Fraser Kemp

Infobox MP


honorific-prefix =
name = Fraser Kemp
honorific-suffix =MP
constituency_MP = Houghton and Washington East
parliament =
majority = 16,065 (46.3%)
predecessor = Roland Boyes
successor = Incumbent
term_start = 1 May 1997
term_end =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1958|09|1|df=yes
birth_place = Washington, Tyne and Wear
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse =
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession =
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website =
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Fraser Kemp (born 1 September 1958, Washington) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He is Labour member of Parliament for Houghton and Washington East. He became an MP in 1997, and had previously been a full-time employee of the Labour Party.

Early life

He went to Biddick Primary School and Washington Comprehensive [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/74621 School] (now called Washington School, and former school of Bryan Ferry) on "Spout Lane" in Washington.

Kemp started work in the civil service from 1975 and was active in the civil service union CPSA (Civil and Public Services Association, which became the PCS) and in the Clause Four faction that operated inside the Labour Party. He began working full-time for the Labour Party in 1981, having previously, as a teenager, organised successful local election campaigns.

Appointed as party organiser in Leicester - where his long rivalry with Chris Rennard began, by 1984 he was an Assistant Regional Organiser in the East Midlands before being appointed as the, then youngest ever, Regional Organiser for the Labour Party in the West Midlands in 1986.

In that role he came to prominence as the election agent responsible for the two biggest swings to the Labour Party in history - firstly in the Mid Staffordshire by-election in 1990 (an election largely fought over the question of the Poll Tax) and then an even bigger swing in Dudley West by-election in 1994, not long after Tony Blair became leader of the Labour Party.

As a result of this success Kemp was posted to the party's headquarters in Millbank Tower in London and became the party's number two member of staff as General Election Co-ordinator in 1994. He held this post until being selected as Labour candidate for Houghton and Washington East - the constituency where he grew up - in late 1996.

Parliamentary career

In 2001 Kemp was appointed to the Government Whip's Office as a junior whip but was recalled to by-election service in 2004, masterminding, along with his protegé Tom Watson, Labour's victories over the Liberal Democrats in the Hodge Hill by-election on July 15, 2004 and a much more decisive victory in the Hartlepool by-election on September 30, 2004.

Kemp was asked to play a significant role in Labour's preparation for the 2005 General Election.

Personal life

Shortly after his 50th birthday, Kemp announced he is standing down at the next election. He married Patricia Mary Byrne on July 1989. They have two sons and a daughter.

External links

* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-2854,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Fraser Kemp MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/fraser_kemp/houghton_and_washington_east TheyWorkForYou.com - Fraser Kemp MP]
* [http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/Wearside-MP-to-stand-down.4465689.jp Wearside MP to stand down]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/327.stm BBC Politics]