Roger Gale

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable

| name = Sir Roger Gale

| honorific-suffix = MP

| image = Official portrait of Roger Gale MP crop 2, 2024.jpg

| office = Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons

| termlabel = Acting

| 1blankname = Speaker

| 1namedata = Lindsay Hoyle

| term_start = 19 December 2022

| term_end = 30 May 2024

| monarch = Charles III

| primeminister = Rishi Sunak

| predecessor =

| office1 = Member of Parliament
for Herne Bay and Sandwich
{{nobold|North Thanet (1983–2024)}}

| term_start1 = 9 June 1983

| term_end1 =

| majority1 = 2,499 (5.1%)

| predecessor1 = Constituency established

| successor1 =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|08|20|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Poole, Dorset, England

| death_date =

| death_place =

| spouse = Susan Gabrielle Marks

| party = Conservative

| relations =

| children =

| residence =

| alma_mater = Guildhall School of Music and Drama

| occupation = Broadcaster, television/radio producer, journalist

| website = {{URL|rogergale.com}}

| footnotes =

| caption = Official portrait, 2024

}}

Sir Roger James Gale (born 20 August 1943) is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Herne Bay and Sandwich, previously North Thanet, since 1983. He had a career in journalism and broadcasting from 1964, around the same time as he joined the Conservative Party, until 1983.

He was a prominent and vocal critic of Boris Johnson during his leadership of the Conservative Party.

He is the oldest MP elected in the 2024 general election.

Early life and education

Roger Gale was born on 20 August 1943 in Poole.{{cite web | url=https://www.rogergale.com/rogershistory | title=Roger Gale MP | UK | Roger Gale's Official Site }} He was educated at Southbourne Preparatory School and the Thomas Hardye's School in Dorchester. He completed his education at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1963.

Broadcasting career

From August 1964 to January 1965, Gale worked as a radio DJ for Radio Caroline North.{{Cite web |title=From Pirate to Politician |url=https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2014-03-28/from-pirate-to-politician/ |access-date=2022-10-31 |website=ITV News |language=en}} He worked as a programme director at Radio Scotland from 1965; personal assistant to the general manager of Universal Films from 1971 to 1972; freelance reporter at BBC Radio London from 1972 to 1973; producer at BBC Radio 1 and then at BBC Radio 4 from 1973 to 1976; became director of BBC Children's Television in 1976 until 1979; then senior producer of children's television and later of special projects at Thames TV from 1979 to 1983.

Parliamentary career

Gale stood as the Conservative candidate in Birmingham Northfield at the 1982 by-election, coming second with 35.6% of the vote behind the Labour candidate John Spellar.{{cite web |last=Boothroyd |first=David |title=Results of Byelections in the 1979–83 Parliament |url=http://www.election.demon.co.uk/by1979.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000609021725/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/by1979.html |archive-date=9 June 2000 |access-date=2015-09-19 |website=United Kingdom Election Results}}

At the 1983 general election, Gale was elected to Parliament as MP for North Thanet with 58.4% of the vote and a majority of 14,051.{{cite web |title=Election Data 1983 |url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_1983.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015054231/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_1983.txt |archive-date=15 October 2011 |access-date=18 October 2015 |publisher=Electoral Calculus}} Gale made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 30 June 1983.{{cite hansard|jurisdiction=United Kingdom|title=Cable Systems and Services|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1983/jun/30/cable-systems-and-services#S6CV0044P0_19830630_HOC_352|house=House of Commons|date=30 June 1983|speaker=Mr. Roger Gale|position=Member of Parliament for Thanet, North|access-date=6 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090702094331/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1983/jun/30/cable-systems-and-services#S6CV0044P0_19830630_HOC_352|archive-date=2 July 2009|url-status=live}}

Gale was re-elected as MP for North Thanet at the 1987 general election with a decreased vote share of 58% and an increased majority of 17,480.{{cite web |title=Election Data 1987 |url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_1987.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015054243/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_1987.txt |archive-date=15 October 2011 |access-date=18 October 2015 |publisher=Electoral Calculus}}

At the 1992 general election, Gale was again re-elected with a decreased vote share of 57.2% and an increased majority of 18,210.{{cite web |title=Election Data 1992 |url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_1992ob.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015054418/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_1992ob.txt |archive-date=15 October 2011 |access-date=18 October 2015 |publisher=Electoral Calculus}}{{cite web |date=9 April 1992 |title=Politics Resources |url=http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724020412/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm |archive-date=24 July 2011 |access-date=2010-12-06 |work=Election 1992 |publisher=Politics Resources}} Following the election, he was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the ministers of state at the Ministry of Defence Archie Hamilton and Jeremy Hanley until 1994.

