Roger Berry

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Dr Roger Leslie Berry (July 4, 1948) British politician and is the Labour Member of Parliament for Kingswood.

Roger Berry was born in 1948 in Huddersfield and educated at the Dalton County Primary School in Huddersfield; Huddersfield New College; the University of Bristol, where he obtained a degree in Economics in 1970; and the University of Bristol where he was awarded a DPhil in 1977.

Berry lectured in economics at the University of Sussex, the University of Papua New Guinea, and the University of Bristol. He was elected as a councillor to the Avon County Council in 1981, becoming the deputy leader in 1985 and the Labour group leader in from 1986-1992, he stood down from the council in 1993. He contested Weston-super-Mare at the 1983 General Election but was easily beaten by Jerry Wiggin. Berry also unsuccessfully fought the seat of Bristol for the European Parliament in 1984.

Roger Berry was selected to contest the marginal seat of Kingswood at the 1987 General Election and was defeated by Robert Hayward by over 4,000 votes. Berry again contested Kingswood against Hayward at the 1992 General Election and this time was victorious and he won the seat with a majority of 2,370. He made his maiden speech on June 10, 1992.

Berry has been a frequent "rebel" against the Labour government since 1997. He is a Member of the Trade and Industry Select Committee. On 17 January 2007, he criticised the government for halting a corruption inquiry into arms sales to Saudi Arabia, saying it would do irreparable damage to UK's reputation.^[1]

He is married to Alison Delyth. Early on in his parliamentary career, Roger Berry became known as a disabled people's rights champion.