Michael Shanks (politician)
Michael Shanks | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2023 | |
| Member of Parliament for Rutherglen and Hamilton West | |
| Assumed office 5 October 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Margaret Ferrier |
| Majority | 9,446 (31.0%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Michael Graeme Shanks 1987 or 1988 (age 35–36)[1] Ayrshire, Scotland |
| Political party |
|
| Other political affiliations | Co-operative Party[2] |
| Education | University of Glasgow |
| Signature | File:Michael Shanks politics signature.png |
Michael Graeme Shanks (born 1987 or 1988)[1] is a Scottish Labour politician. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Rutherglen and Hamilton West since winning a by-election on 5 October 2023.[3]
Political career
Shanks was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2012 Glasgow City Council election,[4] standing for Scottish Labour in the ward of Partick West and finishing fifth in the single transferable vote process. Four councillors were elected for the ward, making Shanks the only Labour Party candidate in Glasgow not to be elected.[5][6] He contested the Glasgow Kelvin constituency in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, coming third,[7] and the Glasgow North West constituency at the 2017 general election, coming second.[8][1][9] Shanks resigned from the Labour Party on the day of the 2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, citing Brexit and antisemitism in the party, but re-joined when Keir Starmer became leader.[10][6]
Having moved to Rutherglen from western Glasgow a year earlier,[11] he was selected to contest the Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency in May 2023,[6] in anticipation that Margaret Ferrier, the incumbent MP who had been sanctioned for breaches of COVID-19 restrictions,[12] would lose her seat via a recall petition. Following her suspension from the House of Commons, Ferrier was unseated by a successful recall petition on 1 August.[13] In the subsequent by-election on 5 October, Labour overturned the previous 9.7% Scottish National Party (SNP) majority to win with a majority of 31% and a swing of 24%, with 58.6% of the vote share.[14][15]
Political views
Shanks is reported as saying he: "wasn't 'against' rejoining the EU and insisted he hadn't changed his principles over Brexit but that now was not the right time for a debate on the issue".[16] During his by-election campaign Shanks said he would vote to abolish the two-child benefit cap.[17] He supported the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill but said that "it could be much, much better".[16]
Personal life
Shanks was born in 1987 or 1988[1] in Ayrshire.[11] He has a degree in history and politics from the University of Glasgow, and worked for a charity before retraining as a teacher in his late 20s, taking a PGDE at Glasgow.[18] He was employed as a modern studies teacher at Park Mains High School in Erskine, Renfrewshire.[19] He has also been involved in community and charity initiatives for disabled people[20][21] and ran a scout group for disabled children.[22][23]
In January 2022, he received news coverage for running all of Glasgow's 6,143 streets.[24][25] He began running during the first COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, having been motivated by an American athlete who had run every street in San Francisco in 30 days.[25] Shanks described it as an "adventure" as opposed to a fitness challenge and completed it on 5 January 2022, when he ran down the city centre's George Square, which he had saved for last.[26] Whilst running he gathered information about the area from people for a book he is planning on the social history of Glasgow inspired by the book Rambles Round Glasgow by Hugh MacDonald,[26][27] and created an online journal of the project.[28]
References
- ^ a b c d Robertson, Adam (6 October 2023). "Who is Michael Shanks? Meet Labour's newest Scottish MP". The National. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ "Rutherglen and Hamilton West Campaigning Session with Anas Sarwar MP". Co-operative Party. 26 September 2023. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023.
- ^ Brooks, Libby; Carrell, Severin (6 October 2023). "'Seismic night in Scotland': Labour crushes SNP in Rutherglen and Hamilton West byelection". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ Shanks, Michael (3 February 2012). "After 31 years, you'd have thought they might have some policies…". Labour Hame. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ "Election Results 2012". glasgow.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 6 July 2012.
- ^ a b c Learmonth, Andrew (9 May 2023). "Labour pick activist who quit party to be by-election candidate". The Herald. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
- ^ Glasgow Kelvin Scottish Parliament constituency, BBC News, 2016
- ^ "The full list of the Labour Party's general election candidates in Scotland". LabourList. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ Glasgow North West parliamentary constituency – Election 2017, BBC News, 2017
- ^ Harpin, Lee (6 October 2023). "Labour Scots by-election winner quit party in protest at Corbyn antisemitism failure". Jewish News. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ a b Gordon, Tom (6 August 2023). "SNP accused of desperation over 'local' claim in Rutherglen by-election". The Herald. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ "Margaret Ferrier suspended from Commons over Covid rule breach". BBC News. 6 June 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ Mitchell, James (1 August 2023). "By-election to be held after COVID rule-breaker MP Margaret Ferrier loses seat". Sky News. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ Meighan, Craig (6 October 2023). "Scottish Labour wins key Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election". STV News. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ Brooks, Libby (6 October 2023). "'Seismic night in Scotland': Labour crushes SNP in Rutherglen and Hamilton West byelection". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ a b Robertson, Adam (6 October 2023). "Who is Michael Shanks? Meet Labour's newest Scottish MP". The National. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023.
- ^ Garton-Crosbie, Abbi (2 August 2023). "Michael Shanks blasted for claim he would vote against Keir Starmer". The National. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023.
- ^ Meighan, Craig (26 September 2023). "Who is in the running to be Scotland's next MP?". STV News. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ Morrison, Hamish (16 June 2021). "Erskine teacher on a quest to run every street". The Renfrewshire Gazette. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ A Is for Autism – Let's Make Sure It's on the Agenda, Michael Shanks, Huffington Post, 2 April 2017
- ^ Board Members | Michael Shanks, David Coates, Epilepsy Scotland, 6 September 2021
- ^ Special Scouts pack help bring joy to the lives of disabled Scots boys, Joan McFadden, Daily Record, 19 November 2012
- ^ Paterson, Stewart (5 January 2022). "Meet Michael: the man who ran every single Glasgow street". Glasgow Times. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ Paterson, Stewart (10 May 2023). "Labour pick man who ran every Glasgow street for Margaret Ferrier seat". Glasgow Times. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
- ^ a b Whyte, Ava (5 January 2022). "Scots teacher Michael Shanks completes journey to run all 6143 streets in Glasgow". The National. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ a b Brocklehurst, Steven (6 January 2022). "The man who ran all of Glasgow's 6,000 streets". BBC News. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ Bartlett, Polly (3 April 2021). "I'm running along every one of Glasgow's 6000 streets". STV News. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ "Every Single Glasgow Street – A journal of running 6,000 streets by Michael Shanks". everyglasgowstreet.com. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
External links
