John Woodcock (politician)
| John Woodcock MP | |
|---|---|
| Shadow Minister for Transport | |
|
Assumed office 9 October 2010 | |
| Leader | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Preceded by | Willie Bain |
| Member of Parliament for Barrow and Furness | |
|
Assumed office 7 May 2010 | |
| Preceded by | John Hutton |
| Majority | 795 (1.8%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
14 October 1978 Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England[1] |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour Co-operative |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Website |
www |
John Zak Woodcock[2] (born 14 October 1978)[3] is a British Labour Co-operative politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Barrow and Furness since 2010.
Early and personal life
Woodcock was born in Sheffield, attended the University of Edinburgh and worked as an aide to John Hutton from 2005 to 2008 and later as Special Adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.[4][5]
Parliamentary career
Woodcock was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Barrow and Furness in the 2010 general election with a majority of 5,208.[6] He succeeded John Hutton, Labour MP for the constituency since 1992.
On 10 October 2010, only five months after being elected to Parliament, he was named a Shadow Minister for Transport. John stepped down from this post in January 2013. From July 2011-January 2013 Woodcock was Chair of Labour Friends of Israel.[7]
He was also a member of the Public Bill Committee for the Defence Reform Act 2014[8]
Until 2015, Woodcock was the chair of Progress, a corporation-, charity- and union-funded group within the British Labour Party, promoting Blairist policies within the party.[9]
In March 2015 Woodcock was reported to the UK Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to determine whether his office had breached parliamentary rules. The investigation concerned his office's use of public funds for postage-paid envelopes and whether this contravened a rule which prohibits public funds being used to support the return of a person to public office. The postage-paid envelopes had been used in relation to a local Save Our Hospital campaign, an issue the local Conservative candidate claimed was prominent on Woodcock's 2015 General Election campaign leaflets.[10] During the Commission's investigation Woodcock admitted that he should not have used public funds for such a purpose and the Commissioner upheld the complaint, finding that Woodcock contravened parliamentary rules. Woodcock returned the £1881.22, which his office had spent on the envelopes, to the House of Commons.[11]
In December 2013, Woodcock publicly announced he was suffering from depression and is now having treatment for the condition.[12]
References
- ↑ http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U251659/
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 59418. p. 8740. 13 May 2010.
- ↑ "John Woodcock MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
- ↑ "Meet Labour's man set to replace John Hutton". North-West Evening Mail. 2009-06-19. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
- ↑ Jess Freeman (2010-07-09). "NUS presidents: where are they now?". Total Politics. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
- ↑ "Barrow & Furness". BBC News. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
- ↑ Marcus Dysch (5 July 2011). "Labour Friends of Israel name new chair". Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
- ↑ "House of Commons Public Bill Committee on the Defence Reform Bill 2013-14". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
- ↑ "Alison McGovern elected chair of Progress". Progress Online. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
- ↑ "Barrow MP reported to watchdog over envelopes for raffle". North-West Evening Mail 2015-03-05. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
- ↑ "Complaint about Mr John Woodcock MP" (PDF). Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
- ↑ I am depressed and I have decided to get help The Independent, 5 Dec 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
External links
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Hutton |
Member of Parliament for Barrow and Furness 2010–present |
Incumbent |