- James Plaskitt
Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = James Plaskitt
honorific-suffix =MP
constituency_MP = Warwick and Leamington
parliament =
majority = 266 (0.5%)
predecessor =Dudley Smith
successor =Incumbent
term_start =1 May 1997
term_end =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1954|06|23|df=yes
birth_place =Grimsby
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse =
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =University College, Oxford
occupation =
profession =
religion =
website =
footnotes =James Andrew Plaskitt (born
23 June 1954 ) is a politician in theUnited Kingdom . He is the Labour PartyMember of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington.Born in
Grimsby , Plaskitt was educated at thePilgrim School in Bedford and went up to University College, Oxford to readPhilosophy, Politics and Economics . He graduated in 1976 and subsequently took amaster's degree inPolitics before taking up a lectureship at University College. He moved toBrunel University for four years and then to Christ Church, Oxford.His political career began in 1985 when he was elected to
Oxfordshire County Council . He was leader of the Labour group from 1990 to 1996. Plaskitt joined Oxford Analytica as abusiness consultant , and later became its consultancy director. In the 1992 general election he contested Witney for Labour, losing by a substantial margin to Conservative former Foreign SecretaryDouglas Hurd . As Labour were swept to power in the 1997 general election landslide, Plaskitt was elected MP for the previously Conservativeconstituency ofWarwick andLeamington Spa , beating the incumbentDudley Smith into second place. He has served on the House of CommonsTreasury Select Committee since 1999, and in the 2001 general election was re-elected with an increased margin, although turnout was lower. Plaskitt was a loyal Labourbackbencher , voting with the government on major contentious issues such as the2003 invasion of Iraq , university tuition fees andfoundation hospital s.After the general election of May 2005, he was appointed as a junior minister in the
Department for Work and Pensions . He stood down from the government in October 2008.External links
* [http://www.jamesplaskitt.com/ James Plaskitt] official site
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-4200,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: James Plaskitt MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/james_plaskitt/warwick_and_leamington TheyWorkForYou.com – James Plaskitt MP]
* [http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?firstname=James&lastname=Plaskitt&constituency=Warwick+%26+Leamington The Public Whip - James Plaskitt MP] voting record
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