John Spellar
John Spellar is a Labour MP. He became MP for Birmingham Northfield at a by-election on 28 October 1982, but was defeated at the general election in June 1983. He was MP for Warley West 1992-97, and has represented Warley since 1997.[1]
Spellar was born in Bromley in 1947, and was educated at Bromley Parish Primary School, Dulwich College and St. Edmunds Hall, Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Politics, Economics.[2]
Electrician's union officer
Before entering Parliament, Spellar was a national officer for the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union (EEPTU).[3]
Spellar began working for the union in 1969. According to the Independent, he "became famous as the wheeler dealer who organised the union block vote to ensure that annual party conferences voted the way leaders like Jim Callaghan wanted them to".[4]
MP
Spellar and Roger Godsiff were the only two new Labour MPs not invited to the first meeting of the Tribune Group after the 1992 election, possibly as a result of factional struggles with Clare Short in Birmingham.[5]
Spellar served as: Opposition Whip 1992-94; Opposition Spokesperson for: Northern Ireland 1994-95, Defence, Disarmament and Arms Control 1995-97; Ministry of Defence: Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State 1997-99, Minister of State for the Armed Forces 1999-2001; Minister for Transport: Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions 2001-02, Department for Transport 2002-03; Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office 2003-05; Government Whip 2008-10; Opposition Deputy Chief Whip 2010; Shadow Minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Office 2010-[1]
Spellar was presented a medal marking forty years of service by Len McCluskey of the EEPTU's successor Unite. According to the Independent, the medal was not presented earlier, because McCluskey's predecessor Derek Simpson "could not stand Spellar".[4]
Affiliations
External Resources
- John Spellar, BBC News, 13 June 2003.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 John Spellar, www.parliament.uk, accessed 5 November 2012.
- ↑ Rt. Hon. John F. Spellar MP, labour.co.uk, acccessed 5 November 2011.
- ↑ Rt. Hon. John F. Spellar MP, labour.co.uk, acccessed 5 November 2011.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Andy McSmith, Spellar made to wait for his medal, Independent, 23 February 2012.
- ↑ Andy McSmith, Faces of Labour: The Inside Story, Verso, 1997, p.240.
