Michael Thomas Hancock (born 9 July 1946) is a British politician. He was most recently an independent Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth South.
Hancock formally resigned from the Liberal Democrat whip in early June 2014 until a civil court action brought against him by a female constituent alleging improper conduct was resolved. An out-of-court settlement with the woman, known only as 'Annie', was reached later in June 2014 in which Hancock admitted that he "crossed the line" into inappropriate behaviour. Hancock's resignation was announced on 18 September 2014.
He stood as an independent candidate in the 2014 Portsmouth City Council elections and lost his seat in Fratton Ward to UKIP candidate Julie Swan. The Liberal Democrats lost overall control of the council. While still an MP, Hancock stood again as an independent candidate for Fratton Ward in the 2015 Portsmouth City Council elections this time coming 6th, with the Liberal Democrat candidate Dave Ashmore taking the seat.
Hancock was previously the Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South for the SDP following a by-election in 1984 until 1987.
Early life
Hancock was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, the son of a Portsmouth naval stoker, growing up on a Portsmouth council estate. He was educated at comprehensive schools in Portsmouth. He worked as an engineer until he was first elected to Parliament, and in the years between his parliamentary career he worked as both a director of the Daytime Club at the BBC and as a district officer for Mencap.
Political career
Hancock joined the Labour Party in 1968, and was elected as a councillor to Portsmouth City Council in 1971. He left the Labour Party and joined the new Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981, becoming the leader of the council in 1989. He continued in this role until his second election to the House of Commons, and remained a member for Fratton on the city council until 22 May 2014, when he was defeated. He was also elected to Hampshire County Council in 1973, becoming the leader of the Labour group on the council in 1977 until he left the party, leading the council as a Liberal Democrat between 1993 and 1997, when the creation of Portsmouth Unitary Authority meant that he was no longer eligible to stand.
He contested Portsmouth South for the SDP at the 1983 general election but lost to the sitting Conservative MP Bonner Pink by 12,335 votes. Pink died on 6 May 1984, and Hancock was elected after being a candidate, again for the SDP, at the by-election by 1,341 votes. In his book Time To Declare, the SDP leader David Owen claimed that Hancock's victory prevented a Liberal attempt to subsume the SDP before the 1987 general election. However, Hancock later lost his seat in the 1987 general election to the Conservative David Martin by just 205 votes. He narrowly lost the seat to Martin again at the 1992 general election, this time by just 242 votes. He also contested the European Parliament seat of Wight and Hampshire South in 1994. He returned to parliament at the 1997 general election, defeating Martin by 4,327 votes and held the seat for the Liberal Democrats at each subsequent general election.
He was promoted to the frontbench by Paddy Ashdown in 1997 as the spokesman on foreign and commonwealth affairs until 2000, when he was moved by Charles Kennedy to speak on the environment, transport and the regions, but following the 2001 general election, Hancock returned to the backbenches.
It was reported that he signed nomination forms for more than one candidate in the 2006 Liberal Democrat leadership election, in order to ensure a 'proper contest'.
On 29 March 2015, Hancock announced he would run again in Portsmouth South, this time as an independent candidate. Hancock failed to win the election, as did the official Liberal Democrat candidate; the constituency was gained by the Conservative Party.
Committee membership
He was member of both the defence select committee from 1999 to 2011 and has been on the Speaker's panel of chairmen since 1999. He is the vice-chairman of the all party groups on Croatia, and Russia.
He was previously chair of the Russia group, until being succeeded by Labour's Chris Bryant, because he was felt to be too lenient towards Moscow: "We were concerned by Mike Hancock's pro-Putin and pro-Medvedev position. That is why I stood against him and ousted him. His research assistant, who provided secretarial support to the group, was incensed and walked out."
Hancock holds various positions on the Council of Europe, including a committee position on the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee).