- Gordon Marsden
-
Gordon Marsden MP 
Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government Incumbent Assumed office
11 May 2010Leader Harriet Harman
Ed MilibandPreceded by Grant Shapps Member of Parliament
for Blackpool SouthIncumbent Assumed office
1 May 1997Preceded by Nick Hawkins Majority 1,852 (5.3%) Personal details Born 28 November 1953
Manchester, Greater Manchester, EnglandNationality English Political party Labour Alma mater New College, Oxford
Warburg Institute
Harvard UniversityGordon Marsden (born 28 November 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackpool South since 1997.
Contents
Early life
Marsden was educated at Stockport Grammar School, an independent school in the city of Stockport in Cheshire, followed by New College, Oxford where he attained a first-class degree in Modern History. He then went on to postgraduate studies at the Warburg Institute (part of the University of London) and Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, being a Kennedy Scholar in Politics and International Relations.
Before entering Parliament he had been a tutor for the Open University since 1994, as well as a public affairs adviser to English Heritage and, for twelve years, the editor of History Today and New Socialist magazine.
Parliamentary career
Marsden first contested the seat of Blackpool South in 1992 and won it in 1997. Once elected to Parliament, Gordon served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Lord Irvine of Lairg in the Lord Chancellor's Department (2001-3), Tessa Jowell as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (2003-5) and John Denham as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and shadow communities secretary (2009-).
In 2003, he was made a Visiting Parliamentary Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford.
Gordon is a member of the House of Commons Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee and previously served on the Education and Skills Select Committee before it was dissolved in 2007.
He is Chair of the Associate Parliamentary Skills Group and of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Veterans.
Fabian Society
Marsden is a member of the Fabian Society, of which he was chairman in 2000-1. He also served a Chair of the Young Fabians and now serves as a Trustee of Dartmouth Street, the building where the Society is based.
Seaside towns
Marsden convened the first group of Labour MPs representing seaside and coastal towns. In 2007 Gordon was asked to chair a Manifesto Group for the Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Seaside and Coastal Towns.
Personal life
Marsden is gay and lives with his partner.[1][2]
Earlier this year Gordon was named as one of the Daily Telegraph's expenses "saints", due to the low levels of his expenses claims.[3] When Parliament is sitting he commutes to London from his main home in Brighton, while his Blackpool constituency home which is a rented flat above his office in Highfield Road and is his designated second home.[4]
References
External links
- Gordon Marsden MP Homepage
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Gordon Marsden MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Gordon Marsden MP
- BBC Politics page
Video clips
Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded by
Nick HawkinsMember of Parliament for Blackpool South
1997–presentIncumbent Categories:- 1953 births
- Living people
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
- Gay politicians
- Labour Party (UK) MPs
- Old Stopfordians
- Alumni of New College, Oxford
- Alumni of the Warburg Institute
- Fellows of St Antony's College, Oxford
- Academics of the Open University
- UK MPs 1997–2001
- UK MPs 2001–2005
- UK MPs 2005–2010
- Politicians from Manchester
- UK MPs 2010–
- Members of the Fabian Society
- LGBT politicians from the United Kingdom
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
