About Eric

My name is Eric Joyce, and I am an independent Member of Parliament for Falkirk, I resigned from the Labour party in March 2012. I have a constituency office in Denny and an office in Portcullis House, the House of Commons. My background before I became an MP was in the Army Education Corps. Not surprisingly, I have maintained an interest in Education, Defence and military issues in my time at Westminster. I am also interested in African affairs and overseas development as the Chairman for the Great Lakes Africa All Party Parliamentary Group. Over the last couple of years I have given a great deal of  thought to emerging technology,  new media and the digital economy of the UK. I was the Chair of  the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Digital Economy (DEAPPG) before we merged with the Parliamentary Internet Communications and Technology Forum (PICTFOR) in July 2011. Most recently I have been part of of the cross house Select Committee for Privacy and Injunctions.

I have served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to a number of UK Government Ministers since 2003. On 3 September 2009, I resigned as the Parliamentary Aide to Bob Ainsworth because of my concerns over the war in Afghanistan. I had previously been PPS to John Hutton MP when he was the Secretary of State for Defence; Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Prior to that, I served as the Parliamentary Aide to ministers Mike O’Brien MP, when O’Brien was the Minister for Energy at the Department of Trade and Industry and Margaret Hodge MP, Minister for Industry and the Regions at the Department of Trade and Industry.