Ann Keen

Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = Ann Keen
honorific-suffix =

---

office1 = Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Services
term_start1 = 28 June 2007
term_end1 =
primeminister1 = Gordon Brown
predecessor1 = Unknown
successor1 = Incumbent
office2 = Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor
term_start2 = 2003
term_end2 = 28 June 2007
primeminister2 = Tony Blair
predecessor2 = Unknown
successor2 = Ann Coffey
constituency_MP3 = Brentford and Isleworth
majority3 = 4,411 (9.6%)
parliament3 =
predecessor3 = Nirj Deva
successor3 =
term_start3 = 1 May 1997
term_end3 =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1948|11|26|df=yes
birth_place = Hawarden
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse = Alan Keen
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession =
religion =


website =
footnotes =

Ann Lloyd Keen (born 26 November 1948, Hawarden as Ann Lloyd Fox) is a Labour Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom. She represents Brentford and Isleworth, and was first elected at the 1997 general election, defeating Nirj Deva.

Early life

She is the daughter of steelworker John Lloyd Fox and Ruby Hughes. She went to Elfed Secondary Modern School (the same as her sister, and now called Elfed High School) on "Mill Lane" in Buckley, Clwyd, then gained a PGCEA (Postgraduate Certificate in the Education of Adults) from the University of Surrey. She worked in the NHS before training as a Registered nurse at Ashford General Hospital in Ashford, Middlesex, and won prizes as Nurse of the Year and Children's Nurse of the Year and became a district nurse. From 1989-93, she was Head of the Faculty of Advanced Nursing at Queen Charlotte's College in Hammersmith (now part of Thames Valley University). She first stood for Parliament in 1987 and also tried in 1992 for the Brentford & Isleworth seat before being elected in 1997.

Parliamentary career

Prior to 2007, Keen was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown MP. On 29 June 2007 in Brown's first reshuffle as Prime Minister she was promoted to become a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department of Health, where her brief includes NHS dentistry.

Expenses claims

Nick-named "Mr and Mrs Expenses" with her MP husband Alan Keen, the couple bought an apartment in an exclusive development on the South Bank of the Thames using their combined second homes allowance, to claim £175,000 of taxpayers’ money. The couple bought the flat in May 2002 after spending six months in a London hotel, using two mortgages: one loan was for £350,000 from HSBC; the second loan was raised by re-mortgaging their property in Brentford, also through HSBC. The couple never submitted a single receipt, instead sending two sheets of A4 to the expenses department every month, claiming £1,643.50 each month throughout 2002-03 and £1,699 each throughout 2003-04. They also took out life insurance policies worth £430,000 and claimed back the £867.57 a month premiums on their expenses - a practice which is now banned. [citeweb|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1021775/Mr-Mrs-expenses-MP-couple-175-000-flat---house-just-30-minutes-away.html|title=Mr and Mrs expenses: MP couple get £175,000 for a flat ... and their house is just 30 minutes away|author=Drury, Ian|publisher=Daily Mail|date=2008-05-26|accessdate=2008-05-26]

Voting record

How Ann Keen voted on key issues since 2001 ( [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/ann_keen/brentford_and_isleworth They Work For You] ):

* Voted against a transparent Parliament.
* Voted for introducing a smoking ban.
* Voted for introducing ID cards.
* Voted for introducing foundation hospitals.
* Voted for introducing student top-up fees.
* Voted for Labour's anti-terrorism laws.
* Voted for the Iraq war.
* Voted against investigating the Iraq war.
* Voted for replacing Trident.
* Voted for the hunting ban.
* Voted for equal gay rights.

Personal life

She married Alan Keen, a fellow Labour MP, in 1980 and her sister, Sylvia Heal also a Labour MP, sits in the House of Commons and is one of three Deputy Speakers of the House of Commons under Speaker Michael Martin. She has two sons and one daughter.

References

External links

* [http://www.annkeenmp.co.uk Ann Keen MP] official site
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-2832,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Ann Keen MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/ann_keen/brentford_and_isleworth TheyWorkForYou.com - Ann Keen MP]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/90.stm BBC Politics page]