John Grogan

Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = John Grogan
honorific-suffix =

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constituency_MP = Selby
parliament =
majority = 467 (0.9%)
predecessor = Michael Alison
successor = Incumbent
term_start = 1 May 1997
term_end =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1961|02|24|df=yes
birth_place = Halifax, West Yorkshire
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse =
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =
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religion =


website =
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John Timothy Grogan is the Labour Member of Parliament for the constituency of Selby.

Early life

The son of a teacher, John Grogan was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire on 24 February 1961. He was educated at St Michael's RC College on St John's Road (near the University of Leeds) in Leeds, a Jesuit school, and St John's College, Oxford where he was awarded a BA degree in Modern history and Economics in 1982, he also served as the president of the Oxford University Student Union.

He worked as a communications coordinator with the City of Leeds Council from 1987 to 1994 before setting up his own conference business from 1996-7. He worked for the Labour Party in various capacities in both Leeds and Wolverhampton. He also acted as the Labour Party press officer in the European Parliament at Brussels in 1995.

Parliamentary career

He unsuccessfully contested the North Yorkshire seat of Selby at the 1987 General Election but was defeated by the veteran Conservative MP Michael Alison by some 13,779 votes. He again contested the seat based on Selby at the 1992 General Election but was again defeated by Alison, but by a reduced 9,508 votes.

In between the two unsuccessful contests at Selby he also stood unsuccessfully for the York seat to become a member of the European Parliament in 1989. He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1997 General Election for Selby. Alison retired at the election and Grogan faced the new challenge of a former Conservative MP Kenneth Hind who had been the MP for Lancashire West (1983-1992). Grogan won the seat with a majority of 3,836 and has been elected with increasingly smaller majorities ever since. In 2005, he kept his seat with a majority of 467 votes.

He made his maiden speech on 7 July 1997 (see [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmhansrd/vo970707/debtext/70707-28.htm#70707-28_spnew0] ).

In parliament he served as a member of the Northern Ireland select committee from 1997-2001 and since the 2005 General Election. He is a member of the Fabian Society and the Institute for Public Policy Research.

He is also the chairman of the all party groups on the BBC, beer and Mongolia. He lives in the constituency at Fulford, and is a supporter of both the Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Bradford City A.F.C.. He led the campaign to save the Selby Coalfield in 2002 (see [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2055782.stm] ). In 1999 he called for a memorial to the heroism of women during World War II to be remembered on the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square. The campaign had the backing of the Speaker of the House of Commons Betty Boothroyd and the Princess Royal (see [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/491804.stm] ). Although the campaign was unsuccessful a monument has since been erected in Whitehall.

He is the honorary president of the University of York Labour Club. [http://yulc.org/?page_id=3] . The university, though on the outskirts of York, forms part of his Selby constituency.

He has announced he will not contest the next general election, after the seat of Selby was split in two. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/6039580.stm]

External links

* [http://www.johngrogan.co.uk John Grogan MP official site]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-2102,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics — Ask Aristotle: John Grogan MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/john_grogan/selby TheyWorkForYou.com — John Grogan MP]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/507.stm BBC Politics page]

News items

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/talking_politics/1196822.stm His week in politics in March 2001]