John Burnett, Baron Burnett

For similarly named people, see John Burnett (disambiguation).
The Right Honourable
The Lord Burnett
Member of Parliament for Torridge and West Devon
In office
2 May 1997 – 11 April 2005
Preceded by Emma Nicholson
Succeeded by Geoffrey Cox
Personal details
Born John Patrick Aubone Burnett
(1945-09-19) 19 September 1945
Nationality British
Political party Liberal Democrats
Occupation Politician, solicitor

John Patrick Aubone Burnett, Baron Burnett (born 19 September 1945) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom, and was a Member of Parliament for Torridge and West Devon between 1997 and 2005 general elections.

He was a commando with the Royal Marines for seven years, a cattle-breeder, and remains a solicitor specialising in tax matters.

He succeeded Emma Nicholson as MP for the constituency, after her defection in 1995 from the Conservative Party to the Liberal Democrats, and her elevation as a Liberal Democrat peer.

Following Burnett's decision to stand down in 2005, there was a swing of 5,000 votes in the 2005 election against Burnett's Liberal Democrat successor as candidate. The constituency was reduced in size in a 2006 Boundary Commission re-alignment, and was retained by the Conservative Party.

In April 2006 it was announced that Burnett would be created a life peer to join the Liberal Democrat ranks in the House of Lords, and on 31 May he was created Baron Burnett, of Whitchurch in the County of Devon.[1]

Burnett for much of his 8 years in Parliament had been regarded among his fellow Liberal Democrat MPs as "the cat that walked alone": he distanced himself over his Party's stance on the war in Iraq, for example.

One of the high points of Burnett's parliamentary career was his promotion of the Bill which became the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000, allowing solicitors, for example, to remain in the traditional partnership arrangements while having some of the benefits of limited companies.

References

  1. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 58001. p. 7665. 5 June 2006. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Emma Nicholson		 Member of Parliament for Torridge and West Devon
1997–2005 		Succeeded by
Geoffrey Cox
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