Jim McGovern (politician)

James McGovern MP
Member of Parliament for Dundee West
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 May 2005
Preceded by	Ernie Ross
Majority	7,278 (19.6%)
Personal details
Born	17 November 1956 (1956-11-17) Glasgow
Nationality	Scottish
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Norma McGovern

James McGovern (born 17 November 1956) is a Scottish Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dundee West since 2005.

Early life

McGovern was born in Glasgow but moved to Dundee at the age of 9. He was educated at the Catholic Lawside Academy. He left school at the age of 15 and at the age of 16 began an apprenticeship as a glazier. In 1987, after being made redundant, he worked as a glazier for Dundee City Council. Whilst working for the council he was active within the GMB union. In 1997 he began working full time for the union as Trade Union Organiser.

Parliamentary career

He was first elected to the British House of Commons at the 2005 general election for Dundee West with a 14.6% majority, following the retirement of the sitting Labour MP Ernie Ross. Since 2005 he has served on the Scottish Affairs Committee. Between 2007 and 2008 he served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Pat McFadden the Minister of State at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform , before resigning over the row surrounding the privatisation of Royal Mail. He was re-elected in 2010 with a majority of 19.6%.

Personal life

He is married to Norma with two children and lives in the Law part of Dundee.

External links

• Official website
• Scottish Labour - James McGovern
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: James McGovern MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - James McGovern MP
• BBC Politics

News items

• REmploy in November 2007
• NCR in January 2007
• Regiment Tartan in March 2006
• Meet the MP November 2005