A TORY MP WHO DEFEATED A BLAIR...

By Humphrey Carter ONE of the Conservative Party's most loyal and dedicated MPs, Roger Gale, will be addressing Conservatives Abroad in Palma this week. Roger and his wife Suzy are both extremely active animal welfare campaigners but it will be Gale's 23 years experience as an MP which he will be drawing on for his talk over dinner at the Club de Mar tomorrow evening. Gale was first elected to parliament when he won the North Thanet seat at the 1983 General Election and has defended it with a healthy majority ever since - not even a challenge from Cherie Blair who stood for the Labour Party in 1983 was enough to remove him from the constituency seat he still serves in the House. Gale first contested Birmingham Northfield at a by-election in 1982 before winning North Thanet the following year. He was a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee from 1982 to 1992, and the Televising of the House Select Committee from 1989 to 1991. He was also the Founding Chairman of the All Party Group for the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME). He has been a Member of Parliament delegations to Norway (Arctic Warfare Training), Washington, The United Nations, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Cuba and Cyprus. He was a member of the Council of Europe from 1987 to 1989 and has served as an international election observer in Outer Mongolia and South Africa. Gale is a Fellow of the Industry & Parliament Trust, the Parliament and Armed Forces Fellowship and was the first Member of Parliament to participate in the Police Service Parliament Scheme with the Metropolitan Police (1995-1996). He served as a PPS to the Minister of State on the Armed Forces between 1992 and 1995 and is currently Chairman of the Conservative Media Committee, Vice President of the CTU National Committees and Chairman of the All Party Parliament Animal Welfare Group (1992-1998). He is also an Honorary Associate of the British Veterinary Association. He has served on the Standing Committee of the Crime Bill and as a member of the Chairman's Panel. He chaired the Health Bill through Committee. From 2001 to 2003, the former producer and director of current affairs programmes for the BBC, editor of Thames Television's teenage unit and a freelance journalist, served as a Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party and was an outspoken supporter of David Davis during the recent party leadership challenge.