Gale was again re-elected at the 1997 general election, with a decreased vote share of 44.1% and a decreased majority of 2,766.{{cite web |title=Election Data 1997 |url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_1997.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015054424/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_1997.txt |archive-date=15 October 2011 |access-date=18 October 2015 |publisher=Electoral Calculus}} He was again re-elected at the 2001 general election, with an increased vote share of 50.3% and an increased majority of 6,650.{{cite web |title=Election Data 2001 |url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2001ob.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015054450/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2001ob.txt |archive-date=15 October 2011 |access-date=18 October 2015 |publisher=Electoral Calculus}}

He was a vice chairman of the Conservative Party under the leadership of Iain Duncan Smith from 2001 to 2003 with responsibility for presentation.

Gale was again re-elected at the 2005 general election, with a decreased vote share of 49.6% and an increased majority of 7,634.{{cite web |title=Election Data 2005 |url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2005ob.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015054249/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2005ob.txt |archive-date=15 October 2011 |access-date=18 October 2015 |publisher=Electoral Calculus}}

In July 2008, Gale said that capital punishment was a solution to fatal knife stabbings.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7508404.stm|work=BBC News|title=The point of knives|first=Alan|last=Connor|date=16 July 2008|access-date=10 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902011155/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7508404.stm|archive-date=2 September 2017|url-status=live}}

At the 2010 general election, Gale was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 52.7% and an increased majority of 13,528.{{cite web |title=Election Data 2010 |url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2010.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726162034/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2010.txt |archive-date=26 July 2013 |access-date=17 October 2015 |publisher=Electoral Calculus}}[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/constituency/1183/thanet-north North Thanet], Guardian

Gale strongly opposed Conservative prime minister David Cameron's introduction of same-sex marriage, stating in the House of Commons: "Marriage is the union between a man and a woman. It is Alice in Wonderland territory, Orwellian almost, for any government of any political persuasion to seek to come along and try to rewrite the lexicon. It will not do".{{cite news | url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21333577 | title= Gay marriage: MPs urged to back Bill | work= BBC News | date= 5 February 2013 | access-date= 10 March 2014 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140326213640/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21333577 | archive-date= 26 March 2014 | url-status= live }}

At the 2015 general election, Gale was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 49% and a decreased majority of 10,948.{{cite web |title=Election Data 2015 |url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2015.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017112223/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2015.txt |archive-date=17 October 2015 |access-date=17 October 2015 |publisher=Electoral Calculus}}{{cite news |title=Thanet North parliamentary constituency |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000852#general_election_data-constituency_profile_en |access-date=2016-10-25 |publisher=BBC News}}

Gale was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 EU membership referendum.{{cite news|last1=Goodenough|first1=Tom|title=Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?|url=http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/02/which-tory-mps-back-brexit-who-doesnt-and-who-is-still-on-the-fence/|access-date=11 October 2016|work=The Spectator|date=16 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502030758/https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/02/which-tory-mps-back-brexit-who-doesnt-and-who-is-still-on-the-fence/|archive-date=2 May 2019|url-status=live}}

At the snap 2017 general election, Gale was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 56.2% and a decreased majority of 10,738.{{Cite news |title=Thanet North parliamentary constituency – Election 2017 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/politics/constituencies/E14000852 |via=www.bbc.co.uk}}{{cite web |title=General election results 2017 for South and North Thanet |date=9 June 2017 |url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/south-and-north-thanet-election-results-183117/}} Gale was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with an increased vote share of 62.4% and an increased majority of 17,189.{{cite news |title=Thanet North Parliamentary constituency |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000852 |access-date=26 November 2019 |website=BBC News |publisher=BBC}}

On 15 September 2020 he was one of two Conservative MPs (together with Andrew Percy) who voted against the UK Internal Market Bill at second reading.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-54156419|title=Brexit: Internal Market Bill clears first hurdle in Commons|date=15 September 2020|work=BBC News}}{{cite news|url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/sep/14/brexit-internal-market-bill-passes-by-77-votes-amid-tory-party-tension|title=Brexit: internal market bill passes by 77 votes amid Tory party tension|date=14 September 2020|work=The Guardian}}

In July 2021, Gale was one of five Conservative MPs found by the Commons Select Committee on Standards to have breached the code of conduct by trying to influence a judge in the trial of former Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke, who was eventually found guilty of three counts of sexual assault and sentenced to two years in prison. Gale was one of three of the group who was also recommended for a one-day suspension by the committee.{{cite news |last1=Binding |first1=Lucia |title=Five Tory MPs breached code of conduct by trying to influence judge in Charlie Elphicke sex assault trial, committee rules |url=https://news.sky.com/story/five-tory-mps-breached-code-of-conduct-by-trying-to-influence-elphicke-sex-assault-trial-committee-rules-12360356 |access-date=21 July 2021 |work=Sky News |date=21 July 2021}}

