Geoff Hoon

This article is part of the Revolving Door project of Spinwatch.

Geoff Hoon is a British Labour Party politician who was UK secretary of state for defence from 1999 until 2005. Other posts included transport secretary, leader of the House of Commons and government chief whip.

Geoff Hoon at the Pentagon, 12 February 2003. Source: US Department of Defense

He served as the member of parliament for Ashfield from 1992 to 2010.

Resignation from Ministry of Transport

He resigned as Transport Secretary amid the controversy over his expense claims. The Telegraph reports he had claimed expenses relating to two different properties at the same time. He apologised 'unreservedly' for the error. He 'is thought to have amassed a sizeable property portfolio worth more than £1.7 million'.

Suspension from the Labour Party

In 2010 Hoon was suspended from the Labour Party after being secretly filmed by television programme Dispatches offering his consultancy services for £3000 a day. Hoon later issued an 'unreserved' apology for the filmed comments.

Human Rights complaint

Mr Hoon filed several complaints with the European Court of Human Rights against the investigation, namely: that the parliamentary proceedings had violated his right to a fair hearing as he had not had access to a court to challenge the claims against him, and that the parliamentary authorities had failed to respect his right to private life.

In 2014, the Strasbourg court rejected his complaint that the investigation and report had breached his human rights. It claimed the complaint over his right to a fair hearing was inadmissible, and the 'interference' with Mr Hoon's private life had been 'proportionate'. It added that Mr Hoon's complaint over privacy was 'manifestly ill-founded'.

Revolving door

• Hoon launched his own transport consultancy TaylorHoon Strategy in September 2010. On the launch, ACOBA said, "having left office over 12 months ago the Committee sees no reason why he should not immediately set up a consultancy, providing strategic advice to clients, subject to the conditions that for 2 years from his last day in office he should not draw on any privileged information that was available to him as a Minister, or undertake any work as a consultant which involves providing advice to any company or organisation on the terms of any bid or contract relating directly to the Department for Transport. Also for 2 years from his last day in office he should not become personally involved in lobbying UK Government Ministers or Crown servants, including Special Advisers, on behalf of his clients. If during that period, the nature of the consultancy changes in any way from providing strategic advice to clients, he should seek further advice from the Committee".

• In May 2011 Hoon took up the role of executive senior vice-president of international business helicopter firm AgustaWestland, responsible for sales of helicopters outside the UK and Italy. . From 1 January 2016, the activities of AgustaWestland were merged into Leonardo-Finmeccanica's Helicopter Sector, and he became Managing International Director.

As Minister of Defence, Hoon had landed several contracts with the company, one even worth up to £1bn for 'FutureLynx' helicopters in 2005, two months after AgustaWestland said that it was cutting its 4,000 West Country workforce by some 680.

• He has been interviewed several times by the American think tank Center for a New American Security on Global Defence Markets and other related topics.

Agusta Westland 'bribe' accusations

The company has been involved in several scandals since 2011, accused of bribery and falsifying invoices in helicopter sales to India, Algeria, Sweden and South Korea. It was charged with bribery, along with two of its top officials, by the Italian court.

When Geoff Hoon became International Director in 2011, he was the face of the company in international trade shows, speaking for the quality and performance of the helicopters while defending its ways to secure contracts. In an article for Defense World, Vishwanath Patil suggests that, while he might not have been directly involved in the unethical procedures of securing Agusta Westland contracts, 'his spirited defence of a company against which the Italian court has established charges of bribery [...] shows a surprisingly high level of conviction'.

The fact that the UK government has not investigated either Agusta Westland or the individuals involved in the scandal could indicate the level of influence Hoon could still be holding on the UK Government.

Strong support for Labour Friends of Israel

In November 2003 Hoon gave a speech to the United Jewish Israel Appeal, in which he declared that he is a 'strong supporter' of Labour Friends of Israel and a good friend of Trevor Chinn.

External Resources

• Andrew Porter and James Kirkup, Geoff Hoon interview, telegraph.co.uk, 13 May 2010.</ref>
• Manuela Mesco and Andy Rowell, SpinWatch, Revolving Doors Revealed, 26 July 2011