Steve McCabe (politician)

Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = Steve McCabe
honorific-suffix =

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constituency_MP = Birmingham Hall Green
parliament =
majority = 5,714 (16.5%)
predecessor = Andrew Hargreaves
successor = Incumbent
term_start = 1 May 1997
term_end =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1955|08|4|df=yes
birth_place = Johnstone, Scotland
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse = Lorraine Lea Clendon
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = University of Bradford
occupation =
profession =
religion =


website =
footnotes =

Stephen James McCabe (born 4 August 1955, Johnstone, Renfrewshire) known as Steve McCabe, is a British Labour Party politician. He is the member of Parliament for Birmingham Hall Green, and was first elected in 1997.

Early life

Born in the shipbuilding town of Port Glasgow on the River Clyde, Steve McCabe, attended the town's local secondary school before studying at the Moray House College (later named Moray House School of Education) in Edinburgh, where he was awarded a Diploma in Social Studies (Certificate Qualification Social Work) in 1977 and qualified as a social worker.

He worked initially as a social worker in Wolverhampton for six years from 1977, and from 1978-1982 he served as a shop steward with the National Association of Local Government Officers. In 1983 he was appointed manager with the Priory Group working in the mental health field in Newbury. He left the Priory in 1985 and returned to education, taking an MA in Social Work at the University of Bradford [http://www.brad.ac.uk/admin/recruitment/student-life/graduate/i-sm.html] in 1986.

Following his degree he worked as a social services lecturer at the [http://www.ne-worcs.ac.uk North East Worcestershire College] in Redditch. In 1989 he became a child care worker in Solihull until 1991 when was appointed as an education adviser to the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work (now called the General Social Care Council). He remained in this position until his election to the House of Commons.

He was elected as a councillor to Birmingham City Council in 1990 and served until 1998, during which time he served as the chair of the city's housing committee.

Parliamentary career

Steve McCabe was elected as the Labour MP for Birmingham Hall Green at the 1997 General Election when he unseated the Conservative member Andrew Hargreaves by 8,420 votes in the Labour landslide; the first time a Labour MP has had the seat. He has held the seat since.

He served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Charles Clarke in his capacity as Secretary of State for Education and Skills (2003-2004) and as Home Secretary (2004-2005. He joined the government Whips Office in 2006 as an Assistant, and since 2007 a Lord Commissioner to the Treasury (a full Whip). He has also served on various select committees, including Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee (1998-2003) and Home Affairs Select Committee (2005-2006).

In October 2006 he applied for selection to the redrawn Birmingham Selly Oak seat, which incorporates much of his existing seat. Following the announcement by Lynne Jones, the sitting member for Selly Oak, in January 2007 that she plans to stand down at the next election, it is likely that he will be selected for the newly drawn constituency. He decided not to apply for the redrawn Hall Green seat on the grounds that its boundaries were significantly different from the existing seat of the same name. [http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/mail/news/tm_headline=mps-fight-to-be-candidate%26method=full%26objectid=18014012%26siteid=50002-name_page.html]

Personal life

He married Lorraine Lea Clendon (born April 1956) on August 2 1991, at Lamlash Register Office on the Isle of Arran in Scotland. They have a son (born September 5 1996) and daughter (born July 1993).

External links

* [http://www.stevemccabe-mp.org.uk His website]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-3819,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Stephen McCabe MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/stephen_mccabe/birmingham%2C_hall_green TheyWorkForYou.com - Stephen McCabe MP]
* [http://www.theweald.org/N10.asp?NId=4741820 His family]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/55.stm BBC Politics page]

News items

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3977773.stm Guns on eBay in November 2004]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3560749.stm Concern over sentence for man carrying a loaded gun into a nightclub in March 2004]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2440365.stm More sympathy for asylum seekers than local residents in November 2002]