Keith Vaz, Yemeni-English lawyer and politician, Minister of State for Europe
Nigel Keith Anthony Standish Vaz (born 26 November 1956) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester East for 32 years, from 1987 to 2019. He was the British Parliament's longest-serving British Asian MP.
Vaz served as the Minister for Europe between October 1999 and June 2001. He was appointed a member of the Privy Council in June 2006. He was Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee from July 2007, but resigned from this role on 6 September 2016 after the Sunday Mirror revealed he had engaged in unprotected sexual activity with male prostitutes and had said he would pay for cocaine if they wished to use it.
At the end of October 2016, Vaz was appointed to the Justice Select Committee; a parliamentary vote to block his appointment was defeated. On 10 November 2019, he said in a statement that he was retiring from Parliament and would not be standing for re-election at the general election the following month.
1956Nov, 26
Keith Vaz
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Events on 1956
- 26Jul
Suez Crisis
Following the World Bank's refusal to fund building the Aswan Dam, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal, sparking international condemnation. - 17Oct
Bobby Fischer
Donald Byrne and Bobby Fischer play a famous chess game called The Game of the Century. Fischer beat Byrne and wins a Brilliancy prize. - 23Oct
Hungarian Revolution of 1956
Thousands of Hungarians protest against the government and Soviet occupation. (The Hungarian Revolution is crushed on November 4). - 4Nov
Hungarian Revolution of 1956
Soviet troops enter Hungary to end the Hungarian revolution against the Soviet Union, that started on October 23. Thousands are killed, more are wounded, and nearly a quarter million leave the country. - 12Nov
Sudan
Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia join the United Nations.