John Grogan (politician)

Official portrait of John Grogan crop 2.jpg

John Timothy Grogan (born 24 February 1961) is a British Labour Party politician, who is the current Member of Parliament (MP) for .[1] He was formerly Member of Parliament for Selby between 1997 and 2010. He is currently chair of the Mongolian–British Chamber of Commerce (MBCC).[2]

Early life

Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Grogan was educated at St Michael's RC College, a Jesuit school in Leeds and St John's College, Oxford. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern History and Economics in 1982, and also served as the President of the Oxford University Student Union.

He worked as a communications coordinator with the Leeds City Council from 1987 to 1994 before setting up his own conference business from 1996–97. He worked for the Labour Party in various capacities in both Leeds and Wolverhampton. He also acted as the Labour Party press officer in the European Parliament at Brussels in 1995.

Parliamentary career

Grogan unsuccessfully contested the North Yorkshire seat of Selby at the 1987 general election against the Conservative MP Michael Alison, losing by 13,779 votes. He again contested the seat for the second time at the 1992 General Election but was again defeated by Alison by 9,508 votes.

Between the 1987 and 1992 elections, he also stood unsuccessfully to become a Member of the European Parliament for York in 1989.

Grogan was then elected to the House of Commons at the 1997 general election for Selby. As the incumbent Alison had retired at the election, he defeated the former Conservative MP for West Lancashire, Kenneth Hind, who had lost his seat in 1992, with a majority of 3,836. He made his maiden speech on 7 July 1997.[3]

He led the campaign to save the Selby Coalfield in 2002.[4] In 1999, he called for a memorial to the heroism of women during World War II to be remembered on the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square, with the campaign gaining the backing of the then Speaker of the House of Commons, Betty Boothroyd, and the Princess Royal.[5] Although the campaign was unsuccessful a monument has since been erected in Whitehall.

In the 2005 general election, he retained his seat with a reduced majority of 467 votes, making the seat the 15th most marginal Labour-held seat in the UK. During his time as in parliament, Grogan served as a member of the Northern Ireland Select Committee from 1997 until 2001, and then again from 2005 until 2010.

In 2009, Grogan gained national coverage for his campaign against the proposed options for the privatisation of Royal Mail.[6] detention of suspects for 42 days,[7] gambling deregulation,[8]

He campaigned against the proposed expansion of Heathrow Airport,[9] the top-up tuition fee reforms in 2004[10] and voted against the UK's involvement in the Iraq War in 2003.[11] While serving as an MP, he also campaigned for reform of the licensing laws,[12] the smoking ban,[13] bus regulation[14] and public service broadcasting.[15] Grogan also campaigned for the protection of the rights of agency workers,[16] the regulation of lobbyists[17] and access for all to sporting listed events on free-to-air TV.[18] He was also the chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on the BBC, Beer and Mongolia.

While serving as the MP for Selby, Grogan also supported the building of a new by-pass for Selby,[19] as well as a new hospital and the expansion of its flood defences.[20]

In 2006, Grogan confirmed he would not contest the next general election after boundary changes were made to his Selby Constituency.[21]

During and after the 2009 expenses scandal, Grogan was criticised by The Daily Telegraph for claiming £150.00 on parliamentary expenses for English language tuition for a Mongolian intern. It was reported by the newspaper to have been in order for the intern to be able to "understand his [Mr Grogan's] constituents' Yorkshire accents".[22]

In 2013, Grogan was selected as the Labour candidate for Keighley for the 2015 general election.[23] He lost to the Conservative candidate Kris Hopkins by a margin of 3,053 votes.[24] He successfully refought the seat in the 2017 general election, winning with a majority of 249 votes.

Personal life

Grogan lives in Burley in Wharfedale, West Yorkshire. He is a supporter of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Bradford City A.F.C..

He is the honorary president of the University of York Labour Club. He is a member of the Fabian Society and the Institute for Public Policy Research.

References

  1. ↑ "John Grogan MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  3. ↑ Westminster, Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons,. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 7 Jul 1997 (pt 28)". www.publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  4. ↑ "Coalfield closure 'will cost £420m'". BBC News. 20 June 2002.
  5. ↑ "MP campaigns for war women's memorial". BBC News. 28 October 1999.
  6. ↑ "John Grogan: If Labour can't save the Royal Mail, it's lost a little of its soul". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  7. ↑ "Labour MP on 42 day rebellion". BBC News. 2 June 2008.
  8. ↑ "Gambling Bill criticised by Labour MP". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  9. ↑ Stratton, Allegra; correspondent, political (28 January 2009). "Labour survives vote on Heathrow expansion but 28 MPs join revolt". Retrieved 9 June 2017 – via The Guardian.
  10. ↑ Southgate, Sam (16 February 2004). "Selby’s Unlikely Rebel". Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "The independent". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  12. ↑ "Ministers set to call time on licensing laws". BBC News. 14 December 1998.
  13. ↑
  14. ↑ "Transport proposals heralded by MP". York Press. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  15. ↑ John Grogan (8 January 2007). "John Grogan: The point of going digital | Opinion". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  16. ↑ "Number of migrant workers soar in three years". York Press. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  17. ↑
  18. ↑ "John Grogan: Let us all share in the celebrations by keeping the Ashes free to watch". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  19. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  20. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 October 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  21. ↑ "MP to quit new-look constituency". BBC News. 11 October 2006.
  22. ↑ Perry, Keith (29 October 2014). "MPs forced out over expenses will stand in 2015". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  23. ↑ Trickett, Jon (23 November 2013). "Reason to be cheerful- my good friend John Grogan selected as labour candidate for Keighley. Good news for both Labour and Keighley.". Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  24. ↑ "Late election result sees Kris Hopkins retain Keighley seat in Parliament for Conservatives". Ilkley Gazette. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Michael Alison		 Member of Parliament for Selby
1997–2010 		Constituency abolished
Preceded by
Kris Hopkins		 Member of Parliament for Keighley
2017–present 		Incumbent
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