Jon Cruddas

Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = Jon Cruddas
honorific-suffix =

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imagesize =150px
constituency_MP = Dagenham
parliament =
majority = 7,605 (24.7%)
predecessor = Judith Church
successor = Incumbent
term_start = 7 June 2001
term_end =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1962|04|7|df=yes
birth_place = Helston, Cornwall
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse = Anna Mary Healy
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = University of Warwick
occupation =
profession =
religion = Roman Catholic


website = [http://www.joncruddas.org.uk]
footnotes =

Jonathan Cruddas (born 7 April 1962), known as Jon Cruddas, is a United Kingdom Labour Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Dagenham. Cruddas was a candidate in the Labour Party deputy leadership election of 2007, being eliminated in the penultimate round of the contest which was won by Harriet Harman MP. Jon Cruddas won the most votes of all candidates in the first round of voting, obtaining 19.39 per cent of the vote from party members and party affiliate organizations. It is thought that the second choice votes of the supporters of Cruddas won the contest for Harman.

Early career

Jon Cruddas was born in Helston, the son of a sailor, and was educated at the Oaklands Roman Catholic Comprehensive School in Waterlooville, near Portsmouth, before attending the University of Warwick where he qualified with a M.A. and later a Ph.D. in Philosophy, for a thesis entitled "An analysis of value theory, the sphere of production and contemporary approaches to the reorganisation of workplace relations" [ [http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/search?/Ycruddas&searchscope=1&SORT=D/Ycruddas&searchscope=1&SORT=D&SUBKEY=cruddas/1%2C4%2C4%2CB/frameset&FF=Ycruddas&searchscope=1&SORT=D&3%2C3%2C# University of Warwick Library /All ] ] . He was a visiting fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a year from 1987. In 1989 he became a policy officer with the Labour Party before becoming the chief assistant to the general secretaries of the party in 1994, serving both Larry Whitty and Tom Sawyer. After the 1997 general election he became the deputy political secretary to the new Prime Minister Tony Blair and as the link between the Prime Minister and the trade unions, he worked on the introduction of the minimum wage. He was a member of the Transport and General Workers Union 1989-2001.

He has been married to fellow Labour activist Anna Mary Healy since 1992 and they have one son, Emmett. His wife worked for Jack Cunningham, Mo Mowlam, Gus Macdonald and now Harriet Harman.

Parliamentary career

Cruddas was elected as a member of the House of Commons at the 2001 general election when he inherited the safe Labour seat of Dagenham from the retiring Judith Church. He held the seat comfortably with a majority of 8,693 and has remained the MP there since. He used his maiden speech to say that there is more to Dagenham than the Ford Motor Company and praised the plans for development in the Thames Gateway on July 13, 2001. [ [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo010713/debtext/10713-05.htm#10713-05_spnew4 Hansard debate for 13 July 2001] ]

Jon Cruddas has criticised the Blair government for ignoring their traditional support in the chase for middle class voters. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4268142.stm Labour 'ignoring working classes'] BBC News, 25 September 2005] He rebelled against the government on university top-up fees, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3435587.stm The Labour rebels on tuition fees] BBC News, 27 January 2004] the limiting of asylum seeker rights, [ [http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=2006-03-29&number=205&mpn=Jon_Cruddas&mpc=Dagenham Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill — Clause 43 — Accommodation — 29 Mar 2006 at 17:00 — Commons Division No. 205] The Public Whip] the replacement of comprehensive education system with trust schools and proposals to renew the UK's Trident nuclear weapons submarine system. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6452315.stm, The Labour rebels on Trident replacement] BBC News, 14 March 2007]

He supports the Fourth Option for direct investment in council housing and opposes further privatisation within the NHS [ [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,,2084319,00.html Labour contender calls for halt to privatisation in NHS] The Guardian, 21 May 2007] and has also supported the Trade Union Freedom Bill. [ [http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=32194&SESSION=885 EDM 532 Trade Union Freedom Bill Campaign] PIMS, 18 December 2006]

Cruddas is unique amongst deputy leader candidates to be one of over 100 Labour MPs to sign a letter demanding a recall of Parliament when the Blair government refused to call for an immediate stop to the Israeli bombing of Lebanon in 2006. [ [http://clients.squareeye.com/uploads/compass/prescott%20recall%20letter.doc Recall letter] ]

