Hazel Blears
Hazel Anne Blears (born 14 May 1956) is a British former Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) successively for the constituencies of Salford and Salford and Eccles between 1997 and 2015.
Hazel Blears
Tony Blair
Ian McCartney
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Michael Halsall
One of 101 female Labour MPs elected at the 1997 general election, Blears served in the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio and Chair of the Labour Party between 2006 and 2007, and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2007 to 2009, before resigning as a result of the expenses scandal. Commenting on her resignation, Gordon Brown said that Blears had made an "outstanding contribution" to public life.[1][2]
Blears was re-elected in 2010 and remained a backbencher, before standing down at the 2015 election.[3]
Early life and education[edit]
Hazel Blears was born in Salford, Lancashire on 14 May 1956, the daughter of Arthur Blears, a maintenance fitter.[4][5]
Blears was educated at Worsley Wardley Grammar School in Wardley, Worsley and then Eccles College on Chatsworth Road in Ellesmere Park, Eccles. She went to Trent Polytechnic in Nottingham (now known as Nottingham Trent University), graduating with a BA (Hons) degree in law, and later, the Chester College of Law in 1977.[6][7]
Later career[edit]
In May 2015, Blears became a director of The Co-operative Group and a member of the Risk and Audit Committee and Nominations Committee, for which she was paid £60,000 a year for which she was expected a minimum of one or two days' work per month.[35][36] In 2016 Blears was appointed Chair of the Social Investment Business.[37] She has also had roles as Chair of the Institute for Dementia at the University of Salford, as an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society, and as a trustee of the Social Mobility Foundation.[38] In September 2020, Blears was appointed as "Social Value Specialist" for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority[39]
Personal life[edit]
She married Michael Halsall in 1989. They have no children.[5]
In 2005 Blears was a member of a parliamentary tap-dancing troupe known as the Division Belles (a play on the term "division bell"). Other members included Caroline Flint, Beverley Hughes, Laura Moffatt, Meg Munn, Joan Ryan and Dari Taylor.[5]