View source for John Butterfill

{{Short description|British politician (1941–2021)}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = Sir
| honorific_suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRICS}}
| image               = John Butterfill MP.jpg
| caption             = Butterfill as an MP
| constituency_MP     = Bournemouth West
| parliament          = UK
| term_start          = 9 June 1983
| term_end            = 12 April 2010
| majority            = 
| predecessor         = [[John Eden, Baron Eden of Winton|John Eden]]
| successor           = [[Conor Burns]]
| birth_name          = John Valentine Butterfill
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1941|02|14|df=yes}}
| birth_place         = [[Kingston upon Thames]], England
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|2021|11|7|1941|2|14|df=yes}}
| death_place         = [[Hampshire]], England
| spouse              = {{marriage|Pamela Ross-Symons|1965}}
| party               = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| relations           = 
| children            = 4
| residence           = 
| alma_mater          = 
| occupation          = 
| profession          = {{hlist|[[Surveyor]]|businessman|politician}}
| religion            = 
| awards              = [[Knight Bachelor]] ([[2004 New Year Honours|2004]])
| signature           = 
| website             = {{official website |//web.archive.org/web/20100326105951/http://www.johnbutterfillmp.co.uk/}}
| footnotes           = 
| education           = [[Caterham School]]
}}

'''Sir John Valentine Butterfill''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRICS}} (14 February 1941 – 7 November 2021) was a British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] politician and businessman who served as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Bournemouth West]] from [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983]] until he stood down at the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]].

== Early life and career ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2022}}
Born in [[Surrey]], Butterfill was educated at [[Caterham School]] and the [[College of Estate Management]] in London. In 1962, he began his career as a [[valuer]] with [[Jones Lang Wootton]] before becoming a senior executive with the [[Hammerson]] Group in 1964. He was a director at the Audley Properties Group (now the [[Bovis Homes Group]]) from 1969 until he became the managing director of the St Paul's Securities Group. He became a [[Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors]] in 1974. 

He was elected as the chairman of the [[Guildford (UK Parliament constituency)|Guildford]] Conservative Association from 1976 to 1982. In 1977 he became a [[senior partner]] in Curchod & Co [[Chartered Surveyors]], where he remained until 1992. He was the director of ISLEF Building and Construction Ltd from 1985 to 1991 and the Pavilion Services Group from 1992 to 1994.

== Parliamentary career ==
{{Moresources|section|date=December 2022}}
In 1979, Butterfill contested London South East Inner at the [[1979 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|European Parliamentary election]] but was defeated comfortably by [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]'s [[Richard Balfe]]. He was selected to contest the [[1981 Croydon North West by-election|Croydon North West by-election]] in 1981, which was caused by the death of [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MP [[Robert Taylor (Conservative politician)|Robert Taylor]]. 

It came as a great surprise when [[Bill Pitt (politician)|Bill Pitt]] won the seat for the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]], on a 24% [[Swing (politics)|swing]] and with a majority of 3,254. He was subsequently chosen to contest the south-coast seat of [[Bournemouth West]] on the retirement of the veteran MP [[John Eden, Baron Eden of Winton|John Eden]]. Butterfill won the seat at the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 general election]] with a majority of 13,331 and remained the MP until 2010.

Butterfill remained a [[backbencher]] for the entirety of his parliamentary career. He was the [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]] (PPS) to the [[Secretary of State for Energy]], [[Cecil Parkinson]], in 1988, remaining Parkinson's PPS when he became the [[Secretary of State for Transport]] in 1989. His job ended when Parkinson resigned from the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] at the [[1990 Conservative Party leadership election|election of John Major]] to succeed [[Margaret Thatcher]] in 1990.

