Michael Connarty

Michael Connarty MP
Member of Parliament for Linlithgow and East Falkirk Falkirk East (1992-2005)
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 April 1992
Preceded by	Harry Ewing
Majority	11,202 (24.1%)
Personal details
Born	3 September 1947 (1947-09-03) (age 64) Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Nationality	Scottish
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Margaret Mary Doran
Alma mater	University of Glasgow, University of Stirling

Michael Connarty (born 3 September 1947) is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Linlithgow and Falkirk East since 2005, and a variation of the same seat since 1992.

Early life

Michael Connarty was born in Coatbridge. He was educated at the local Roman Catholic High School (St. Patrick's) on Muiryhall Street in the year below fellow MP John Reid. Like John Reid he then studied at the University of Stirling, receiving a BA in Economics in 1972, and where he was elected as the President of the Student Association from 1970-1 before going on to University of Glasgow.

He then attended Jordanhill College in Glasgow where he received a Diploma in Childcare and Education (DCE) in 1975. He was a special needs teacher from 1976 until he was elected to the House of Commons in 1992. He was also an economics teacher at a secondary school. He became a councillor on the Stirling District Council in 1977, becoming its leader in 1980 until he left the council in 1990. He was a member of the Loch Lomond, Trossachs and Stirling Tourist Board 1981-1990. He also claims to have been a steelworker at one point.

Parliamentary career

He unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary constituency of Stirling at the 1983 General Election but finished 5,133 behind the Conservative and Unionist future Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Forsyth. Connarty faced Forsyth again at Stirling at the 1987 General Election. Connarty came very close, but Forsyth was the eventual winner by a margin of just 548.^[1]

Michael Connarty was elected to Westminster at the 1992 General Election for the Labour seat of Falkirk East with a majority of 7,969 following the retirement of the sitting MP Harry Ewing. Connarty used his maiden speech on 13 May 1992 to raise concerns about the fragility of the petrochemical industry at Grangemouth, the largest town in Falkirk East [1].

Following the 1997 General Election he became the Parliamentary Private Secretary the Minister of Film and Tourism Tom Clarke but this appointment lasted only until 1998 when Clarke was sacked from government. Connarty has spent his parliamentary career as a backbencher and since 1998 has been a member of the European Scrutiny Select Committee, which is the committee responsible for scrutinising the legislation set by the European Parliament. He speaks French.

He is the chairman of the Tribune Group of left-wing Labour MPs and he served as a justice of the peace 1977-1990. Following the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the Scottish boundaries were redrawn and his constituency was enlarged and renamed as Linlithgow and East Falkirk. Until he retired at the 2005 General Election, Linlithgow was represented at Westminster by the former Father of the House of Commons, Tam Dalyell.

He is a supporter of the British Humanist Association and is joint chair of the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group [2] and vice president of the National Youth Jazz Collective.

In November 2008, Connarty was one of 18 MPs who signed a Commons motion backing a Team GB football team at the 2012 Olympics, saying football "should not be any different from other competing sports and our young talent should be allowed to show their skills on the world stage". The football governing bodies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all opposed to a Great Britain team, fearing it would stop them competing as individual nations in future tournaments.

Celtic football club

On 30 April 2008, Connarty signed Early Day Motion No. 1439 which called for censure a Celtic football club player who had worn a T-shirt carrying with the words "God bless the Pope".^[2] The motion regretted that the action "could serve to heighten tension between players as well as supporter". The EDM had been tabled by MPs from the Democratic Unionist Party, and Connarty was the first MP from outside Northern Ireland to add his signature.^[3] Connarty joined the forces of Ulster Unionism to support Early Day Motion 1439. The MPs who signed this motion were: Gregory Campbell; Iris and Peter Robinson; Dr. William McCrea; Jeffrey Donaldson; David Simpson; Nigel Dodds and Sammy Wilson.

Personal life

He married Margaret Doran in 1969. They have a son and daughter.

Controversy

On May 19, 2009, the Daily Telegraph revealed that Connarty was the fifth highest claiming MP in the UK, having claimed £156,207 in allowances between 2007 and 2008, excluding travel costs.^[4] His reply was to claim that the information upon which the revelations were based was stolen property.

References

1. ^ http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/top-of-the-hit-parade-1.532430
2. ^ "EDM 1439: Actions of Celtic Goalkeeper Arthur Boruc". 30 April 2008. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmedm/80430e01.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-01. 
3. ^ "MPs blast Celtic keeper Artur Boruc over Pope T-shirt". The Daily Record. 30 April 2008. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/04/30/mps-blast-celtic-keeper-artur-boruc-over-pope-t-shirt-86908-20399787/. Retrieved 2008-05-01. 
4. ^ BBC News "Scottish MP faces expenses claims" retrieved 27-05-2009

External links

• Official website
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Michael Connarty MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Michael Connarty MP
• BBC Politics

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Harry Ewing	Member of Parliament for Falkirk East 1992–2005	Constituency abolished
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Linlithgow and East Falkirk 2005–present	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Connarty, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	3 September 1947
Place of birth	Coatbridge
Date of death
Place of death