{{Short description|British politician}} {{distinguish|Pope Gregory (disambiguation)}} {{Use British English|date=July 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Greg Pope | honorific_suffix = | image = | office2 = Member of Parliament <br> for Hyndburn | parliament2 = | majority2 = | predecessor2 = Ken Hargreaves | successor2 = Graham Jones | term_start2 = 9 April 1992 | term_end2 = 12 April 2010 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1960|08|29}} | birth_place = Blackburn, England, United Kingdom | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = Catherine Fallon | party = Labour | relations = | children = 3 | alma_mater = University of Hull | occupation = Assistant General Secretary, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales | profession = }}
'''Gregory James Pope''' (born 29 August 1960) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hyndburn from 1992, until retiring at the general election of 2010. He was a government whip from 1997 until 2001.
==Early life== Pope was born and raised in Great Harwood, the only son of Sam and Sheila Pope. He went to St Marys College R.C. Grammar School on ''Shear Brow'' in Blackburn, now St Mary's Sixth Form College, Blackburn.<ref name=":0" /> He studied politics at the University of Hull, graduating in 1981.
Pope was elected to serve on Hyndburn Borough Council in 1984 until 1988, and he also served briefly on Blackburn Borough Council from 1989 to 1990.
==Parliamentary career== Pope unsuccessfully fought Ribble Valley at the election of 1987, placing third, before gaining Hyndburn from the Conservative Ken Hargreaves in April 1992. Considered a Blairite,<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/jul/29/syria.israelandthepalestinians Cabinet concern over PM's stance], Tania Branigan and Alexi Mostrous, The Guardian, 29 July 2006</ref> Pope is a signatory of the Henry Jackson Society. He was a member of the backbench committee on Northern Ireland from 1997 to 2001.
In April 2000, as a whip, Pope inadvertently approved a Liberal Democrat clause in the government's utilities bill, committing the government to meet 10% of electricity requirements from green sources by 2010. Pope said: “We were doing a series of government amendments. I realised I'd shouted aye too many times. I'm not overjoyed about it.” The error led the government to instruct its MPs to vote against the clause.<ref>''Whip's error on Lib-Dem clause "farcical"'', Financial Times, 19 April 2000</ref>
In July 2003, Pope admitted leaking confidential Foreign Affairs Select Committee evidence to ''The Guardian'' chief political correspondent Patrick Wintour. The move was described{{by whom|date=February 2021}} as an attempt to “bounce” MPs on the committee into clearing Alastair Campbell of “sexing up” the so called Dodgy Dossier. This was of evidence into the threat, posed by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
On 11 June 2009, Pope announced that he would stand down at the 2010 Election.<ref>[http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/4433816.Hyndburn_MP_to_step_down/ "Greg Pope to step down as Hyndburn MP"], ''Lancashire Telegraph'', 11 June 2009</ref> In November 2009, Graham Jones, who later became his successor, was chosen as an candidate to succeed him by Labour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/4753551.Hyndburn_Labour_successor_to_Greg_Pope_announced/|title=Hyndburn Labour successor to Greg Pope announced|publisher=lancashiretelegraph.co.uk|date=22 November 2009 |accessdate=7 July 2016}}</ref> In April 2010, he revealed he nearly did not stand in 2005. However, quite a few of his friends and family talked to him and persuaded him to have one more term, which he did have.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accringtonobserver.co.uk/news/local-news/highs-and-lows-but-no-regrets-for-greg-1271610|title=Highs and lows, but no regrets for Greg Pope MP|publisher=accringtonobserver.co.uk|date=9 April 2010|accessdate=3 January 2017}}</ref>
==After politics== On 19 April 2010, Pope was appointed as the deputy director of the Catholic Education Service (CES).<ref name=":0">[http://www.cesew.org.uk/standardnews.asp?id=9332 Greg Pope joins CESEW as its new Deputy Director] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928045143/http://www.cesew.org.uk/standardnews.asp?id=9332 |date=28 September 2011 }}, ''Catholic Education Service'', 19 April 2010</ref> In March 2017, he left the CES to become the assistant general secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales; in October 2019 he became its executive director, and in November 2024 its general secretary.
==Personal life== He married Catherine Fallon on 2 August 1985; they have three children. Catherine, known as Kate, is the general secretary of the Association of Educational Psychologists, a registered trade union representing educational psychologists working in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.aep.org.uk/about-the-aep/organisation/ |title = AEP - Organisation}}</ref> Their son, Conor, was previously deputy editor of pressure group by New Labour, Progress.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.progressonline.org.uk/about-progress/the-progress-team/|title=Progress {{!}} News and debate from the progressive community {{!}} The Progress Team|website=www.progressonline.org.uk|access-date=2017-02-06}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
== External links == * [http://www.gregpope.co.uk Official Website] * {{Hansard-contribs | mr-greg-pope | Greg Pope }} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20010517124841/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-4221,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Greg Pope MP] * [http://www.hull.ac.uk/pas/undergraduate/what_our_students_say/Greg_Pope/index.html His experience at Hull] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070303024033/http://www.hull.ac.uk/pas/undergraduate/what_our_students_say/Greg_Pope/index.html |date=3 March 2007 }} * [https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/greg_pope/hyndburn TheyWorkForYou.com – Greg Pope MP] * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/334.stm BBC Politics page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070820142144/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/334.stm |date=20 August 2007 }}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{succession box | title = Member of Parliament for Hyndburn | years=1992–2010 | before = Ken Hargreaves | after = Graham Jones }} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Greg}} Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Category:UK MPs 1992–1997 Category:UK MPs 1997–2001 Category:UK MPs 2001–2005 Category:UK MPs 2005–2010 Category:Alumni of the University of Hull Category:Politics of Hyndburn Category:English Roman Catholics