Tommy McAvoy

Infobox MP
honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
name = Tommy McAvoy
honorific-suffix =

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office = Treasurer of the Household and
Deputy Chief Whip
term_start = 5 October 2008
term_end =
predecessor = Nick Brown
successor =
primeminister = Gordon Brown
constituency_MP2 = Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Glasgow Rutherglen (1987-2005)
parliament2 =
majority2 = 16,112 (37.2%)
predecessor2 = James Gregor Mackenzie
successor2 = Incumbent
term_start2 = 11 June 1987
term_end2 =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1943|12|14|df=yes
birth_place = Glasgow
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = Scottish
spouse =
party = Labour Co-operative
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession =
religion =


website =
footnotes =

Thomas McLaughlin McAvoy MP (born 14 December, 1943, Glasgow) is a Scottish Labour Party politician and, since 1987, a member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. McAvoy is currently Deputy Chief Whip of the Government otherwise known as 'Treasurer of the Household'.

McAvoy worked as a storeman at the Hoover factory in Cambuslang, and was a shop steward for the Amalgamated Engineering Union; following the succession of trade union mergers, he is now a member of Amicus. McAvoy and his wife Eleanor have four sons.

In 1982 McAvoy was elected to Strathclyde Regional Council, and served until elected to the U.K. Parliament in 1987 as the Labour Co-operative member for Glasgow, Rutherglen. Since 2005, he has sat as the member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West.

He was an opposition whip from 1990 to 1993 and again from 1996 to 1997. According to the "The Guardian": "... [his] personal crusades have been for peace in Northern Ireland and against abortion" (Andrew Roth, "The Guardian").

When the Labour Party came into government in 1997, McAvoy was appointed as Comptroller of HM Household, the third highest position in the Government Whips' office. He retained the same job until 2008, becoming one of the longest serving Comptrollers in history. He was appointed to the Privy Council in 2003. In October 2008, he was promoted to Treasurer of the Household and Deputy Chief Whip.

McAvoy has achieved the rare feat among whips of remaining popular with Labour MPs. An early day motion in July 2006 noted "the difficult task he has of securing government business whilst accommodating the parliamentary, political and personal requirements of 352 Labour colleagues" and congratulated him for "the respect he has earned from all sides of the House for his ability to perform these duties"; it was signed by 135 MPs. [http://edmi.parliament.uk/edmi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=31181%09%09%09%09%09%09%09&SESSION=875]

External links

* [http://www.tommymcavoymp.org.uk/ Tommy McAvoy's official site]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-3818,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle] : Tommy McAvoy MP
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/thomas_mcavoy/rutherglen_and_hamilton_west TheyWorkForYou.com] - Tommy McAvoy MP
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2084293.stm BBC news profile] succession box
title = Member of Parliament for Glasgow Rutherglen
years = 1987–2005
before = James Gregor Mackenzie
after = "(constituency abolished)"incumbent succession box
title = Member of Parliament for Rutherglen and Hamilton West
start = 2005
before = "(new consttuency)"