John Heppell

John Heppell MP

Member of Parliament for Nottingham East
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 April 1992
Preceded by	Michael Knowles

Born	3 November 1948 (1948-11-03) (age 59) Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyneside
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour

John Heppell (born November 3, 1948) is a British politician. He is the Labour Member of Parliament for Nottingham East and former Vice-Chamberlain of the Household (Government Whip).

[edit] Early life

Heppell was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyneside and was educated locally at the Rutherford Grammar School (now the low-performing Westgate Community School) on West Road in Fenham, then the South East Northumberland Technical College (became North Tyneside College and now called Tyne Metropolitan College) on Coast Road in Wallsend, and he completed his education at the Ashington Technical College (now called Northumberland College) on College Road in Ashington. He worked for the National Coal Board from 1964 as a fitter until he left in 1970 to work as a fitter in Nottingham. He joined British Rail in 1975, originally as a diesel fitter, becoming a workshop supervisor in 1978 until he left in 1989.

Heppell was elected as a councillor to the Nottinghamshire County Council in 1981, serving as the deputy leader for three years from 1989, stepping down from the council in 1993. He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1992 General Election for Nottingham East by defeating the sitting Conservative MP Michael Knowles by 7,680 votes and has remained the MP there since. He made his maiden speech on May 11, 1992, in which he recalled that it was in his constituency at Sneinton that the founder of the Salvation Army William Booth launched his crusade against poverty in the early 19th century.[1]

In parliament, Heppell was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Leader of the House of Lords Ivor Richard in 1997 and became the PPS to the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in 1998. He became a member of the Tony Blair government following the 2001 General Election when he was appointed as a Lord Commissioner to the Treasury and Government Whip and was promoted within the Whips Office becoming the Vice-Chamberlain of the Household following the 2005 General Election. He held this office until June 2007. He has been a member of the selection select committee since 2001.

Heppell has been married to Eileen Golding since 1974 and they have two sons and a daughter, two grandchildren, two dogs and a cat^[1]. He used to have the words love and hate tattooed on his knuckles, but they have since been removed^[2]. He is a member of the General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union having resigned from the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers in 2002. He is a keen ornithologist and enjoys reading, swimming and walking his dogs.^[1]

Political offices
Preceded by Jim Fitzpatrick	Vice-Chamberlain of the Household 2005–2007	Succeeded by Liz Blackman
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Michael Knowles	Member for Nottingham East 1992–present	Succeeded by Current incumbent