Andrew Stunell

Andrew Stunell was born in Sutton, Surrey. He was educated at Surbiton County Grammar School for Boys, before studying architecture at the University of Manchester and Liverpool Polytechnic. He became a member of RIBA in 1969.

Stunell married Gillian Chorley in 1967. They have three sons and two daughters. He was a former Baptist lay preacher and an active member of his local Methodist church.

After graduation he was an architectural assistant until 1989, working for CWS Manchester from 1965 to 1967, Runcorn New Town from 1967 to 1981, then freelance 1981–5. From 1989 to 1996 he worked as Political Secretary of the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1995 New Year Honours.{{London Gazette |issue=53893 |date=31 December 1994 |page=14 |supp=y }}

Stunell was elected to Chester City Council in 1979 and to Cheshire County Council in 1981. He subsequently served on Stockport Council for six years, remaining on the Council for a time after his election as an MP. He contested the City of Chester constituency three times, as the Liberal Party candidate in 1979 and for the SDP-Liberal Alliance in 1983 and 1987.

Stunell was elected as the member of parliament for Hazel Grove in 1997 having fought the seat previously in 1992 when he came second with 43.1% of the vote. The general election of 1997 resulted in a majority of 11,814 and a 54.5% of the vote, taking the seat from the Conservatives. He retained the seat at the 2001 (52%), 2005 (49.5%) and 2010 (48.8%) general elections.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics|title=Politics|website=The Guardian|access-date=13 December 2016|archive-date=19 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219013128/https://www.theguardian.com/politics|url-status=live}}

File:From left to right Neil O'Brien and Andrew Stunell OBE MP.jpg at Conservative Party conference in 2011]]

On entering parliament in 1997 Stunell was appointed the Shadow Energy minister under Paddy Ashdown, a role he performed until 2005. At the same time Stunell operated as the party's deputy chief whip, only stepping down from that position in 2001 when he was elected to the position of Chief Whip, a position he was re-elected to in 2005. He stood down from the role in March 2006 to serve as the Shadow Secretary of State for communities and local government which concluded in December 2007 when Nick Clegg asked him to become chair of the Liberal Democrat local elections team. In January 2009 Stunell was appointed to be the Liberal Democrat representative on the International Development Select Committee and in August 2009 he was asked to take on the role of vice-chair of the general election campaign.[http://www.andrewstunell.org.uk/page.php?Andrew Andrew Stunell | About Andrew – Andrew in Parliament] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101025101336/http://www.andrewstunell.org.uk/page.php?Andrew |date=25 October 2010 }}

In 2003 Stunell came top in the regular ballot of Private Members' Bills and was successful in having his Sustainable and Secure Buildings Bill become an Act of Parliament in 2004.{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/22/contents|title=Sustainable and Secure Buildings Act 2004|website=www.legislation.gov.uk|access-date=27 October 2010|archive-date=5 August 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120805062152/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/22/contents|url-status=live}} As part of the bill Stunell wanted to see all new and existing homes either built or renovated with security and energy saving features with Stunell saying that he wanted the bill to promote "greener and safer buildings".{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/3399743.stm|title=MPs' lobby: Greener and safer buildings|date=18 September 2018|via=news.bbc.co.uk|archive-date=19 September 2018|access-date=18 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919025351/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/3399743.stm|url-status=live}}

Following the general election of 2010, no one political party was able to secure a majority in the House of Commons. As a result, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats entered into negotiations with each other to form the United Kingdom's first coalition government since the Second World War.

