Michael Clapham

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Michael "Mick" Clapham (born May 15, 1943) is a British politician and former trade union official. He is the Labour Member of Parliament for Barnsley West and Penistone.

Born in Barnsley, Mick Clapham was educated at the Darton Secondary Modern School and the Barnsley Technical College. After leaving school in 1958, he was a coal miner for 12 years before he returned to further his education at the Leeds Polytechnic, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree with honours in 1973. He earned a Postgraduate Certificate in Education at the University of Leeds in 1974, and a Master of Philosophy at the University of Bradford in 1990.

In 1974, he lectured in trade union studies at the Whitwood College in Castleford, before joining the National Union of Mineworkers in 1977 as a claims officer, becoming its head of industrial relations in 1983, the position he held for the duration of the miners' strike of 1984-1985, he stepped down on his election to the House of Commons in 1992.

Clapham was the treasurer of the Barnsley West and Penistone Constituency Labour Party since 1983 when he was elected as the MP there at the 1992 General Election following the retirement of Allen McKay. He held the seat very comfortably with a majority of 14,504 and has been safely reelected there since. He made his maiden speech, speaking on the concerns in the local coal mining industry, on May 6, 1992.[1]

Clapham is a left-winger and a member of the Socialist Campaign Group, and has rebelled against the government on various issues. He was a member of the Trade and Industry Select Committee from 1992 to 1997 and again since 2003; in between he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Alan Milburn following the 1997 general election, but he resigned over Harriet Harman's decision to cut lone parent benefits in the December. He used to be very loyal to his old boss Arthur Scargill, but later criticised him for being too Stalinist. Clapham has announced he is to step-down at the next general election, he is to be replaced by current Hillsborough MP Angela Christine Smith. *

Michael's constituency will cease to exist when it becomes part of the Penistone and Stocksbridge (UK Parliament constituency), Clapham is understandably saddened by the loss of his constituency.

His voting record shows him to be against many of Tony Blair's controversial policies, including ID cards, student top-up fees and the Iraq war.

Clapham is a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association.

He has been married to Yvonne Hallsworth since 1965 and they have a son and a daughter.