Chris Pond

Christopher Richard Pond, known asChris Pond (born 25 September 1952) is a former Labour MP for Gravesham in Kent, from 1997 to 2005.. He was Parliamentary Under-Secretary at Department for Work and Pensions from June 2003 to May 2005. He left Parliament on 11 April 2005.

Early life

Pond went to the Minchenden School (became comprehensive in 1967, and was merged into the Broomfield School in 1984) in Southgate, London. At the University of Sussex, he gained a BA in Economics in 1974.

From 1974-5, he was a research assistant in Economics at Birkbeck College. From 1975-9, he was a research officer at the Low Pay Unit (now called the Low Pay Commission). He lectured in Economics at the Civil Service College (now called the National School of Government) from 1979-80. From 1981-2, he was a visiting lecturer in Economics at the University of Kent. At the University of Surrey, he was a visiting professor from 1984-6. He was a consultant for the Open University from 1987-8, and 1991-2.

Parliamentary career

At the 1987 general election, Pond unsuccessfully contested the Welwyn Hatfield constituency.

He won the Gravesham seat at the 1997 general election, beating the sitting Conservative Party MP, Jacques Arnold. He was re-elected at the 2001 general election, and served as a member of the Social Security Select Committee, Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Treasury and then minister in the Department for Work and Pensions.

Pond introduced a Private Members Bill, the Employment of Children Bill in 1998, which subsequently led to greater protection for children at work. He campaigned with the Marchioness Action Group for a Public Inquiry into the sinking of the Marchioness, for greater safety measures and for the introduction of lifeboats on the Thames. At the May 2005 general election, he lost his seat in Parliament to the Conservative Party candidate, Adam Holloway.

In February 2005, Pond was arrested by the police after an alleged incident of criminal damage. He had removed a sign illegally threatening to clamp his heavily pregnant wife’s car and placed it on the door of a neighbour who he believed had been responsible, leaving traces of glue. After the decision whether to prosecute him was referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions and to the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, Pond received a police caution.

After leaving parliament in 2005, Pond was appointed as Chief Executive of The National Council for One Parent Families. In 2007 he became Director of Financial Capability at the Financial Services Authority. Since 2005, he has been Chair of Capacitybuilders, a Cabinet Office sponsored funding agency for charities and social enterprises. He is a Trustee of the End Child Poverty Campaign and of the National Family and Parenting Institute. He is also an independent director of Cape Claims Services, an asbestos compensation scheme.

Affiliations

• Non-executive Director, Cape Claims Services - company focusing on personal injury claims, subsidiary of Cape plc. | Member of the council of the Institute for Fiscal Studies | Director of 'Financial Capability' for the Financial Services Authority

Publications, Contact, Resources and Notes

Contact

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Resources

• Cape PLC, Cape PLC Scheme of Arrangement, 09 June 2006, accessed 28 November 2008.
• They Work For You, Chris Pond, former MP, accessed 28 November 2008.
• Ungoed-Thomas, Jon, et al., "Revealed: how minister cashed in on contacts," The Sunday Times, 23 November 2008, accessed 24 November 2008.
• Wikipedia Chris Pond