Barry Sheerman

Barry Sheerman
Barry Sheerman in 2012
Shadow Minister of State for Social Security
(Shadow Minister for Disabled People)
In office
8 July 1992 – 12 May 1994
Leader John Smith
Preceded by Unknown
Succeeded by Next known is Tom Clarke
19 October 1995
Member of Parliament
for Huddersfield
Huddersfield East (1979–1983)
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 May 1979
Preceded by Joseph Mallalieu
Majority 4,472 (11%)
Personal details
Born 17 August 1940
Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, England
Nationality British
Political party Labour Co-operative
Alma mater London School of Economics, University of London
Profession Academic
Website www.barrysheerman.org.uk

Barry John Sheerman (born 17 August 1940) is a British Labour Co-operative politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Huddersfield since the 1979 general election.

Early life

Sheerman was born on 17 August 1940 in Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex and went to Hampton Grammar School (became the independent Hampton School in 1975) on Hanworth Road in Hampton then Kingston Technical College. He was educated at the London School of Economics (BSc Economics 1965) and at the University of London (MSc 1967). He became a lecturer at the University of Wales, Swansea in 1966 and remained there until his election to parliament in 1979.

Parliamentary career

Sheerman unsuccessfully contested Taunton in the October 1974 election, and became the MP for Huddersfield East from 1979 to 1983 and for Huddersfield since the 1983 general election. At the 2005 election, despite a swing of 7.1% from Sheerman to his Liberal Democrat challenger, his majority was still 8,351.

from 1983 to 1988 he was the Labour spokesperson on education and employment; for Home Affairs (as Shadow Deputy Home Secretary) from 1988 to 1992; and for Disabled People's Rights from 1992 to 1994. He has been Chair of the House of Commons Education and Skills select committee since 2001, since renamed the Children, Schools and Families Committee in 2007. The Committee is often critical of government policy. Sheerman warned the government not to "lose their nerve" over reforming secondary education exam system back in 2005,[1] and in 2006 said it was "naive" to allocate local school places through parental choice, with lottery selection being the best way to avoid "bloody awful" schools existing as a side effect of parents pushing for their children to study elsewhere.[2]

He is Chair of the Labour Forum for Criminal Justice and of the Cross-Party Advisory Group on Preparation for European Monetary Union. Outside parliament, he is Chair of the National Educational Research and Development Trust, and a trustee of the National Children's Centre. His political interests are listed as trade, industry, finance, further education, education, economy, the European Union, South America and the United States. His recreations include walking, biography and films.

In June 2009, Sheerman called for a secret ballot of the Parliamentary Labour Party on whether Gordon Brown should continue in office as prime minister. This followed widespread criticism of Brown's performance and the resignation of Cabinet member James Purnell. Sheerman later reassured his local party chairman that he had not directly called for Brown's resignation.[3]

Sheerman called for a London catering company to employ "British workers" in a Twitter exchange on 23 April 2012.[4] The comments reached the national press. In response Sheerman said the objection to him speaking out was "pernicious political correctness".[5]

He is founder and chairman of Policy Connect, a cross-party, non-profit think tank based in London, where he regularly chairs seminar events and research inquiries. He is also chair and co-chair of a number of official All-Party Parliamentary Groups, including the All-Party Parliamentary Carbon Monoxide Group, the All-Party Parliamentary Manufacturing Group, and the Bullying All-Party Group. Since 2012, Sheerman has led the Schools to Work Commission, the Labour Party's policy review on the transition from education to employment.[6]

Personal life

Barry Sheerman married Pamela Elizabeth Brenchley in 1965 in north Surrey, with whom he has one son (born in 1978) and three daughters (born in 1970, 1972 and 1981). He lives in a nearby village called Norwood Green, which is outside the constituency town of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, and in Calderdale.

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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Joseph Mallalieu		 Member of Parliament for Huddersfield East
1979–1983 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Huddersfield
1983–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Unknown		 Shadow Minister of State for Social Security
(Shadow Minister for Disabled People)
1992-unknown 		Succeeded by
Next known is Tom Clarke 1995
Preceded by
Malcolm Wicks		 Chairman, Education & Skills Select Committee
2001–2007 		Committee abolished
New title Chairman, Children, Schools and Families Select Committee
2007-present 		Incumbent