- Bob Clay
Robert Alan Clay (born
2 October 1946 ), known as Bob Clay, is a left-wingpolitician , formerly Labour MP, in theUnited Kingdom .Clay first joined Labour as a teenager, but quit to join the
Trotskyist groupInternational Socialists . He then became a unionshop steward in the 1980s and rejoined Labour.Clay was first elected to Parliament in 1983 for the
Sunderland North constituency, replacing Labour MPFrederick Willey , was re-elected in 1987, but stood down at the 1992 general election, where Labour MPWilliam Etherington was elected in his place.Clay opposed the 2003
Iraq War . He backed the left-wing partyRESPECT The Unity Coalition in the 2004 European Elections. At the 2005 General Election, he acted as agent forReg Keys , who stood against the Prime MinisterTony Blair in Blair's Sedgefield constituency on an anti-war ticket. Reg Keys son Tom had been killed in action in Iraq. Although Clay was not an originator of Key's campaign he used his position as agent to control all aspects of the campaign. He persuaded Derek Cattell, a former trade union officer and an executive member of Blairs Sedgefield Labour to join the campaign. Cattell's resignation from Labour during the election campaign, produced much publicity for the Keys campaign. Clay worked tirelessly for the Keys campaign helping build a coalition of support for Keys. Supporters included the former MP Martin Bell who in his book, "The Truth that Sticks" (2007) wrote " Of great value was Derek Cattell, formerly on the executive of Sedgefield Labour Party. He defected to Reg's campaign after some heart searching; it cost him some fair weather friends, but the candidate had no loyal supporter from start to finish". (page 103)Clay now lives in the Marches City of Hereford and remains politically active as a volunteer official in the local Labour Party. He has involved himself in a number of local causes including a group opposed to the building of a by-pass which would disturb ancient archealogical remains known as The Dinedor Serpent.
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