Matthew Banks

Matthew Gordon-Banks (born 21 June 1961)^[1] was a British Conservative Party politician. Originally commissioned into The Gordon Highlanders, he joined Barclays Bank in 1984, before before becoming private secretary to a prominent Conservative MP in 1988. In 1987 he fought Manchester Central for the Conservatives retaining second place. In 1990 he was selected to fight Southport. He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Southport in 1992, gaining the seat from the Liberal Democrat Ronnie Fearn making the only Conservative gain in England. However, in 1997, Fearn won the seat back from Banks, who then divided his time between his home in NE Scotland and the Cotswolds. He worked for several Arab governments between 1997 and 2000.

In January 2007 Banks was injured by a bomb blast in Pakistan, while working for the British government.^[2]

In February 2007 Banks was arrested for allegedly obtaining money from the charity WellChild, and accepted a formal caution for obtaining property by deception. The case involved a doctored cheque that had been made out to a company he was a director of, which was employed by the charity. Banks had no connection with the Charity itself.^[3] However, he was interviewed shortly after returning from Pakistan and had no legal representation and sufferred from complex PTSD. He accepted a caution even though his fingerprints were not on the cheque. The Daily Telegraph have since removed his name from their item of March, August and October 2010 on their website^[4] and it is believed a man now serving 11 years in prison was the person responsible, since he used Banks's account to launder a six figure sum of money to Switzerland the same year.^{[citation needed]}Citation is LloydsTSB Inlt payment P131628 dated 23rd August 2007 from London Branch, 1 Butler Place SW1, to account of Susan Danison at Credit Suisse in Zurich. (Could you experts input this, Strathisla1 has the original document)

Banks worked to help those who had lost money like himself and cooperated with the police. In 2009 Banks was released without charge after having been implicated in the £23 million pound fraud, in which he lost £500,000.^[2] He had been arrested and interviewed once in January 2009 and was left on bail never being interviewed again until December 2009. During the period he jumped, in frustration, from a high storey building.^[2] In recent years he has worked as a Consultant to various governments in the Middle East and South Asia on international and anti-terrorist issues, including the British Ministry of Defence,^[5] as well as fighting serious illness and injury. In Parliament he served on the Transport Select Committee from 1992-7. He played a significant role in improving safety on "roll-on-roll-off" ferries, making seatbelts in mini-busses and coaches - especially for children - compulsory, and for fighting against the injustice of wrongful convictions; most notably helping to overturn the convictions of those found guilty of the murder of newspaper boy Carl Bridgewater. In 1997 the swing against him in Southport was 8% and he lost his seat to the Liberal Democrats.

Banks represented Northleach on Cotswold District Council between 2000-2004,^[6] being rather more Independent than Conservative and Chaired the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for 2 years. Having been re-elected unopposed in May 2004 he resigned from the Council in November of that year. He is married with two children.^[7]

In 2008 Banks switched party allegiance to the Liberal Democrats, joining the Liberal Democrats executive committee in Moray, Scotland.^[5][8]

References

1. ^ "Mr Matthew Banks". hansard.millbanksystems.com. http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/people/mr-matthew-banks. Retrieved 25 October 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} John Siddle (7 July 2011). "Matthew Banks: ‘conman swindled me out of £500,000’". Southport Visiter. http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/southport-news/southport-southport-news/2011/07/07/matthew-banks-conman-swindled-me-out-of-500-000-101022-29004991/. Retrieved 22 August 2011. 
3. ^ Richard Eden (20 March 2010). "Prince Harry's charity for sick children causes concern". Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/7488762/Prince-Harrys-charity-for-sick-children-causes-concern.html. Retrieved 22 August 2011. 
4. ^ Richard Eden (20 March 2010). "Prince Harry's charity for sick children causes concern". Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/7488762/Prince-Harrys-charity-for-sick-children-causes-concern.html. Retrieved 25 October 2011. 
5. ^ ^{a b} John Siddle (26 June 2009). "Former Southport Conservative MP has switched to the Lib Dems". Southport Visiter. http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/southport-news/southport-southport-news/2009/06/26/a-former-southport-conservative-mp-has-switched-to-the-lib-dems-101022-23983844/. Retrieved 25 October 2011. 
6. ^ "Mr Matthew Banks". Cotswold District Council. http://www.cmis.cotswold.gov.uk/cmis5/People/tabid/62/ctl/ViewCMIS_Person/mid/480/id/289/Default.aspx. Retrieved 25 October 2011. 
7. ^ "The former Tory MP for Southport". Champion (Sefton & West Lancashire). 30 August 2007. http://www.champnews.com/html/newsstory.asp?id=5995. Retrieved 25 October 2011. 
8. ^ "Conservative Party 'civil war' hits key Southport battleground". Liverpool Daily Post. 15 January 2010. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/01/15/conservative-party-civil-war-hits-key-southport-battleground-92534-25606035/. Retrieved 25 October 2011. 

Preceded by Ronnie Fearn

Member of Parliament for Southport 1992–1997

Succeeded by Ronnie Fearn

Persondata
Name	Banks, Matthew
Alternative names	Gordon-Banks, Matthew
Short description
Date of birth	21 June 1961
Place of birth	Fochabers, Morayshire
Date of death
Place of death