Lawrie Quinn

Lawrence William Quinn (Born 25 December 1956) is a Labour politician in England.

Early life

He went to Pennine Way primary school in Harraby and Harraby Comprehensive School (now called North Cumbria Technology College NCTC) on Edgehill Road in Carlisle. At Hatfield Polytechnic, he gained a BSc in civil engineering in 1979.

Prior to his election to Parliament, he was a civil engineer with British Rail (1979–94) and Railtrack London North-East (1994-7), and a member of North Yorkshire County Council from 1989-93.

Parliamentary career

He was Member of Parliament for Scarborough and Whitby for two terms until being ousted by Conservative candidate Robert Goodwill in the United Kingdom general election of 2005. Lawrie lost the seat by 1,245 votes. It has been suggested that votes for the local Liberal Democrat candidate, the Iraq war, and negative feeling towards Tony Blair (who visited Scarborough the day before polling day to consolidate support) resulted in the marginal loss.

He was unexpectedly elected to Parliament in the 1997 General Election, as part of the Labour landslide election victory while he was not really expecting to win a normally Conservative seat which he retained in the 2001 General Election, and is a member of the Fabian Society.

Since losing his seat he has returned to engineering, working as Tube Lines New Works Delivery Manager on secondment from Bechtel (2005 until 2007) then as the Rail Projects Delivery Manager for Bechtel based in London.

Personal life

He married Anne Christine Eames in 1982.

External links

• Official Web site
• Ask Aristotle
• They Work For You

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Lawrie Quinn