Siôn Simon
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Siôn Llewelyn Simon (born 23 December 1968) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He has been Labour member of Parliament for Birmingham Erdington since 2001.
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[edit] Background
Born in Caernarfonshire to Welsh-speaking parents, Siôn grew up in Birmingham before enrolling at Magdalen College, Oxford in 1987. While at Oxford he was elected head of the college JCR (Junior Common Room) in his second year.
After university, he was research assistant for George Robertson MP for three years.
[edit] Professional career
After a stint working for Guinness, he became a journalist, working for the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Express and the News of the World. He continues to be an associate editor at the Spectator.
In the 1992 election campaign he ran the European desk for the Labour Party and then, during the 1997 campaign, the foreign press department at Labour Party Headquarters. In the 2005 General Election he stood for and held the seat of Birmingham Erdington with a majority of 9 575.
[edit] Controversies
On 5 September 2006 he and Chris Bryant co-ordinated a letter which was signed by 17 Labour backbenchers calling for Tony Blair to resign.[1] The MPs failed to force Mr Blair out of office, but the Prime Minister did publicly pledge to stand down within 12 months.
On 12 October 2006 controversy erupted over a YouTube spoof by Simon of David Cameron's video blog, in which, pretending to be Cameron, he offered people one of his children and the opportunity to sleep with his wife. This led to expressions of disgust from both parties with the stunt being called "tasteless".[2] [3] Traffic for Cameron's video blog increased tenfold after the controversy. In an interview on Sky News that same day, he described David Cameron's attempts to reach out to the youth culture as "shallow" and "pathetic".[4] The video was removed on 13 October by Tom Watson MP, the original poster.[5]
[edit] Personal life
Simon suffers from the rare genetic disorder, choroideremia, a condition that leads to progressive deterioration in eyesight and in its later stage, blindness.[6]. He co-founded, as works as a trustee for, the Choroideremia Research Foundation Inc.[7]
Married in the early 1990s, he has three children, but is now divorced. He now lives with a new female partner.
