Martin Salter
Martin Salter | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Reading West | |
| Assumed office 1 May 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Tony Durant |
| Majority | 4,672 (11.1%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 April 1954 Hampton, London |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
Martin John Salter (born 19 April 1954 in Hampton, in west London) is a United Kingdom politician. He is Labour Member of Parliament for the Reading West parliamentary constituency.
Early life
Salter was educated at local primary and grammar schools and attended the University of Sussex but did not graduate.
Salter worked in various jobs, including working as a lorry driver, scaffolder, builder's labourer, refuse collector and airport cargo handler. Latterly he worked as a coordinator for a centre for the unemployed and for a housing cooperative.
Politics
Prior to his career as a Labour Party Councillor, Salter was an active member of the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU). Similarly, Salter has been active within the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT), holding titles of Shop Steward and Convenor Steward for several years.
From 1984 to 1997, Salter was a Labour Councillor on Reading Borough Council representing Park Ward, during which time he chaired the Leisure Committee and served as Deputy Leader. In the 1987 general election he stood unsuccessfully for the Reading East parliamentary constituency. In the 1997 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament for Reading West, a position he retained during the 2001 and 2005 general elections.
In parliament, Salter served on the Select Committee on Northern Ireland through the period of the Good Friday Agreement. He was also a member of the Modernisation Select Committee between 2001 and 2005, and in 2006 entered the Home Affairs Select Committee. Salter was the Chair of the South East Group of PLP between 1999 and 2003, was the Deputy Convenor of Labour's Parliamentary Campaign Team between 2003 and 2005, and was twice elected by fellow MPs as a member of Labour's Parliamentary Committee between 2005 and 2008.
Salter is also a member of the Multiple Sclerosis, Rwanda & Genocide, Football, Angling, Kashmir, Environment, Fibromyalgia, Endometriosis and Ghurka All Party Parliamentary Groups.
Salter has promoted legislation proposing to criminalise possession of so-called "extreme pornography" [1]. His campaign came about after the conviction at Lewes Crown Court of Graham Coutts, for the murder of Brighton schoolteacher Jane Longhurst. A petition, objecting to "the presence of extreme internet sites promoting violence against women in the name of sexual gratification", gained 50,000 signatures. Salter has argued that the law is needed because he claims that snuff films exist where women are raped and murdered on camera in Guatemala[2][3]. This prohibition was incorporated into the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.
Salter is also a founding member of Labour Friends of Searchlight and has been active in the struggle against the far-right. However, he takes a firm stance on security issues and has been a vocal supporter of the proposed national identity card scheme, and for the government proposal to extend the period police can hold terror suspects to 42 days in exceptional circumstances.
While strongly opposing hunting with dogs, Salter supports shooting]and fishing, being a keen angler himself. He has consistently argued that angling belongs firmly in the environmental lobby. In 2002 he was appointed Labour's parliamentary spokesperson for angling.
At a local level Salter is an active constituency MP, with frequent appearances in the local media and at local meetings. He has a high local profile and in the 2001 election secured the second highest swing to Labour in Britain. After his re-election in 2005, Salter was one of only six Labour MPs with a majority still higher than the 1997 landslide. He recently led a successful campaign to prevent the development on the Kennet flood plain on the edge of his constituency.
Salter holds membership for several organisations and charities, including Greenpeace, National Trust, Amnesty International, Angling Conservation Association and the Green Lanes Environmental Action Movement. He is Patron of Cystinosis Foundation, Down Syndrome International Swimming Organisation, Berkshire MS Therapy Centre, ABC to Read]], Thames Valley Positive Support, and is currently a Trustee of the Thames River Restorative Trust. He remains the Vice President of the Reading YMCA Trust.
On 30 November 2005, Salter resigned as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Schools Minister Jacqui Smith over school reform proposals and co-authored the Alternative Education White Paper with a group of centre-left MPs including John Denham, Angela Eagle, John Ruddock and Alan Whitehead.
In June 2007, he was appointed as Vice Chair (Environment) of the Labour Party.[4]
Private life
He is married to Natalie, and has no children. He has lived in Reading from 1980. His interests include freshwater angling and supporting Reading F.C., where he is a season ticket holder and Honorary Vice-President of Supporters' Trust At Reading (STAR). He also enjoys reading, walking, gardening and camper-vanning.[citation needed]
References
External links
- Martin Salter MP (Martin Salter's web site)
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Martin Salter
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Martin Salter MP