Doug Naysmith

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John Douglas Naysmith (Doug) (born April 1, 1941, Scotland) is the Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament for Bristol North West. He had previously been a councillor in Bristol City Council for eighteen years, and is an immunologist. He announced on January 25th 2007 that he would not contest Bristol North West in the upcoming elections under redrawn boundaries.

Doug Naysmith was first elected for Bristol North West at the 1997 general election. He had previously contested it at the 1992 general election, when he lost by only 45 votes, the smallest majority in England at that election.

During his time in Parliament, Doug Naysmith has largely been loyal to the government. Though he abstained in the Parliamentary vote authorizing British military involvement in the Iraq War in 2003 and voted against the introduction of Foundation Hospitals, he joined with the government in voting for the introduction of top-up fees, helping the Prime Minister secure an extremely narrow 5 vote majority (316-311). More recently, in November 2004, the Bristol North West MP voted for a controversial outright ban on fox hunting in England and Wales in a measure that passed the House of Commons by a substantial margin. Doug is currently a member of two select committees: Health and Regulatory Reform. He takes an active interest in health issues, is joint Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party Health Committee and is a member of many all party groups related to health matters and is an active member of the Socialist Health Association. Other political interests include ports and shipping, science, higher education and Co-operative development. He is Chair of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee and secretary of the Parliamentary Universities Group. He is also President of mental health charity The Dementia Care Trust.