Adam Ingram (Labour politician)

For the member of the Scottish Parliament, see Adam Ingram (SNP).

The Right Honourable Adam Ingram MP
Member of Parliament for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
In office 11 June 1987 – 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Constituency Created
Succeeded by	Michael McCann
Minister of State for the Armed Forces
In office 7 June 2001 – 29 June 2007
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	New Office
Succeeded by	Bob Ainsworth
Personal details
Born	1 February 1947 (1947-02-01) Glasgow, Scotland
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	Open University

Adam Paterson Ingram (born 1 February 1947) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow from 1987 to 2010.

Early life

He attended Cranhill Senior Secondary School in Cranhill, Glasgow a year below Archy Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope and is a graduate of the Open University. He became a trade union official with NALGO from 1977 to 1987 after several years working as a computer programmer/analyst from 1967 to 1977. A Justice of the Peace and former chairman of East Kilbride Constituency Labour Party, Ingram was East Kilbride District Councillor from 1980 to 1987 and leader of the District Council from 1984 to 1987.

Parliamentary career

Ingram was the Labour candidate for Strathkelvin and Bearsden in 1983, but entered the Commons following the 1987 election and during this parliamentary term acted as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Neil Kinnock. After Labour's landslide election victory in 1997 he was appointed Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office with responsibilities including Security.

In 2001 he became Armed Forces Minister at the Ministry of Defence, a position he held until Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in 2007. He was the longest serving Defence Minister in British history and is a member of the Privy Council.

On 27 March 2009, Ingram announced that he would stand down at the next general election.

Controversies

Ingram sued George Galloway and his publisher for alleged defamation regarding remarks Galloway made in his autobiography about Ingram's youthful membership of the Orange Order. Ingram lost the case and was ordered to pay costs.

In 2009 Ingram declared outside earnings of £170,000, the largest of any Scottish MP. In the same year it was shown that letters in the local press defending these earnings were forged.

In June 2010 at the public inquiry into the beating to death of Baha Mousa in custody he conceded that he had misled MPs when he was Armed Forces Minister over British troops' hooding of Iraqi prisoners. He had assured the then head of the Parliamentary joint committee on human rights, Jean Corston in June 2004, that prisoners were only hooded during transportation but had received documents in September 2003 that showed that Mousa had been hooded, on the advice of interrogation experts for nearly 24 of the 36 hours that he spent in custody.

On the 10 December 2010 he was cleared of any wrong doing by the Standards and Privileges Committee after the 2010 Cash for Influence Scandal, but criticised for bad judgement.

In popular culture

Ingram was warmly depicted by Gary Lewis as a loyal and supportive colleague to Mo Mowlam in the Channel 4 TV drama Mo (January 2010).

Personal life

He married Maureen McMahon in 1970.

External links

• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Adam Ingram MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Adam Ingram MP
• Leaving the MOD in 2007
• BBC Politics

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Maurice Miller	Member of Parliament for East Kilbride 1987 – 2005	Constituency abolished
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency	Member of Parliament for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow 2005 – 2010	Succeeded by Michael McCann
Political offices
Preceded by ???	Minister of State for the Armed Forces 2001–2007	Succeeded by Bob Ainsworth