Hugh was MP for York for 23 years and a Minister in Tony Blair’s government.

After leaving Parliament in 2015 he was appointed as Commissioner of the UK foreign aid watchdog, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact, and served as a lay member of the professional regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council.  On a voluntary basis he was a trustee of the International Rescue Committee.

Before Parliament he worked as a health economist at the University of York; before that he led the International Broadcasting Trust, a charity making documentary programmes about migration and development for Channel 4 and other TV stations; earlier he was a trade union negotiator for nurses and other health service staff.

He created the charities Memorial to the Women of World War II, which raised money for the women’s memorial next to the cenotaph in Whitehall, and Drill2Drink which raised money to provide clean drinking water in Tanzania.  He was on the executive committee of the Anti-Apartheid Movement.

“Migration has been part of Britain’s history for centuries and is part of my own family’s story. Our clients, refugees, people seeking asylum and survivors of slavery, are people, and they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect while their cases are processed. Those who are allowed to stay contribute to our country through work and paying taxes, but most importantly, after fleeing life-threatening dangers, they get the chance to rebuild their lives.”