Ian Pearson

Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = Ian Pearson
honorific-suffix =MP


office = Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
term_start = 5 October 2008
term_end =
predecessor = Gareth Thomas
(promoted to Minister at BERR)
successor =
primeminister = Gordon Brown
office2= Economic Secretary to the Treasury
term_start2= 5 October 2008
term_end2=
predecessor2= Kitty Ussher
successor2=
primeminister2= Gordon Brown
office3= Minister of State for
Science
term_start3= 28 June 2007
term_end3= 5 October 2008
predecessor3= Unknown
successor3= Lord Drayson
primeminister3= Gordon Brown
constituency_MP4 =Dudley South
Dudley West (1994-1997)
parliament4=
majority4= 4,244 (10.8%)
predecessor4= John Blackburn
successor4= Incumbent
term_start4= 15 December 1994
term_end4=
birth_date = Birth date and age|1959|04|5|df=yes
birth_place = Dudley, West Midlands
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse =
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = University of Warwick, Balliol College, Oxford
occupation =
profession =
religion =


website =
footnotes =

Ian Phares Pearson (born 5 April 1959, West Midlands) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He is Labour member of Parliament for Dudley South, Economic Secretary to the Treasury and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Pearson was educated at Balliol College, Oxford (BA Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) and the University of Warwick (MA, PhD).

He entered parliament for Dudley West in a by-election in 1994, where he served until boundary changes moved him to his present constituency of Dudley South in 1997.

Pearson served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Paymaster-General Geoffrey Robinson from 1997 until Robinson was forced to resign in 1998. In 2001 he returned to the government as a whip. In 2002 he moved to the Northern Ireland Office as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. After the 2005 general election he was promoted to Minister of State for Trade in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

In the PM's 2006 reshuffle, he was appointed as Minister of State for Climate Change and Environment at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Pearson has also been noted for some controversial comments.

In 1998 he slammed the World Cup Song Three Lions 98 by David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and the lightning Seeds by saying they 'should be kept as far away as possible from a recording studio"

On 5 January 2007, Pearson courted considerable controversy by publicly criticising several airlines, particularly Ryanair, for failing to pull their weight in lowering UK carbon emissions. He described Ryanair as "the irresponsible face of capitalism". In response, Michael O'Leary, the CEO of Ryanair, claimed Ryanair had made a considerable investment in environmentally-friendly planes and technologies and had the lowest fuel use per passenger figures of any British airline. O'Leary described Pearson as an "idiot minister", adding that Pearson didn't know what he was talking about. [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2533043,00.html Climate change minister lashes out at 'irresponsible' Ryanair] , "The Times", January 5 2007]

On 29 June 2007 he was moved in Gordon Brown's first reshuffle to become a Minister of State in the newly created Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills under Secretary of State John Denham. He has been criticised for not doing anything to avert the current funding crisis at the Science and Technology Facilities Council hitting UK Astronomy and particle physics. In Gordon Brown's latest reshuffle of 3 October 2008 in the following days, Pearson was moved to the Treasury as Economic Secretary and also Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

References

External links

* [http://www.dius.gov.uk/pressreleases/press.htm Ministerial Responsibilities - Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-4116,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Ian Pearson MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/ian_pearson/dudley_south TheyWorkForYou.com - Ian Pearson MP]
* [http://www.ianpearson.org.uk/ Personal Website]
*cite web
url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/ministers/pearson.htm
title=Ian Pearson MP, Minister of State (Climate Change and the Environment)
accessdate=2008-06-27
date=2006-06-22
publisher=Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070405143721/http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/ministers/pearson.htm
archivedate=2007-04-05
* [http://www.researchresearch.com/news.cfm?pagename=newsStory&type=default&elementID=76308 Interview with Ian Pearson on his science responsibilities. Published in Research Fortnight, July 2007]
* http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/sport/football/56008.stm

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title = Member of Parliament for Dudley West
years = 1994 - 1997
before = John Blackburn
after = "Constituency absolished"incumbent succession box
title = Member of Parliament for Dudley South
start = 1997
before = "New constituency"incumbent succession box
before = Kitty Ussher
title = Economic Secretary to the Treasury
start = 2008
after =