John Mann (British politician)

John Mann
Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 June 2001
Preceded by	Joe Ashton
Majority	8,215 (16.6%)
Personal details
Born	(1960-01-10) 10 January 1960 Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Joanna White[1]
Children	2 Daughters and 1 Son
Alma mater	University of Manchester
Occupation	Member of Parliament
Website	johnmannmp.com

John Mann (born 10 January 1960) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bassetlaw since 2001,^[2] after the retirement of previous MP Joe Ashton.

John Mann serves on the Treasury Select Committee. Previously he has been Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Tessa Jowell and Richard Caborn.

Early life

Mann is the son of James (Jim) and Brenda Mann. He attended Waterloo Infants school, Pudsey, Yorkshire. He then attended Pudsey Waterloo Junior school from 1967-71. He went to the independent Bradford Grammar School (via a scholarship). Mann has a degree in Economics from Manchester University and Diploma in Training Management. Active in the Labour Party from his youth (Pudsey South Labour Party), his activities have taken him from residence in London (he was a councillor in the London Borough of Lambeth), to Lewes in East Sussex, Baldock in Hertfordshire and Worksop in Bassetlaw. He was chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students from 1983-4.

Before entering Parliament he previously worked for the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union as Head of Research and Education and as the National Training Officer at the TUC National Education Centre in North London (now closed). Mann has also been a party employee and a trade union liaison officer. He was an ally of disgraced former Labour MP Phil Woolas.^[3] Mann is a member of Unite and GMB, YHA, the British Mountaineering Council, IPD and the Co-operative Party.

He married Joanna White in July 1986 in Leeds. They have two daughters and a son in their early 20s. He supports Leeds United.

Political life

Mann was first elected as MP for Bassetlaw in 2001, and subsequently retained his seat at the general elections in 2005 and 2010,

Mann served on the Treasury Select Committee twice, 2003–2005, and 2009–2015, during which time he raised issues around debt, financial misselling (with particular reference to Credit Cards) and claims handlers.^[4] Some commentators have noted Mann's reputation for asking brusque questions, particularly of senior bank executives ^[5] and George Osborne.^[6]

John Mann was the first Labour MP to call for Gordon Brown to resign after the 2010 General Election.^[7] Some months earlier, when Brown was Prime Minister, Mann had written an open letter demanding a number of changes to the Labour party structures.^[8]

Mann was also vocal in criticising other MPs over the expenses scandal, arguing that MPs could not be trusted to self regulate^[9] He criticised the shredding of documents related to expenses before 2010, saying "it looks like MPs trying to protect MPs again". ^[10] He was also responsible for lodging the complain that resulted in an inquiry into Maria Miller's expense claims^[9]

In 2014 Mann was responsible for compiling a dossier of historic allegations of child abuse, detailing allegations of 12 former ministers that may have been involved. He said he believes some of them were "definitely child abusers"^[11]

Combating Antisemitism

John Mann chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group against Antisemitism.^[12] The Group commissioned the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism in 2005. The inquiry panel, chaired by former Europe Minister Denis MacShane, gathered written and oral evidence on antisemitism in Britain and published a report of their findings on 7 September 2006. The panel's recommendations included improved reporting and recording of antisemitic attacks; a crackdown on anti-Jewish activity on university campuses; and improved international co-operation to prevent the spread of racist material online. In May 2009 John Mann received the American Jewish Committee's Jan Karski Award in recognition of his commitment to fighting antisemitism in all of its forms.^[13]

Drug Policy

One of Mann's earliest campaigns in his constituency was his inquiry against heroin use in the area. In September 2002, Mann called for more treatment for heroin users in North Nottinghamshire.^[14] The inquiry he instigated called for heroin addicts to be given the choice between treatment or jail. At the same time more local GPs were trained to help heroin addicts get their lives back under control.^[15] Following the reforms the number of addicts in treatment in Bassetlaw rose from 2 to 400, and acquisitive crime fell by 75%.^[16]

Mann has continued to advocate similar policies, for instance in his Fabian Society pamphlet 'The Real Deal: Drugs Policy that Works'.^[17]

Local Campaigns

Mann is an active campaigner in his constituency Bassetlaw and an advocate of using campaigning strategies he refers to as "organising to win" elsewhere.^[18] He has organised numerous campaigns in his constituency, examples of which include campaigning to save Bassetlaw Hospital Accident and Emergency Department,^[19] helping former coal miners fight double charging solicitors to get their compensation back,^[20] and fighting Bassetlaw District Council's policy of 'topple testing' headstones in local cemeteries.^[21] Mann keeps a weekly column in the Worksop Guardian and - along with other local figures - writes occasional pieces for the Retford Times.

References

External links

• John Mann MP official site
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Mann