Laing stood down from the House of Commons at the 2024 general election and was appointed to the House of Lords. Having served as an MP for 27 years, she is one of the longest-serving female MPs in British history.[6]
Laing sponsored the motion for lowering the homosexual age of consent to 16 in June 1998, saying in Parliament that: "Nothing that is being proposed tonight is in any way encouraging physical sexual activity among young people before they are sufficiently mature. It is nonsense to say that there cannot be equality between 16-year-old boys and 16-year-old girls. Young people need protection, but young people are not protected by being made into criminals". Labour MPs paid tribute for Laing for speaking against the majority view of the then Parliamentary Conservative Party, of whom 110 of their 165 MPs voted against the measure.[11]
She has been an opponent of devolution, and criticised the Blair government on many of the details of the transfer of power. In December 2000, she was appointed as opposition Scottish spokeswoman.
At the 2001 general election, Laing was re-elected as MP for Epping Forest with an increased vote share of 49.1% and an increased majority of 8,426.[12]
Laing voted against the repeal of Section 28 in 2003.[13]
At the 2010 general election, Laing was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 54% and an increased majority of 15,131.[16][17] After the election, and the formation of the Cameron–Clegg coalition, Laing did not receive a government post, thus returning to the backbenches.
Laing criticised the manner in which the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 was introduced by arguing "social change should come about by evolution, not by diktat from the top of government" and subsequently abstained from voting on it.[20]
Deputy Speaker (2013–2024)
Presiding over the budget in 2024
In May 2013, the First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means, Nigel Evans, was arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual assault. He was acquitted of those charges, but resigned from his position in the Chair on 10 September 2013. On 16 October, Laing was elected to succeed Evans as the First Deputy Chair, the holder of which post is one of the Deputy Speakers of the House.[21]
At the 2015 general election, Laing was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 54.8% and an increased majority of 17,978.[22][23]
In January 2016, Laing criticised Tulip Siddiq, who was seven months pregnant at the time, for breaking the customs of the House by leaving a debate shortly after speaking. Siddiq had already been in the debate for two hours and left at 14:30 to eat. According to witnesses, Laing told Siddiq not to use her pregnancy as an excuse for her behaviour.[24]
At the snap 2017 general election, Laing was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 62% and an increased majority of 18,243.[26] Laing was again re-elected at the 2019 general election with an increased vote share of 64.4% and an increased majority of 22,173,[26] an election which she described as "very nasty".[27]
Laing took a leave of absence from December 2022 after undergoing surgery, and returned to the chair during the week of 6 March 2023.[1] Her leave of absence was extended to 31 March 2024, but Laing has continued in her duties in the Chair.[2]Roger Gale served as deputy speaker while she was absent.[1]
In June 2023, former prime minister Boris Johnson called for Bernard Jenkin to resign from his participation in the Commons Select Committee of Privileges, the Select Committee which investigated whether Johnson had misled parliament, when it was reported by the Guido Fawkes website that Jenkin had attended an event on 8 December 2020 in parliament. This was a "drinks party" held by Laing in her office, while such events were banned under the current guidelines.[31] In November 2023, the police investigation into the "drinks party" attended by Laing was closed, with the "threshold for fines not being met".[32]
After standing down as an MP, Laing was nominated for a life peerage in the 2024 Dissolution Honours.[35][36][37] She was created Baroness Laing of Elderslie, of Epping Forest in the County of Essex, on 22 August 2024.[38]
After details of MPs' expense claims were released by the press in 2009 it was shown that Laing had avoided paying £180,000 capital gains tax on the sale of her Westminster flat by declaring it as her primary residence. This was due to its having a higher value than her constituency home, making it her primary residence under capital gains tax rules. However she had registered the flat as her second home with the Parliamentary Fees Office, and by doing so had claimed through her Additional Costs Allowance some of the interest due on her mortgage. Laing's constituency is Epping Forest, which neighbours London and less than an hour's journey by tube. When questioned, she said that prior to the sale of the flat she had sought the advice of her solicitor.[39] Laing was cleared by the Legg Inquiry; nonetheless, she voluntarily repaid £25,000 as a "moral gesture".[40] As a result of the issue over her expenses, an unsuccessful attempt was made to deselect her by her constituency party, led by the Leader of Epping Forest District Council.[41]
^On leave from 19 December 2022 to 6 March 2023,[1] and from 26 October 2023 to 31 March 2024, during which Roger Gale served in her absence.[2] Laing did make appearances in the Commons during this period and was presiding for the budget debates in 2024.
^ abcD'Arcy, Mark (3 March 2023). "What's happening in Parliament this week?". BBC News. Retrieved 21 November 2023. senior deputy speaker Dame Eleanor Laing will be back in the chair this week, after several weeks recovering from surgery
^"Pregnant Women (Discrimination) (Hansard, 25 March 2004)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 6 September 2021. Laing refers to her son being born 'exactly one week' after the 'last general election', in this context being the 2001 election.
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