Frank Dobson

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This article is about the British politician. For the artist, see Frank Dobson (sculptor).
The Rt Hon Frank Dobson
Frank Dobson
In office
2 May 1997 – 11 October 1999
Prime Minister Tony Blair
Preceded by Stephen Dorrell
Succeeded by Alan Milburn
Member of Parliament
for Holborn and St. Pancras
In office
9 June 1983 – present
Preceded by new constituency
Born March 15, 1940 (1940-03-15) (age 68)
Flag of England York, UK
Political party Labour
Alma mater London School of Economics

Frank Gordon Dobson (born March 15, 1940) is a British politician and member of Parliament for Holborn and St. Pancras, for Labour.

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[edit] Early Life

Dobson was born in York, England and attended the London School of Economics where he studied economics. He worked for the Central Electricity Generating Board and the Electricity Council. After fighting for a seat on Camden Borough Council in 1964, he was elected in 1971 and rose so rapidly that he was chosen as Labour Group Leader (and therefore Leader of the Council) after the resignation of Millie Miller in 1973.

[edit] Member of Parliament

He stood down as Leader in 1975 and resigned from the Council on taking up a non-partisan job as Assistant Secretary of the Office of Local Ombudsman. In 1979 he was elected as MP for Holborn and St. Pancras. His naturally pugnacious style of politics earned him rapid promotion to the front bench where he served in several important posts from 1982; his liking for 'dirty jokes' and conviviality won him many friends despite his partisanship. As Spokesman on Environment and London from 1994 he led the national Labour response to the series of scandals over Westminster City Council and its former leader Shirley Porter.

[edit] In government

However, when Labour won power in 1997, Dobson was appointed as Secretary of State for Health. This was a high-profile post but Dobson found it difficult to make a significant impact because of the decision to stick within spending limits set by the previous Conservative government. The government's proposal to introduce Private Finance Initiative Hospitals was highly controversial.

[edit] Election for Mayor of London

Dobson was manoeuvred by the Labour Party leadership into announcing his resignation in order to stand as Mayor of London in the inaugural elections. He managed to beat Ken Livingstone in the Labour Party's internal selection, helped by an existing electoral system that tended to favour him and no requirement for affiliated trade unions to ballot their members. Livingstone then fought the election as an independent, and Dobson came third, only just ahead of the Liberal Democrat candidate. He has since been a critical friend of the Government and was re-elected as an MP, albeit with a reduced majority, in the May 2005 general election. He was one of the main opponents of the Iraq war from within the Labour party, proposing the anti war motion in the crucial House of Commons debate on the subject.

[edit] Criticism and Controversy

In the Labour leadership controversy following Tony Blair's declaration he would step down within a year of September 2006, Dobson called for Blair to step down right away and end uncertainty.

He also attacked Alan Milburn for making a 'terrible mess' of the NHS. Milburn had some hours been earlier been mentioned by Charles Clarke as a possible future Labour leader. [1]

In late 2006 he underwent a quadruple bypass and was away from parliament for a considerable time but is believed to have recovered well, and has been active since.

[edit] External links

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