Tories tell MP to leave seat over family scandal
News Shopper Staff
April 25, 2001 12:49: Tories are calling for MP Alan Keen to be deselected following revelations the man behind a proposed £8m Heston development…
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News Shopper
Last week it emerged that Mark Lloyd-Fox, a director of the Medical Housing Corporation spearheading the proposal to build a leisure and housing complex in New Heston Road, is the adopted son of Brentford and Isleworth MP Ann Keen.

Mrs Keen's husband Alan, the Feltham and Heston MP, has been openly expressing his support for the development saying: "It's a great scheme and everyone supports it locally."

However, his endorsement of the campaign has upset rival political parties who say he should have declared his association to Mr Lloyd-Fox publicly.

Maxwell Brown, Chairman of Feltham and Heston Conservatives said: "I call for the Constituency Labour Party to de-select Alan Keen because of this week's dramatic news that he has been openly supporting an £8m development in Heston and not declaring a close family interest."

And Liz Mammet, Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Feltham and Heston says she is shocked that the MP failed to mention his vested interest: "At the main public meeting at Heston Community Centre on 6th April, the local MP recommended the scheme, saying that the needs of the young were of prime importance. No reference was made to his relationship with the developer."

"As an ex-Councillor, the MP would know how imperative it is to declare all pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests, however tenuous the link. When in doubt, declare!

However, Mr Keen defended his actions claiming that he had not been secretive or dishonest.

"It is obvious that the Tories are panicking over the forthcoming general election. Their claims are groundless," he said.

"All the local Heston councillors involved in the proposals for the sports complex. A number of the leading members of the Heston Residents Association and Don Palmer, who chaired the meeting, have always known that Mark was my son."