Karl Turner
MP
Official portrait, 2017
Member of Parliament
for Kingston upon Hull East
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byJohn Prescott
Majority1,239 (3.7%)
Shadow portfolios
Shadow Cabinet
2016–2016Attorney General
Shadow Frontbench
2023–presentSolicitor General
2020–2021Legal Aid
2017–2020Shipping, Aviation and Road Safety
2016–2017Whip
2015–2016Justice
2014–2016Solicitor General
2013–2015Whip
Personal details
Born
Karl William Turner

(1971-04-15) 15 April 1971 (age 53)
Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Political partyLabour
Alma mater
Websitewww.karlturnermp.org.uk

Karl William Turner (born 15 April 1971) is a British politician. A member of the Labour Party, Turner has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull East since 2010. He was appointed Shadow Solicitor General by Keir Starmer in November 2023.

Early life

Karl William Turner was born on 15 April 1971 in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire.[1][2][3] He was raised in the city[4] and was educated at Bransholme High School from 1984 to 1987, leaving at the age of 16.[5] He attended HCC Training to study business administration from 1987 to 1989.[6] Later, Turner became a self-employed antiques dealer.[7]

He returned to education in the late 1990s to study A Levels at Hull College, before graduating with a law degree as a mature student from the University of Hull in 2004.[5] He became a barrister in 2005 after passing the Bar Vocational Course at Northumbria University and went on to practice criminal law for the Max Gold Partnership in Hull.[7] Turner did not complete his pupillage and is no longer authorised to practise by the Bar Standards Board.[8]

Parliamentary career

Turner's constituency office on Holderness Road in Kingston upon Hull

Turner was selected by the Labour Party as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Kingston upon Hull East in March 2008 after John Prescott announced he would not stand again.[7][9] He was elected for the constituency at the 2010 general election with a majority of 8,597,[10] a long way from the large majority his predecessor had and this was further reduced to just 1,239[11] during the 2019 general election.

In April 2014, Turner referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after complaints were made in relation to invitations to a £45-a-head Labour Party fundraising event, sent using parliamentary email accounts.[12] The Commissioner for Standards concluded that there should be no inquiry.[12]

Turner was appointed Shadow Solicitor General by Labour leader Ed Miliband on 3 December 2014, and continued to serve as an opposition whip.[13]

On 11 January 2016, Turner was appointed Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales to replace Catherine McKinnell, who resigned following a reshuffle to the Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn.[14] On 26 June 2016, Turner resigned from the Shadow Cabinet following the EU referendum, among a number of his colleagues unhappy with Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.[15][16] He supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour leadership election.[17] On 14 October 2016, it was announced that Turner had returned to Labour's frontbench as a Whip.[18]

Following the 2017 general election he was appointed as Shadow Shipping, Aviation and Road Safety Minister within the Shadow Transport team.[19]

On 12 March 2018, allegations of sexual misconduct against Turner were reported in the British press.[20] Turner, via his solicitors, denied making any such comments or behaving inappropriately.[20] The Labour Party said it had not received a formal complaint and that complaints about inappropriate behaviour are taken "extremely seriously".[21]

In September 2019, Speaker of the House John Bercow described Turner as the "noisiest member of the House".[22]

Turner is a member of the Labour Friends of Israel group in Parliament.[23]

In August 2023, Turner apologised after sharing a doctored image of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Twitter.[24]

Turner was reappointed to the position of Shadow Solicitor General in November 2023, succeeding his predecessor Andy Slaughter, who was dismissed from the role. Turner's reappointment came after the removal of Slaughter, attributed to Slaughter's decision to vote for the SNP’s King’s Speech amendment on a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.[citation needed]

Personal life

He is married to Leanne Turner.[25]

References

  1. ^ "Karl William Turner". Companies House. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  2. ^ "Karl Turner MP". BBC News. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Karl Turner". Politics.co.uk. Senate Media. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Labour MP Karl Turner denies sexually harassing woman who had a mastectomy". i. London. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  5. ^ a b "About Karl". Karl Turner. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  6. ^ "Alumni – Profiles: Hull Training Graduates: Karl Turner MP". HCC Training. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012.
  7. ^ a b c "Turner's bid for history books". Hull Daily Mail. 18 March 2008. Archived from the original on 15 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  8. ^ Board, The Bar Standards. "The Barristers' Register". www.barstandardsboard.org.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  9. ^ "Prescott's Hull East successor confirmed". Hull Daily Mail. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2015.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ "Hull East". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  11. ^ "Parliament". members.parliament.uk.
  12. ^ a b "MP will not face spending probe". The Yorkshire Post. Leeds. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  13. ^ "Labour reshuffle: Peer takes shadow attorney role". BBC News. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  14. ^ Dathan, Matt (11 January 2016). "Jeremy Corbyn appoints Karl Turner Shadow Attorney General after suffering latest frontbench resignation". The Independent. London. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  15. ^ "East Hull MP Karl Turner quits Labour shadow cabinet as Jeremy Corbyn revolt grows". Hull Daily Mail. 26 June 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  16. ^ Syal, Rajeev; Perraudin, Frances; Slawson, Nicola (27 June 2016). "Shadow cabinet resignations: who has gone and who is staying". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  17. ^ Smith, Mikey; Bloom, Dan (20 July 2016). "Which MPs are nominating Owen Smith in the Labour leadership contest?". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  18. ^ Daly, Patrick (3 July 2017). "Karl Turner returns to Jeremy Corbyn front bench as Labour whip". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  19. ^ "Reshuffle 2: The Maintenance of the Malcontents". New Socialist. 8 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  20. ^ a b Hughes, Laura (12 March 2018). "Senior Labour MP accused of 'slapping' woman's buttocks". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  21. ^ Heffer, Greg (12 March 2018). "Labour MP Karl Turner denies misogyny after allegedly 'slapping woman's buttocks'". Sky News. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  22. ^ Walsh, Colleen (17 September 2019). "On the Brexit hot seat". The Harvard Gazette. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  23. ^ "LFI Parliamentary Supporters". lfi.org.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  24. ^ Rogers, Alexandra (2 August 2023). "Labour MP apologises for sharing fake image of Rishi Sunak". Sky News. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  25. ^ Harley, Nick (15 April 2013). "Burglar raided MP's east Hull home". Hull Daily Mail. Archived from the original on 16 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded byJohn Prescott Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull East 2010–present Incumbent Political offices Preceded byCatherine McKinnell Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales 2016 Succeeded byShami Chakrabarti
Labour Party MPs in Yorkshire and the Humber
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