Butterfill served on many [[Select committee (United Kingdom)|select committees]] during his more than 20-year Westminster career. He was responsible for introducing many [[acts of Parliament]] including the Registered Homes (Amendment) Act 1991,<ref>{{cite legislation UK |mode=cs1 |type=act |year=1991 |chapter=20 |act=Registered Homes (Amendment) Act 1991 |access-date=3 June 2014}}</ref> the [[Insolvency]] Act 1994,<ref>{{cite legislation UK |mode=cs1 |type=act |year=1994 |chapter=7 |act=Insolvency Act 1994 |access-date=3 June 2014}}</ref> and the Policyholders Protection Act 1997.<ref>{{cite legislation UK |mode=cs1 |type=act |year=1997 |chapter=18 |act=Policyholders Protection Act 1997 |access-date=3 June 2014}}</ref> 

In 1995, he entered a bill to place the UK in [[Central European Time]]. It was opposed by many Scottish MPs.<ref>{{cite episode |series=On the Record |series-link=On the Record (British TV programme) |title=Debate on Daylight Saving Time |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/otr/intext95-96/Daylight14.1.96.html |network=BBC-1 |access-date=3 June 2014 |date=1996-01-14 |archive-date=10 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110231709/http://www.bbc.co.uk/otr/intext95-96/Daylight14.1.96.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

He introduced the Financial Mutuals Arrangements Bill, which was renamed and became the [[Building Societies (Funding) and Mutual Societies (Transfers) Act 2007]].

=== Expenses ===
{{Further|United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal}}
In May 2009, as part of the ''[[Daily Telegraph]]''{{'s}} publication of details, the newspaper revealed that for five years, Butterfill owned a six-bedroom [[country house]] in [[Woking]], Surrey, 80 miles from his constituency. At the time, he designated a small flat in his Bournemouth constituency, bought for £56,000, as his "main home". Said by Butterfill to have been purchased as a wreck, he submitted regular claims under the second home allowance for the cost of running the Woking house, which had a swimming pool and extensive grounds. This included £17,000 on [[servants' quarters]] alone, contributing up to £1,778 a month towards the [[mortgage interest]], and was also reimbursed for [[council tax]] bills for the "staff annex", where his [[Housekeeper (domestic worker)|housekeeper]] and [[odd-job man]] lived.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5396199/MPs-expenses-Tory-MP-Sir-John-Butterfill-paid-no-tax-on-600000-house-profit.html|title=MPs' expenses: Tory MP Sir John Butterfill paid no tax on £600,000 house profit|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=27 May 2009|accessdate=27 May 2009|location=London|first=Rosa|last=Prince|archive-date=30 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530103904/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5396199/MPs-expenses-Tory-MP-Sir-John-Butterfill-paid-no-tax-on-600000-house-profit.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Butterfill repaid £17,479 in discretionary repayments to the government related to the expenses row. However, Butterfill was only over-paid by a total of £2,032.47 for mortgage interest (£1,408 in 2006–07 and £625 in 2008–09). He was also overpaid by a total of £332 for council tax in 2005–06 (of which £47.66 was due to payments not being reduced for dissolution and £284.00 due to an incorrect adjustment when moving house). The total repayment recommended was £2,364.<ref>{{cite report |author=House of Commons Members Estimate Committee |title=Review of past ACA payments |type=First Report of Session 2009–10 |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmmemest/348/348.pdf |publisher=[[The Stationery Office]] |access-date=30 April 2014 |location=London |date=4 February 2010 |archive-date=14 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100214183244/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmmemest/348/348.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

== ''Dispatches'' lobbyist investigation ==
{{Further|2010 cash for influence scandal}}
Butterfill was one of the MPs named in a 2010 [[sting operation]]. Butterfill allegedly told an undercover reporter that he would [[Lobbying in the United Kingdom|lobby]] to benefit a fictitious company and use his political connections for a payment of £35,000 a year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/03/21/tory-mp-sir-john-butterfill-offered-access-to-chiefs-for-35-000-115875-22127197|title=Tory MP Sir John Butterfill offered access to chiefs for £35,000|work=[[Daily Mirror]]|date=21 March 2010|accessdate=22 March 2010|archive-date=14 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114232819/http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/03/21/tory-mp-sir-john-butterfill-offered-access-to-chiefs-for-35-000-115875-22127197/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=February 2022}} Butterfill was also seen on the ''[[Dispatches (TV programme)|Dispatches]]'' programme saying he had been one of the four people who persuaded [[David Cameron]] to [[2005 Conservative Party leadership election|stand for leader of the Conservative Party]] and that it was likely that he (Butterfill) would be made a [[Peerage of the United Kingdom|peer]] and go to the [[House of Lords]]. The following day the Conservative Party leader David Cameron said: "I can tell you that is not going to happen."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23818081-cameron-dashes-tory-butterfills-peerage-hopes-after-lobby-firm-boasts.do |title=Cameron dashes Tory Butterfill's peerage hopes after 'lobby firm boasts' |work=[[Evening Standard]] |date=23 March 2010 |accessdate=23 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326203601/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23818081-cameron-dashes-tory-butterfills-peerage-hopes-after-lobby-firm-boasts.do |archivedate=26 March 2010 }}</ref>

