Ian Davidson (Scottish politician)

Ian Davidson MP
Member of Parliament for Glasgow South West Glasgow Pollok (1997-2005)
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 1997
Preceded by	Jimmy Dunnachie
Majority	13,896 (44.9%)
Member of Parliament for Glasgow Govan
In office 9 April 1992 – 1 May 1997
Preceded by	Jim Sillars
Succeeded by	Mohammad Sarwar
Personal details
Born	(1950-09-08) 8 September 1950 Jedburgh
Nationality	Scottish
Political party	Labour Co-operative

Ian Graham Davidson (born 8 September 1950) is a British Labour Co-operative politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow South West since 2005. Davidson previously worked as a Community Service Manager and for Janey Buchan when she was a Member of the European Parliament.

Political career

He is well known as the MP who shouted "who cares?" in the Commons when Angus Robertson, the SNP leader at Westminster, asked the Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett about matters relating to the Joint Ministerial Committee on Europe.

He has been an MP since 1992, originally for the seat of Glasgow Govan and, following boundary changes, for Glasgow Pollok from 1997 to 2005. After further major boundary changes across Scotland, Davidson stood in the 2005 general election for the new constituency of Glasgow South West, where he won the second biggest swing to Labour in Scotland. He is a member of the Public Accounts Select Committee and has lobbied to support the Scottish shipbuilding industry. He is also secretary of the influential Trade Union Group of Labour MPs.

Like his colleague and friend Dennis Canavan, he was rejected as a candidate for the Scottish Parliament by the Labour Party, and has felt free to criticise the government since. In 2002 he criticised Prince Michael of Kent for 'squatting' in Kensington Palace. More recently he has criticised the Prince of Wales over his personal finances. He was the chair of Labour Against the Euro before it ceased campaigning following the 2003 decision by Gordon Brown that the five economic tests for the UK to join the euro had not been met.

During the debate in the House of Commons over the decision whether to have a referendum over the EU Treaty of Lisbon (5 March 2008), Davidson drew jeers from his Labour colleagues for branding New Labour supporters "Maoists and Trotskyists". Davidson was putting forward the case for disobeying the party line and voting for a referendum.

He is now Chair of the Centre for a Social Europe, a pro-EU but mildly sceptic left-of-centre think tank. He has been a member of the Scotland Office Select Committee since the 2005 General Election.

From 1973 to 1974, Davidson was Chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students.

He is also a supporter of Republic, a campaign to replace the British Monarchy with an elected head of state.

Expenses Scandal

During the 2009-10 Expenses Scandal, it emerged that Davidson claimed £87,699 in the four years to 2007; only £30 below the maximum permitted.

He has since admitted that he wished he had a larger mortgage on his London flat to allow him to claim more in allowances.

External links

• ePolitix - Ian Davidson official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Ian Davidson MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Ian Davidson MP

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Ian Davidson