Sandra Osborne

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Sandra Osborne MP

Member of Parliament
for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock
Ayr (1997-2005)
Incumbent
Assumed office 
1 May 1997
Preceded by Phil Gallie
Majority 9,997 (22.2%)
Born 23 February 1956 (1956-02-23) (age 53)
Paisley, Renfrewshire
Nationality Scottish
Political party Labour
Spouse(s) Alastair Osborne
Alma mater Strathclyde University

Sandra Currie Osborne, née Clark (born 23 February 1956, Paisley, Renfrewshire) is the Labour Member of Parliament for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock in Scotland. She was first elected in 1997, and resigned from a government job in 2003 over the Iraq War. She is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. [1]

Contents

[edit] Before Parliament

Sandra Osborne was born and brought up in Ferguslie Park, Paisley. She was educated at Camphill Secondary School in Paisley. She later attended evening classes before going on to Jordanhill College where she gained the Diploma in Community Education. After working as a community worker in Glasgow she moved to Ayrshire where she spent 14 years as a counsellor with Kilmarnock Women's Aid. During that time she also studied part time at Strathclyde University where she graduated Master of Science in Equality and Discrimination. In 1997 she was one of the shortlisted finalists in the Scottish Woman of the Year Awards (Glasgow Evening Times) [1] nominated for her work with abused women.

[edit] Political career

Osborne was the councillor for Whitletts on Kyle and Carrick District Council and South Ayrshire Council where she also served as Convener of Community Services (Housing and Social Work). She is a member of the Trade Union Unite (formerly TGWU) and has been active in the Labour Party since 1976, serving for a time as Ayr CLP Secretary. In 1983 she was a member of the Scottish contingent on the People's March for Jobs who walked from Glasgow to London to highlight the scourge of unemployment.

She was selected to stand for election for Labour in Ayr from an all-women shortlist [2]. This method of selection was subsequently declared illegal in January 1996 on the grounds that it breached sex discrimination laws,[3]. Despite the ruling in 1996, Labour candidates already selected from all women shortlists stayed in place. In May 1997 she was elected MP for Ayr constituency, becoming Ayr's first ever Labour MP and first ever woman MP. She was re-elected in the June 2001 general election.

Osborne served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Helen Liddell, the Secretary of State for Scotland, from June 2002 until she stepped down in March 2003 over her opposition to going to war with Iraq. She believed this should not have gone ahead without a second UN resolution. [4] She had previously served as PPS to George Foulkes, Minister of State at the Scotland Office and to his predecessor in that post, Brian Wilson.

She has served as Chair of the Scottish Group of Labour MPs and member of the Scottish Executive of the Labour Party. She has served as Chair of the All Party Group on Meningitis. She was a member of the Kerley Committee on the Renewal of Local Democracy, providing a minority report opposing proportional representation.[5]

In June 2004 Osborne was selected to be Labour Candidate for the new constituency of Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, where she was returned at the 2005 general election with a majority of 9997. She was appointed to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in 2005. She is also Secretary of the All Party Group on Colombia and the Women, Peace and Security Group. In 2006 the Prime Minister appointed her a member of the UK Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

Her political interests include poverty, pensions, women's issues and foreign policy.

[edit] Family

Sandra Osborne is married to Alastair Osborne who was Labour candidate in the same Ayr constituency in 1992 that Mrs Osborne won in 1997.[6] They have two daughters and two granddaughters and live in Symington, Ayrshire. She enjoys reading, walking and spending time with her two granddaughters. [1]

[edit] Voting record

Osborne has voted on key issues since 2001 as follows: [7]

  • Voted against a transparent Parliament.
  • Voted moderately for introducing a smoking ban
  • Voted strongly for introducing ID cards.
  • Voted very strongly for introducing foundation hospitals.
  • Voted strongly for introducing student top-up fees.
  • Voted very strongly for Labour's anti-terrorism laws.
  • Voted moderately for the Iraq war.
  • Voted very strongly against an investigation into the Iraq war.
  • Voted very strongly against replacing Trident.
  • Voted very strongly for the hunting ban.
  • Voted very strongly for equal gay rights.
  • Voted for laws to stop climate change

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c *Sandra Osborne MP official site
  2. ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19960109/ai_n9634358?tag=content;col1
  3. ^ "Labour blow as all-women lists outlawed". The Independent. Bnet.com. 9 January 1996. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19960109/ai_n9634289. 
  4. ^ *BBC News site 19 March 2003
  5. ^ *Kerley Report
  6. ^ *Guardian Unlimited : Politics: Alastair Osborne
  7. ^ http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/sandra_osborne/ayr%2C_carrick_and_cumnock#votingrecord

[edit] External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Phil Gallie		 Member of Parliament for Ayr
1997–2005		 Succeeded by
(constituency abolished)
Preceded by
(new constituency)		 Member of Parliament for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock
2005–present		 Incumbent
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Osborne"