- John Austin (politician)
Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = John Austin
honorific-suffix =
constituency_MP = Erith and Thamesmead
parliament =
majority = 11,500 (30.5%)
predecessor = "new constituency"
successor =Incumbent
term_start =1 May 1997
term_end =
constituency_MP2 = Woolwich
parliament2 =
majority2 =
predecessor2 = John Cartwright
successor2 = "constituency abolished"
term_start2 =9 April 1992
term_end2 =1 May 1997
birth_date = birth date and age|1944|08|21|df=y
birth_place =Blaby ,Leicestershire
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse =
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession =
religion =
website =
footnotes =John Eric Austin, formerly known as John Austin-Walker, (born
21 August 1944 , inBlaby ,Leicestershire ) is a British Labour Partypolitician . He is theMember of Parliament for Erith and Thamesmead but has announced that he will stand down at the next general election.Early life
He attended the Glyn Grammar School for Boys (now called
Glyn Technology School ) on "The Kingsway" inEpsom . Austin gained a Certificate in [http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/pace/community-work.php Community and Youth Work] from the Goldsmith's College in 1972 and a MA in [http://www.bristol.ac.uk/sps/ Policy Studies] from theUniversity of Bristol in 1990. He worked as a medical laboratory technician from 1961-3, a Labour party organiser from 1963-70, a social worker in Bexley from 1972-4 before becoming Director of [http://www.bexleycre.org.uk Bexley Council for Racial Equality] until 1992.Austin became a
councillor for theLondon Borough of Greenwich in 1970, and was leader of the council from 1982 to 1987, when he becamemayor for two years. He stepped down as a councillor in 1994.Parliamentary career
Austin stood for the seat of Woolwich at the 1992 general election, and successfully won it from independent John Cartwright with a majority of 2,225. [ [http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge92/i22.htm University of Keele - Political Science Resources - UK General Election results April 1992] ] The
constituency boundaries for the area were re-drawn for 1997 general election, and Austin won the new seat of Erith and Thamesmead with a majority of 17,424.Austin served as a member of the
Health Select Committee from 1994 until 2005.In May 2005 Austin threatened to stand as a
stalking horse candidate againstTony Blair . [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/stalkinghorse-threat-to-oust-blair-490152.html The Independent - 'Stalking-horse' threat to oust Blair] ] He intended to trigger a leadership election at the party conference in September 2005 if Blair himself did not do so by resigning as leader. He indicated his hope that, in the event of an contest,Gordon Brown would enter and win. However he was unable to accumulate the number of required nominations from fellow MPs to force a contest.Austin, a member of the
left-wing Socialist Campaign Group , announced his retirement in July 2008. He told a meeting of the General Council of the Erith & Thamesmead Constituency Labour Party that he would not run again at the next general election. [cite news|title=John Austin MP to retire|url=http://www.epolitix.com/mpwebsites/mppressreleases/mppressreleasedetails/newsarticle/john-austin-mp-to-retire///mpsite/10763/?no_cache=1|work=ePolitix|date=2008-07-31|accessdate=2008-08-02]Personal life
Austin lists his interests as running, cookery, and gardening. He married Linda in 1965. They have two sons Damian and Tobias and a daughter Zoe, and divorced in 1988. Zoe gave him three grandchildren, Felix, Matilda and Kitty.
References
External links
* [http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/John+Austin ePolitix.com - John Austin]
* [http://www.bexleylabour.com/ Bexley Labour Party]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-169,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: John Austin MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/john_austin/erith_and_thamesmead TheyWorkForYou.com - John Austin MP]
* [http://publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=John_Austin&mpc=Erith+%26amp%3B+Thamesmead The Public Whip - John Austin MP] voting record
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/242.stm BBC News - John Austin] profile 21 February, 2005
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.