Karl Turner | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forKingston upon Hull East | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 6 May 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | John Prescott | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Majority | 3,920 (13.2%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Karl William Turner (1971-04-15)15 April 1971 (age 54) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Labour | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Karl William Turner (born 15 April 1971) is a British politician who has been theMember of Parliament (MP) forKingston upon Hull East since2010.
Karl Turner was born on 15 April 1971 inKingston upon Hull.[1][2][3] He was raised in the city and was educated atBransholme High School from 1984 to 1987, leaving at the age of 16.[4][5] He attendedHCC Training to studybusiness administration from 1987 to 1989.[6] Later, Turner became a self-employed antiques dealer.[7]
He returned to education in the late 1990s to studyA Levels atHull College, before graduating with a law degree as a mature student from the Leeds Beckett in 2004.[4]
Turner became abarrister in 2005 after passing theBar Vocational Course atNorthumbria University and went on to practise criminal law for the Max Gold Partnership in Hull.[7] He did not complete his pupillage and is no longer authorised to practise by the Bar Standards Board.[8]
Turner was selected by theLabour Party as their candidate forKingston upon Hull East in March 2008.[7] At the2010 general election, Turner was elected to Parliament as MP for Kingston upon Hull East with 47.9% of the vote and a majority of 8,597.[9][10]
In April 2014, Turner referred himself to theParliamentary 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.[11] The Commissioner for Standards concluded that there should be noinquiry.[11]
Turner was appointedShadow Solicitor General by Labour leaderEd Miliband on 3 December 2014, and continued to serve as an oppositionwhip.[12]
At the2015 general election, Turner was re-elected as MP for Kingston upon Hull East with an increased vote share of 51.7% and an increased majority of 10,319.[13]
On 11 January 2016, Turner was appointedShadow Attorney General for England and Wales to replaceCatherine McKinnell, who resigned following a reshuffle to theCorbyn shadow cabinet.[14] On 26 June 2016, Turner resigned from the Shadow Cabinet following theEU referendum, among a number of his colleagues unhappy withJeremy Corbyn's leadership.[15] He supportedOwen Smith in the2016 Labour leadership election. On 14 October 2016, it was announced that Turner had returned to Labour's frontbench as a Whip.[16]
Turner was again re-elected at the snap2017 general election with an increased vote share of 58.3% and an increased majority of 10,396.[17] Following the election, he was appointed as Shadow Shipping, Aviation and Road Safety Minister within the Shadow Transport team.[18]
On 12 March 2018, allegations of sexual misconduct against Turner were reported in the British press.[19] Turner, via his solicitors, denied making any such comments or behaving inappropriately.[19] The Labour Party said it had not received a formal complaint and that complaints about inappropriate behaviour are taken "extremely seriously".[20]
In September 2019,Speaker of the HouseJohn Bercow described Turner as the "noisiest member of the House".[21]
At the2019 general election, Turner was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 39.2% and a decreased majority of 1,239.[22]
Turner is a member of theLabour Friends of Israel group in Parliament.[23]
In August 2023, Turner apologised after sharing a doctored image of Prime MinisterRishi Sunak onTwitter.[24]
At the2024 general election, Turner was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 43.8% and an increased majority of 3,920.[25]
Turner has criticised planned reforms by theStarmer government to limit jury trials. He has described the idea as "ludicrous", and has said that he would consider resigning from his seat to trigger aby-election if the proposal succeeded.[26] Turner cited his own experience with the criminal justice system as reasoning, saying that he had been unsuccessfully charged with handling stolen goods in 2002 while working as an antiques dealer.[26] He was the only Labour MP to vote for aConservative motion in support of retaining jury trials.[26][27][28]
He is married to Leanne Turner.[29]
Media related toKarl Turner (British politician) at Wikimedia Commons
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forKingston upon Hull East 2010–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales 2016 | Succeeded by |