On 17 December 2021, following the North Shropshire by-election (when a Conservative majority of nearly 23,000 was overturned leading to a Liberal Democrat win), Gale said, "One more strike and he's (Boris Johnson) out." Gale said that the by-election "has to be seen as a referendum on the prime minister's performance".{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-59693102 |title=Tories lose North Shropshire seat they held for 115 years |work=BBC News |date=17 December 2021 |access-date=24 May 2022}} He later revealed he had submitted a letter of no-confidence in Johnson's leadership to the 1922 Committee.{{cite news |url=https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/conservatives/boris-johnson-no-confidence-letters-tory-mps-written-1922-committee-force-leadership-contest-1397543 |title=Boris Johnson no-confidence letters: Which Tory MPs have written to 1922 committee to force leadership contest |date=14 January 2022 |work=i |last=Duffy |first=Nick |access-date=24 May 2022}}

In the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Gale called for all Russian nationals living in the UK to be forcibly deported, conceding that some "good and honest" people would be forced to leave.{{cite news |last1=Stone |first1=Jon |title=Tory MP says every Russian living in Britain should be 'sent home' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/russia-citizens-visa-uk-roger-gale-b2024940.html |work=The Independent |date=28 February 2022 |access-date=12 April 2022}} Gale said he had changed his mind on challenging Johnson's leadership following the invasion. He said, "we should not seek to destabilise the government of the United Kingdom". Gale also expressed his "fear" about a leadership election.{{cite news |last1=Dodd |first1=Tim |title='The game has changed': First Tory MP to admit no-confidence in PM changes mind |url=https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/andrew-pierce/the-game-has-changed-first-tory-mp-to-admit-no-confidence-in-pm-sir-roger-gale-c/ |access-date=24 May 2022 |work=LBC |date=23 April 2022}}

In December 2022 Gale was appointed as temporary Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons in order to cover for the illness of a colleague, Eleanor Laing.{{cite web | url=https://commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/Document/61924/Html?subType=Standard | title=UK Parliament No. 94) }}

Due to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Gale's constituency of North Thanet was abolished, and replaced with Herne Bay and Sandwich. At the 2024 general election, Gale was elected to Parliament as MP for Herne Bay and Sandwich with 35.3% of the vote and a majority of 2,499.{{cite web |last1=Harper |first1=Brad |title=Herne Bay and Sandwich general election full results announced |url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/herne-bay/news/could-veteran-mp-face-toughest-test-as-voters-head-to-polls-309274/ |website=kentonline.co.uk |date=4 July 2024 |publisher=Kent Online |access-date=6 July 2024}}

Honours and awards

Gale was knighted in the 2012 New Year Honours for public and political services.{{London Gazette |issue=60009 |date=31 December 2011 |page=1 |supp=y}}

In February 2016, Gale was nominated for a "Grassroots Diplomat" award for his involvement in the campaign to save and reopen Manston Airport, which is in his constituency.{{cite web |url=http://www.grassrootdiplomat.org/shortlist/ |title=2016 Shortlist — Grassroot Diplomat |access-date=2016-02-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306195028/http://www.grassrootdiplomat.org/shortlist/ |archive-date=6 March 2016 |df=dmy-all }}

Personal life

Gale has been married three times: firstly to Wendy Bowman in 1964 (marriage dissolved in 1967), secondly to Susan Linda Sampson in 1971 (marriage dissolved in 1980), with whom he has a daughter; thirdly to Susan Gabrielle Marks, with whom he has two sons.{{cite web | series=Vote 2001 – Candidates |title=Roger Gale| website=BBC News | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/candidates/candidates/5/57602.stm | access-date=18 July 2022}}

References

External links

{{official website|https://www.rogergale.com/}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20061122063335/https://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=people.person.page&PersonID=4733 Roger Gale profile] from conservatives.com (archived version from November 2006){{UK MP links |parliament=sir-roger-gale/87 |hansardcurr=3358 |hansard=mr-roger-gale |publicwhip=Roger_Gale |theywork=roger_gale}}
{{C-SPAN|4286}}

{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament
for North Thanet|years=1983–2024}}

{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament
for Herne Bay and Sandwich|years=2024–present}}

{{s-ttl|title=Oldest sitting Member of Parliament|years=2024–present}}

Category:1943 births

Category:Living people

Category:Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Category:British radio journalists

Category:British special constables

Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies

Category:English television producers

Category:Knights Bachelor

Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom