Nick Palmer.html



Dr Nick Palmer MP
Member of Parliament for Broxtowe
Incumbent
Assumed office  1 May 1997
Preceded by	Jim Lester
Majority	2,296 (4.7%)
Born	5 February 1950 (1950-02-05) (age 58) City of Westminster, London
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Fiona Hunter
Residence	Attenborough, Nottinghamshire
Alma mater	Universities of Copenhagen, Birkbeck London and MIT
Occupation	Medical computing
Profession	Computer scientist
Website	http://www.broxtowelabour.org/

Dr Nicholas Douglas Palmer is a British politician and Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Broxtowe since 1997.¹ He is Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State, Malcolm Wicks, in the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and also serves as a member of the Justice Committee.²

Early life

Nicholas Palmer is the son of Reginald Palmer, a translator/editor and Irma Markin, a language teacher, being born in London on 5 February 1950. He speaks six languages, despite having a cleft palate, and is the first person to enter Parliament with this handicap.¹

He attended International Schools in Copenhagen and Vienna. He received his MSc at Copenhagen University and PhD in Mathematics at Birkbeck College, University of London. He also studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he researched artificial intelligence and language translation.¹

As a computer scientist, he developed the COMPACT clinical trials package for the Medical Research Council. Joining the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Ciba-Geigy, he became head of Novartis Internet Service when Ciba-Geigy merged with Novartis.¹

He is the cousin of Lieutenant-General Anthony Palmer, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff.

He is tall and slim and was voted the fourth sexiest MP in Nottinghamshire, out of a field of eleven.³ He married Fiona Hunter, then 42, in 2000, having proposed to her on the terrace of the House of Commons. The ceremony took place on his birthday in the ornate 14th century Chapel of St Mary Undercroft.⁴⁵

Political career

Nick Palmer joined the Labour Party on his twenty-first birthday and was the Labour candidate for Chelsea in the 1983 general election.¹ However, this was then the safest Tory seat in the country. He subsequently fought other elections until being selected to contest Broxtowe. During this period, he edited and published a magazine to represent the views of ordinary Labour party members - Grass Roots.⁶

He is a diligent constituency MP,^{citation needed} responding promptly to constituents' letters⁷ and engaging with matters of local concern such as open-cast mining and the development of the local Nottingham tramway.⁸ He sends frequent email newsletters to his constituents.⁹ This steady hard work is expected to build an unusually large personal vote¹⁰ and his re-election in 2001 with a significantly increased majority indicated that he had done a respectable job of representing his constituency.¹¹

In the party, he is part of the East Midlands Labour Group and serves upon the Executive of the Labour Friends of Israel.

He was PPS to the Minister of State, Margaret Beckett, in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

He has served upon an number of Select Committees including the European Scrutiny Committee¹² , the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee¹³ and the Treasury Committee¹⁴

He also belongs to an number of All-Party Parliamentary Groups on topics such as Animal Welfare, Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME), and World Government.

He helped organise the visit of the Dalai Lama to Britain in 2008, organising meetings and a special exhibit of a mandala in the House of Commons.¹⁵

Legislation

Palmer introduced a private member's bill advocating the introduction of Identity Cards which was taken up by the Government. He then brokered a deal with to get the government's version through the Lords.¹⁶ Palmer also introduced a 10 Minute Bill raising the age for possession of air weapons, especially to prevent malicious use against pets.¹⁷¹⁸

He introduced an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 require that counselling be provided in cases of foetal abnormality¹⁹. This was based upon his own personal experience of being born with a cleft palate, which was successfully reconstructed by pioneering surgeon Archibald McIndoe, who had advised his parents.²⁰

Dr Palmer has also campaigned in Parliament on such diverse issues as road signage, protection of the Green Belt²¹, and small print²².

Constituency work

• He organised a bus service to link Kimberley with the Nottingham tram at Phoenix Park.²³

Hobbies and other interests

With his secretary Philipa Coughlan and fellow MP, Liz Blackman, he compiled a book of recipes favoured by MPs. For example, Tony Blair's recipe was for Meatball and Tomato Sauce while speaker Betty Boothroyd preferred Stewed Oxtail. Nick Palmer's own recipe was for Swiss-style potatoes - Berner Roesti.⁶ He has also written three books on conflict simulation games and still attends international conventions, winning the Diplomacy championship at the World Boardgaming Championships in 2007.²⁴ He co-founded and edited Flagship magazine in 1983, covering the field of Play-by-mail games.

Palmer also designed and developed a computer game about the Battle of Britain: Their Finest Hour.²⁵

A keen card player Palmer has representing the House of Commons at bridge.²⁶

He is a frequent contributor to the website Politicalbetting.com.

He is fond of animals, being a Patron of his favourite charity Cats Protection⁶, has spoken in the Commons on animal welfare issues²⁷²⁸²⁹ , and keeps several pets including a dog called Magic.

External links

• BBC profile
• Broxtowe Labour Party
• The Guardian's Ask Aristotle
• Newsletters at Stapleford Web
• TheyWorkForYou.com
• Voting record at The Public Whip

References