Stunell along with Danny Alexander, Chris Huhne and David Laws acted as the negotiating team for the Liberal Democrats with William Hague, Oliver Letwin, George Osborne and Edward Llewellyn acting for the Conservatives.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/may/11/hung-parliament-negotiators-profiles|title=Profiles: The Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Labour negotiators|first=Haroon|last=Siddique|date=11 May 2010|website=The Guardian|access-date=13 December 2016|archive-date=21 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221124213/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/may/11/hung-parliament-negotiators-profiles|url-status=live}}

Following the formation of the coalition, Stunell was appointed a Parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Communities and Local Government under Secretary of State Eric Pickles. His responsibilities in the role were community cohesion, race equality, building regulations and the implementation of the Big Society particularly with regard to housing and regeneration.[http://www.communities.gov.uk/profiles/corporate/andrewstunnell Department of communities and local government | Andrews Stunell profile] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100625024016/http://www.communities.gov.uk/profiles/corporate/andrewstunnell |date=25 June 2010 }}

He was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom on 7 November 2012 at Buckingham Palace.{{cite web |url=http://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/document-2012-11-08-133314.pdf |title=ORDERS APPROVED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL HELD BY THE QUEEN AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON 7TH JUNE 2012 |last=Tilbrook |first=Richard |date=7 November 2012 |website=The Privy Council Office |access-date=5 April 2024 |archive-date=9 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151109181157/http://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/document-2012-11-08-133314.pdf |url-status=live }} This entitled him to the Honorific Prefix "The Right Honourable" for life.

Stunell was knighted for public and political service in the 2013 Birthday Honours.{{London Gazette|issue=60534 |supp=y|page=2|date=15 June 2013 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/206698/Birthday_Honours_List_2013.pdf |title=Birthday Honours List 2013 |access-date=14 June 2013 |date=14 June 2013 |publisher=HM Government |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017051132/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/206698/Birthday_Honours_List_2013.pdf |archive-date=17 October 2013 |url-status=live }} receiving the accolade from the Prince of Wales on 24 January 2014.{{London Gazette |issue=60966 |date=20 August 2014 |page=16222 }}

In 2013 he announced that he would be stepping down at the next general election.{{cite news |last1=Vine |first1=Katherine |title=Hazel Grove MP Andrew Stunell to step down at next general election |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/hazel-grove-mp-andrew-stunell-6116425 |access-date=7 April 2015 |work=Manchester Evening News |date=30 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111180525/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/hazel-grove-mp-andrew-stunell-6116425 |archive-date=11 January 2015 |url-status=live}}

Stunell was created a Life Peer taking the title Baron Stunell, of Hazel Grove in the County of Greater Manchester on 26 October 2015.{{London Gazette |issue=61395 |date=30 October 2015 |page=21334 }}

Stunell died on 29 April 2024, at the age of 81.{{cite web |last1=Pack |first1=Mark |title=Andrew Stunell, former Lib Dem MP, dies |date=30 April 2024 |url=https://www.markpack.org.uk/172782/andrew-stunell-former-lib-dem-mp-dies/ |access-date=30 April 2024 |archive-date=30 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240430145019/https://www.markpack.org.uk/172782/andrew-stunell-former-lib-dem-mp-dies/ |url-status=live }}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Laws |first=David |title=22 Days in May |year=2010 |publisher=Biteback |isbn=978-1-84954-080-3}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050516230019/http://www.andrewstunell.org.uk/ Andrew Stunell MP] official constituency website
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20220301231955/https://www.libdems.org.uk/andrew_stunell Profile] at the Liberal Democrats
• {{UK MP links | parliament = andrew-stunell/445 | hansard = mr-andrew-stunell | hansardcurr = 4170 | guardian = 5048/andrew-stunell | publicwhip = Andrew_Stunell | theywork = andrew_stunell | record = Andrew-Stunell/Hazel-Grove/1142 | bbc = 25261.stm | journalisted = }}

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Category:1942 births

Category:2024 deaths

Category:Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University

Category:Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester

Category:Knights Bachelor

Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers

Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II

Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies

Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire

Category:People from Sutton, London

Category:UK MPs 1997–2001

Category:UK MPs 2001–2005

Category:UK MPs 2005–2010

Category:UK MPs 2010–2015

Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Hazel Grove

Category:Member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life