In the final report of the [[Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards|Standards Commissioner]], it was deemed that Butterfill did not breach parliamentary rules: {{quote| The Commissioner does not consider that any of the statements made by Sir John during the course of his meeting with the undercover reporter or any of the actions he took as a Member referred to in his statements were in breach of the rules of the House. He has not, therefore, upheld the allegations against Sir John.<ref>{{cite report |author=House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges |author-link=Standards and Privileges Committee |title=Sir John Butterfill, Mr Stephen Byers, Ms Patricia Hewitt, Mr Geoff Hoon, Mr Richard Caborn and Mr Adam Ingram |type=Ninth Report of Session 2010–11 |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmstnprv/654/654.pdf |publisher=The Stationery Office |access-date=30 April 2014 |location=London |date=9 December 2010 |archive-date=29 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329040837/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmstnprv/654/654.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

== Personal life ==
He married Pamela Ross-Symons in 1965 in Surrey, and they had a son and three daughters. He was awarded a [[Knight Bachelor|knighthood]] in the [[2004 New Year Honours]] for "services to Parliament."<ref name=GB><!-- United Kingdom: --> {{London Gazette |issue=57155 |date=31 December 2003 |pages=1  |supp=1 }}</ref> He was a council member of the [[People's Dispensary for Sick Animals]]. His constituency included the [[Bournemouth Central (ward)|centre of Bournemouth]].

Butterfill died in [[Hampshire]]<ref>{{cite web |title=  DOR Q4/2021 in HAMPSHIRE (504-1G) |id= Entry Number 523044028 |url=https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/indexes_search.asp#Results |website=GRO Online Indexes |publisher=[[General Register Office for England and Wales]] |url-access=registration |access-date=28 October 2022}}</ref> on 7 November 2021, at the age of 80.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Butterfill|first1=Pamela|title=BUTTERFILL Sir John Valentine|url=https://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/253421/butterfill-sir-john-valentine|work=The Telegraph|access-date=24 November 2021|date=11 November 2021|archive-date=12 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112144503/https://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/253421/butterfill-sir-john-valentine|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Sir John Butterfill obituary |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/sir-john-butterfill-obituary-xfxrdfx97 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2 May 2022 |work=[[The Times]] |date=24 November 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20211124134352/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sir-john-butterfill-obituary-xfxrdfx97 |archive-date=24 November 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100326105951/http://www.johnbutterfillmp.co.uk/ Official website]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-775,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: John Butterfill MP] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051101094356/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-775,00.html |date=1 November 2005 }}
* [https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/john_butterfill/bournemouth_west TheyWorkForYou.com – John Butterfill MP]
* [http://www.bournemouthwestconservatives.com/ Bournemouth West Conservatives]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/80.stm BBC Politics Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060519070506/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/80.stm |date=19 May 2006 }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef | before = [[John Eden, Baron Eden of Winton|Sir John Eden, Bt]] }}
{{ s-ttl
 | title = Member of Parliament for [[Bournemouth West]]
 | years = [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983]]–[[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010]]
}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Conor Burns]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{Speaker of the British House of Commons election, 2000}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butterfill, John}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1983–1987]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1987–1992]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1992–1997]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1997–2001]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2001–2005]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2005–2010]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:People educated at Caterham School]]
[[Category:Politics of Dorset]]
[[Category:People from Kingston upon Thames]]
[[Category:Politicians from Bournemouth]]
[[Category:Politicians from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames]]