Manner Ltd charges clients up to £500 per day for access to the Palace of Westminster through Jonathan Sayeed". This was completely denied by the company, a denial that was supported by evidence. On a number of occasions Sayeed provided entertainment in the House of Commons for individuals on holidays arranged by The English Manner. However, there is no evidence that Sayeed received any direct financial benefit for this.
There was a meeting of the local constituency party's executive council on 13 September 2004 to discuss the allegations in the Sunday Times article. It is claimed that at the meeting Alexandra Messervy announced that a local donor, Martin Randall, had agreed to give the party some £10,000, so long as "Jonathan is still the candidate at the general election."
"The Conservative whip was temporarily suspended from Sayeed from 3rd February to 7th March 2005 after the House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges recommended that he be suspended from the service of the House for 10 working days. The Committee found that a company in which he had an interest had appeared to derive financial benefit from its offering tours of Parliament and ran the risk of damaging the reputation of Parliament."
Sayeed said that the suspension was "unjust and wrong" but he made an "unreserved" apology to MPs in the Commons chamber: "I accept that a complaint was brought because of ineffectual internal controls in a company in which I had an interest and that as an MP I was negligent in not checking the actions of that company. For that I unreservedly apologise to the House." He told colleagues he had disposed of his shares in The English Manner and resigned as a consultant to it. He said: "I can assure the House that I have never used my access to the House or its facilities for direct or indirect commercial benefit and I have never solicited or received any payment for any tour or entertainment within the Palace of Westminster."
On 17 February 2005, the Mid-Bedfordshire Conservative Association held a meeting at the Rufus Centre in Flitwick to consider Jonathan Sayeed's future. The meeting decided by a majority of 173 to 126, that Sayeed should remain the Conservative candidate in the forthcoming General Election. After the vote, Constituency association president Sir Stanley Odell resigned in protest. One constituency party member, Geoffrey Beckwith, said: "I think the membership was strongly against the motion. Mr Sayeed has behaved impeccably. This is just a storm in a teacup. I think the chairman of the party might now have to look to his own position."
On 21 February 2005, the constituency party chairman's wife Mrs Valmai A Green and another member wrote to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, enclosing a letter Sayeed had sent to members of the Mid-Bedfordshire Conservative Association, and asking if Sayeed should have used House of Commons stationery and facilities for this. "The Committee issued a second report on 17th March 2005 criticising Sayeed for failing to apologise for his conduct as the first report had ordered, for sending out a circular on House of Commons stationery to members of the Mid Bedfordshire Conservative Association asking for their support in his reselection, and misuse of allowances to pay for work on his home. Following this report, the Conservative Party removed the whip from Sayeed permanently." Under Conservative Party rules, a sitting MP can only be an approved Conservative party candidate in a parliamentary election if he/she has the Conservative Party whip. This enables the Conservative Party leader to over-rule local constituency Conservative Party branches who want to retain their sitting MP as candidate.
In March 2005, Jonathan Sayeed was criticised by the House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges for his use of allowances and Parliament's stationery. He was ordered to pay back £12,500 which was spent on his Bedfordshire home – the money is allocated for London expenses only. This money was subsequently repaid to Sayeed following his producing the receipts for the correct property. Similarly treated was a further £9,500 in expenses investigated by the Standards and Privileges Committee. In the investigation by Sir Thomas Legg of the validity of payments of the Additional Costs Allowance made to Members of Parliament during 2004–05 to 2008-09 Jonathan Sayeed was one of the minority of MPs who were completely cleared of any impropriety or misuse of their allowances.
"On 14 March 2005, it was announced that Jonathan Sayeed would not be contesting the May 2005 general election, on grounds of ill health."
Jonathan Sayeed was one of two Conservative MPs who had the party whip withdrawn at the time of the election. The other was Howard Flight, who was deselected over comments he made on Conservative spending plans.

Since 2005

He retired from Parliament at the General Election of 2005, and is currently a chairman of various companies. In 2009, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld ten complaints against his company PatientPak, accusing the company's marketing campaign of "scaremongering" when advertising its patient hygiene kit as "essential to protect against hospital superbugs."
On 19 July 2005 the House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges concluded that, in making ACA claims in respect of an ineligible property, Mr Sayeed did not properly observe the administrative rules relating to the allowance, and therefore breached the Code of Conduct in this respect. The committee explained this conclusion writing, "We agree with the Commissioner and deplore Mr Sayeed’s failure to take the steps necessary to satisfy himself that such important matters were being dealt with properly. Had he still been a Member, we would have given serious consideration to a further period of suspension."