- Clive Betts
-
Clive Betts MP Member of Parliament
for Sheffield South East
Sheffield Attercliffe (1992–2010)Incumbent Assumed office
9 April 1992Preceded by Patrick Duffy Majority 10,505 (25.4%) Personal details Born 13 January 1950
Sheffield, South Yorkshire, EnglandNationality British Political party Labour Domestic partner James Thomas Alma mater Pembroke College, Cambridge Website www.clivebetts.com Clive James Charles Betts (born 13 January 1950) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Attercliffe from 1992 to 2010, when he became Member of Parliament for Sheffield South East.
Contents
Early life
Born in 1950 in Sheffield, Betts was educated at the Longley School in Sheffield and King Edward VII School, Sheffield (photo); and Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he received a BA in Economics and Politics.
He joined the Labour Party in 1969 and joined the Trades Union Congress in 1971 as an economist. In 1973 he was appointed as an economist with Derbyshire County Council, and moved to the South Yorkshire County Council in 1974.
At the 1979 general election he stood for election to the House of Commons in the safe Conservative seat of Louth against the Conservative MP Michael Brotherton and lost.
Betts had been elected as a councillor to Sheffield City Council in 1976. He was the Council's deputy leader under Roy Thwaites for a year in 1986, and succeeded Thwaites as the council leader later that year. He left the council on his election to Westminster. In 1986 he was appointed as an economist with Rotherham Borough Council.
Parliamentary career
He was selected to contest the safe Labour seat of Sheffield Attercliffe following the retirement of the veteran Labour MP Patrick Duffy. At the 1992 general election, Betts was elected with a large majority, and made his maiden speech on 6 May 1992.
Betts was made an opposition whip under Tony Blair in 1996, and after the 1997 general election, he entered the government as an Assistant Whip. He was promoted in 1998 to full Whip, with the title of Lord Commissioner to the Treasury, but like the majority of whips at that time was dropped from the government after the 2001 general election.
Since 2002, Betts has been a Member of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Select Committee. Since the 2005 general election he has also been a member of the Finance and Services Committee.
Since 10 June 2010 he has been Chairman of the Communities and Local Government Committee.
Suspension
In 2003 Betts was suspended from the House of Commons for 7 days for irregularities involving the employment and visa of Jose Gasparo, a Brazilian student with previous experience as a male escort.[1] The Telegraph newspaper reported on 10 July 2010 that Betts' partner and parliamentary assistant, James Thomas, had tried to edit this fact from Betts' Wikipedia page in an attempt to cover it up.[2]
Betts was found guilty of breaching the MPs' code of conduct, with the Standards and Privileges Committee stating that he had acted "extremely foolishly" and had risked damaging public confidence in the integrity of Parliament. Particular concerns involved Betts' failure to disclose Gasparo's background to Parliamentary authorities and the fact that Betts had knowingly photocopied an altered document on Gasparo's behalf.[3] Betts apologised unreservedly for his behaviour, which had been described as "well below the standard expected of a Member in terms of ... never undertaking any action which would bring the House of Commons or its members generally into disrepute"[4][5]
Personal life
His lives in a farmhouse on the Derbyshire border with his partner James Thomas, who is also employed as his parliamentary assistant.[6] He plays cricket and supports Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
References
- ^ House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges, Complaints against Mr Clive Betts, 16 July 2003
- ^ MPs' scandals covered up on Wikipedia, Telegraph
- ^ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmstnprv/947/947.pdf
- ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-188991/Labour-MP-suspended-Commons.html
- ^ BBC NEWS | England | South Yorkshire | MP suspended from Commons
- ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6695100.ece
External links
- Clive Betts MP official site
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
- Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
- Voting record at PublicWhip.org
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
- Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
- Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
- Articles authored at Journalisted
Political offices Preceded by
David BlunkettLeader of Sheffield City Council
1987–1992Succeeded by
Mike BowerParliament of the United Kingdom Preceded by
Patrick DuffyMember of Parliament for Sheffield Attercliffe
1992 - 2010Constituency abolished New constituency Member of Parliament for Sheffield South East
2010 - presentIncumbent Categories:- 1950 births
- Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge
- Councillors in Sheffield
- Gay politicians
- Labour Party (UK) MPs
- Living people
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
- People educated at King Edward VII School, Sheffield
- Politics of Sheffield
- UK MPs 1992–1997
- UK MPs 1997–2001
- UK MPs 2001–2005
- UK MPs 2005–2010
- UK MPs 2010–
- LGBT politicians from the United Kingdom
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