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Karl Turner (British politician)

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Karl Turner
MP
Official portrait, 2017
Member of Parliament
for Kingston upon Hull East
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byJohn Prescott
Majority3,920 (13.2%)
Shadow portfolios
Shadow Cabinet
2016–2016Attorney General
Shadow Frontbench
2023–2024Solicitor General
2020–2021Legal Aid
2017–2020Shipping, Aviation and Road Safety
2016–2017Whip
2015–2016Justice
2014–2016Solicitor General
2013–2015Whip
Personal details
Born
Karl William Turner

(1971-04-15) 15 April 1971 (age 53)
Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Political partyLabour
Alma mater
Websitewww.karlturnermp.org.uk

Karl William Turner (born 15 April 1971) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull East since 2010.

Early life and career

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Karl Turner was born on 15 April 1971 in Kingston upon Hull.[1][2][3] He was raised in the city and was educated at Bransholme High School from 1984 to 1987, leaving at the age of 16.[4][5] He attended HCC Training to study business administration from 1987 to 1989.[6] Later, Turner became a self-employed antiques dealer.[7]

He returned to education in the late 1990s to study A Levels at Hull College, before graduating with a law degree as a mature student from the University of Hull in 2004.[4]

Turner became a barrister in 2005 after passing the Bar Vocational Course at Northumbria University and went on to practice criminal law for the Max Gold Partnership in Hull.[7] He did not complete his pupillage and is no longer authorised to practise by the Bar Standards Board.[8]

Parliamentary career

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Turner's constituency office on Holderness Road in Kingston upon Hull ahead of the 2024 general election

Turner was selected by the Labour Party as their candidate for Kingston upon Hull East in March 2008.[7] At the 2010 general election, Turner was elected to Parliament as MP for Kingston upon Hull East with 47.9% of the vote and a majority of 8,597.[9][10]

In April 2014, Turner referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after complaints were made in relation to invitations to a £45-a-head Labour Party fundraising event, sent using parliamentary email accounts.[11] The Commissioner for Standards concluded that there should be no inquiry.[11]

Turner was appointed Shadow Solicitor General by Labour leader Ed Miliband on 3 December 2014, and continued to serve as an opposition whip.[12]

At the 2015 general election, Turner was re-elected as MP for Kingston upon Hull East with an increased vote share of 51.7% and an increased majority of 10,319.[13]

On 11 January 2016, Turner was appointed Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales to replace Catherine McKinnell, who resigned following a reshuffle to the Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn.[14] On 26 June 2016, Turner resigned from the Shadow Cabinet following the EU referendum, among a number of his colleagues unhappy with Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.[15][16] He supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour leadership election. On 14 October 2016, it was announced that Turner had returned to Labour's frontbench as a Whip.[17]

Turner was again re-elected at the snap 2017 general election with an increased vote share of 58.3% and an increased majority of 10,396.[18] Following the election, he was appointed as Shadow Shipping, Aviation and Road Safety Minister within the Shadow Transport team.[19]

On 12 March 2018, allegations of sexual misconduct against Turner were reported in the British press.[20] Turner, via his solicitors, denied making any such comments or behaving inappropriately.[20] The Labour Party said it had not received a formal complaint and that complaints about inappropriate behaviour are taken "extremely seriously".[21]

In September 2019, Speaker of the House John Bercow described Turner as the "noisiest member of the House".[22]

At the 2019 general election, Turner was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 39.2% and a decreased majority of 1,239.[23]

Turner is a member of the Labour Friends of Israel group in Parliament.[24]

In August 2023, Turner apologised after sharing a doctored image of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Twitter.[25]

At the 2024 general election, Turner was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 43.8% and an increased majority of 3,920.[26]

Personal life

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He is married to Leanne Turner.[27]

References

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  1. ^ "Karl William Turner". Companies House. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  2. ^ "Karl Turner MP". BBC News. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Karl Turner". Politics.co.uk. Senate Media. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b "About Karl". Karl Turner. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  5. ^ "Labour MP Karl Turner denies sexually harassing woman who had a mastectomy". i. London. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Alumni – Profiles: Hull Training Graduates: Karl Turner MP". HCC Training. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012.
  7. ^ a b c "Turner's bid for history books". Hull Daily Mail. 18 March 2008. Archived from the original on 15 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  8. ^ Board, The Bar Standards. "The Barristers' Register". www.barstandardsboard.org.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Kingston upon Hull East – 2010 Election Results". General Elections Online. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Hull East". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  11. ^ a b "MP will not face spending probe". The Yorkshire Post. Leeds. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Labour reshuffle: Peer takes shadow attorney role". BBC News. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  13. ^ "Kingston upon Hull East – 2015 Election Results". General Elections Online. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  14. ^ Dathan, Matt (11 January 2016). "Jeremy Corbyn appoints Karl Turner Shadow Attorney General after suffering latest frontbench resignation". The Independent. London. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  15. ^ "East Hull MP Karl Turner quits Labour shadow cabinet as Jeremy Corbyn revolt grows". Hull Daily Mail. 26 June 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  16. ^ Syal, Rajeev; Perraudin, Frances; Slawson, Nicola (27 June 2016). "Shadow cabinet resignations: who has gone and who is staying". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  17. ^ Daly, Patrick (3 July 2017). "Karl Turner returns to Jeremy Corbyn front bench as Labour whip". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  18. ^ "Kingston upon Hull East – 2017 Election Results". General Elections Online. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  19. ^ "Reshuffle 2: The Maintenance of the Malcontents". New Socialist. 8 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  20. ^ a b Hughes, Laura (12 March 2018). "Senior Labour MP accused of 'slapping' woman's buttocks". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  21. ^ Heffer, Greg (12 March 2018). "Labour MP Karl Turner denies misogyny after allegedly 'slapping woman's buttocks'". Sky News. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  22. ^ Walsh, Colleen (17 September 2019). "On the Brexit hot seat". The Harvard Gazette. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  23. ^ "Hull East". BBC News. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  24. ^ "LFI Parliamentary Supporters". lfi.org.uk. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  25. ^ Rogers, Alexandra (2 August 2023). "Labour MP apologises for sharing fake image of Rishi Sunak". Sky News. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  26. ^ "Hull East Results". BBC. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  27. ^ Harley, Nick (15 April 2013). "Burglar raided MP's east Hull home". Hull Daily Mail. Archived from the original on 16 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
[edit]
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull East
2010–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales
2016 		Succeeded by
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