Keith Bradley, Baron Bradley

Keith John Charles Bradley, Baron Bradley PC (born 17 May 1950, Birmingham) is a British Labour Party politician and life peer. He was formerly the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester Withington from 1987 until 2005.

Early life

He went to Bishop Vesey's Grammar School in Sutton Coldfield. He studied at Aston University, gaining a DipAcct in 1970. From Manchester Polytechnic, he gained a BA in Social Science in 1976. From the University of York, he gained an MPhil in 1978.

He worked for the chartered accountants Charles Impey & Co from 1969-73. He was a research officer for Manchester City Council Housing Department from 1978-81. From 1981-7, he was Secretary of Stockport Community Health Council.

Parliamentary career

He was first elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency at the 1987 general election, having served as a councillor in Old Moat Ward (Manchester) since 1983. After the 1997 general election he became a junior minister at the Department of Social Security, and then became Deputy Chief Whip and Treasurer of the Queen's Household in 1998. He was a junior minister in the Home Office for Criminal Justice, Sentencing, and Law Reform from 2001-2, and then a backbench MP and member of the Health Select Committee. He is a member of the Privy Council. Bradley lost his seat in Parliament when he was defeated by a swing of over 17% to the Liberal Democrat candidate, John Leech, in the 2005 general election. His decision to send his son to Manchester Grammar School, a selective, fee-paying private school, which the Labour Party are theoretically opposed to, also played badly with his constituents (though, ironically his replacement, the Liberal Democrat John Leech, was an ex-pupil of the same school).

In April 2006 it was announced that Keith Bradley would become a working life peer in the House of Lords, and he became Baron Bradley, of Withington in the County of Greater Manchester on 12 June 2006. Lord Bradley is also a Special Adviser to the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester.

In October 2006 it was announced the Keith Bradley had been appointed to the board of The Christie Hospital as a non executive director.

Personal life

Lord Bradley and his wife, Rhona Bradley, have two sons and a daughter. He married Rhona Ann Graham in 1987.

External links

* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,,-547,00.html Ask Aristotle]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/lord_bradley They Work For You]