John Grogan (UK politician)
| John Grogan | |
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| Member of Parliament for Selby |
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| In office 1 May 1997 – 6 May 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Michael Alison |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 24 February 1961 Halifax, West Yorkshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Website | www.johngrogan.co.uk |
John Timothy Grogan (born 24 February 1961) is a former British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Selby from 1997 to 2010. The constituency of Selby was abolished for the 2010 election. Currently, John Grogan holds chair of the Mongolian – British Chamber of Commerce (MBCC).[1]
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[edit] Early life
Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Grogan was educated at St Michael's RC College on St John's Road (near the University of Leeds), a Jesuit school, and St John's College, Oxford where he was awarded a BA degree in Modern history and Economics in 1982, he also served as the president of the Oxford University Student Union.
He worked as a communications coordinator with the City of Leeds Council from 1987 to 1994 before setting up his own conference business from 1996-7. He worked for the Labour Party in various capacities in both Leeds and Wolverhampton. He also acted as the Labour Party press officer in the European Parliament at Brussels in 1995.
[edit] Parliamentary career
He unsuccessfully contested the North Yorkshire seat of Selby at the 1987 general election but was defeated by the Conservative MP Michael Alison by 13,779 votes. He again contested the seat based on Selby at the 1992 General Election but was again defeated by Alison, by a reduced 9,508 votes.
In between the two unsuccessful contests at Selby he also stood unsuccessfully for the York seat to become a member of the European Parliament in 1989. He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1997 general election for Selby. Alison retired at the election and Grogan faced the new challenge of a former Conservative MP Kenneth Hind who had been the MP for West Lancashire (1983–1992). Grogan won the seat with a majority of 3,836, but his majority decreased subsequently; in 2005 he retained his seat with a majority of 467 votes.
He made his maiden speech on 7 July 1997 (see [1]).
In parliament he served as a member of the Northern Ireland select committee from 1997–2001 and after the 2005 General Election. He is a member of the Fabian Society and the Institute for Public Policy Research.
He was also the chairman of the all party groups on the BBC, beer and Mongolia. He lives in the constituency at Fulford, and is a supporter of both the Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Bradford City A.F.C.. He led the campaign to save the Selby Coalfield in 2002 (see [2]). In 1999 he called for a memorial to the heroism of women during World War II to be remembered on the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square. The campaign had the backing of the then Speaker of the House of Commons Betty Boothroyd and the Princess Royal (see [3]). Although the campaign was unsuccessful a monument has since been erected in Whitehall.
He is the honorary president of the University of York Labour Club. [4]. The university, though on the outskirts of York, formed part of his Selby constituency.
He announced he would not contest the next general election, after the constituency of Selby was split in two. [5]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- John Grogan MP official site
- Guardian Unlimited Politics — Ask Aristotle: John Grogan MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com — John Grogan MP
- BBC Politics page
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Grogan
[edit] News items
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Michael Alison |
Member of Parliament for Selby 1997–2010 |
Constituency abolished |