Labour deputy leadership election

On 27 September 2006, he announced his intention to stand for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party once the current deputy leader John Prescott stood down. [ [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labourleadership/story/0,,1882215,00.html Cruddas to stand for deputy leadership] The Guardian, 27 September 2006] He said that unlike the other candidates for the deputy leadership he did not want to be Deputy Prime Minister, but instead to act as a "transmission belt" with the grassroots of the party. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6383069.stm Interview: Jon Cruddas] BBC News, 2 March 2007] In interviews, Cruddas also said he did not want the "trappings or baubles" that traditionally come with the job, such as use of the Dorneywood weekend country residence. [ [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article2519024.ece Jon Cruddas: You Ask The Questions] The Independent, 7 May 2007]

Cruddas accrued nominations from 49 MPs and has received strong union backing, including that of Derek Simpson General Secretary of Amicus [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6433023.stm Union chief backing Cruddas bid] BBC News, 9 March 2007] and from the Transport and General Workers' Union. [ [http://www.tgwu.org.uk/Templates/System/Other.asp? Choose change: Vote Cruddas] TGWU.org] He has also received backing from former Labour Party deputy leader Roy Hattersley, [ [http://www.ccnmatthews.com/news/releases/show.jsp?action=showRelease&searchText=false&showText=all&actionFor=652977 Jon Cruddas Gains Momentum With Hattersley Endorsement] CCNMatthews, 19 May 2007] Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, [ [http://www.joncruddas.org.uk/wordpress/?p=110 Ken Livingstone and Unite back Jon Cruddas for deputy leader] JonCruddas.org.uk, 18 May 2007] NUS President Gemma Tumelty, and former National Executive Committee member, actor and presenter Tony Robinson. [ [http://www.joncruddas.org.uk/wordpress/?p=104 Tony Robinson backs Jon Cruddas] JonCruddas.org.uk, 9 May 2007] The Labour publication Tribune endorsed him as "the change that is required". [ [http://www.joncruddas.org.uk/index.php?getPage=newsTemp&story=214 Leader column Leader column from the Tribune] JonCruddas.org.uk, 11 May 2007]

On 24 June 2007, it was announced that Harriet Harman had won the deputy leadership, although Jon Cruddas did win in the first round of votes.

Platform and political views

Cruddas's deputy leadership challenge has been based on the precepts contained in a pamphlet called 'Fit for purpose: A programme for Labour Party renewal', co-authored with journalist John Harris and funded by the pressure group Compass. [ [http://clients.squareeye.com/uploads/compass/documents/fit_for_purpose.pdf Fit for Purporse: A programme for Labour Party renewal] ] Cruddas won a Compass membership poll in March 2007, gaining 53% of first preference votes among the deputy leadership candidates. [ [http://www.compassonline.org.uk/article.asp?n=473 Members of Compass overwhelmingly vote to support Jon Cruddas for Labour Deputy Leader] Compass, 7 March 2007]

In terms of his relative position within the Labour Party, newspapers have described Cruddas as "left wing", [ [http://www.joncruddas.org.uk/index.php?getPage=newsTemp&story=141 For Labour flavour, who will be deputy is the top tussle] Financial Times, 26 February 2007 (republished on JonCruddas.org.uk)] however he has also been described as "modernising centre-left", [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/14/nelec14.xml Labour's lost its moral purpose, warns Cruddas] The Telegraph, 14 April 2007] and is not a member of the Socialist Campaign Group.

After speculation that the Roman Catholic Cruddas was in favour of restricting legal abortion, he stated that he is pro-choice, [http://compassyouth.blogspot.com/2006/10/compass-youth-interviews-jon-cruddas.html Compass Youth interviews Jon Cruddas] Compass Youth, 30 October 2006] .

He has described himself as 'mistaken' over his decision to vote for British participation in the 2003 Iraq Conflict and has called for an inquiry to form "part of the reconciliation process". [ [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2559996.ece Ministers urge Brown to launch Iraq inquiry] The Independent, 19 May 2007]

On 26 May, 2007, Cruddas signed an open letter to the Guardian, expressing support for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's decision not to renew the broadcast license of opposition television station RCTV. The letter justified this support on the grounds that RCTV had encouraged and supported the attempted coup against Chavez in April 2002. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,,2088662,00.html Letter: Television's role in the coup against Chávez | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited ] ]

Trivia

On 3 October, 2007, Jon Cruddas was elected Honorary Chairman of the University of Sheffield Labour Club, following Harriet Harman who was the first Honorary Chairman elected in 2006.

References

External links

* [http://www.joncruddas.org.uk/ Jon Cruddas MP - Campaigning for Change]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-6347,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Jon Cruddas MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/jon_cruddas/dagenham TheyWorkForYou.com - Jon Cruddas MP]