Gordon Raymond Banks is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

, who has been the Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Ochil and South Perthshire

Ochil and South Perthshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Ochil and South Perthshire is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

 since 2005

United Kingdom general election, 2005

The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....

.

Early life

Banks was born in Acomb, Northumberland

Acomb, Northumberland

 Acomb is a village in the south of Northumberland, England. It is situated to the north of Hexham, not far from the junction of the A69 road and A6079 road...

 and educated at the Lornshill Academy

Lornshill Academy

Lornshill Academy is a six year comprehensive school situated in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Approximately 1100 pupils are enrolled with the school. Lornshill currently employs approximately 83 teachers and 8 classroom assistants...

 in Alloa

Alloa

Alloa is a town and former burgh in Clackmannanshire, set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on on the north bank of the Firth of Forth close to the foot of the Ochil Hills, east of Stirling and north of Falkirk....

 and then the Glasgow College of Building

Glasgow Metropolitan College

Glasgow Metropolitan College was a further education college located in Glasgow, Scotland. The College was created on 7 February 2005 by the merger of the Glasgow College of Building & Printing and Glasgow College of Food Technology and itself merged with Central College and Glasgow College of...

. He later obtained a degree in History and Politics from the University of Stirling

University of Stirling

The University of Stirling is a campus university founded by Royal charter in 1967, on the Airthrey Estate in Stirling, Scotland.-History and campus development:...

.

He has worked in the construction industry for 31 years, and formed his own building supplies business in 1986.

Member of Parliament

Banks was elected at the 2005 general election

United Kingdom general election, 2005

The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....

, succeeding fellow Labour politician Martin O'Neill.

Shortly after his election he became a member of the Regulatory Reform Committee

Regulatory Reform Committee

The Regulatory Reform Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the Committee is to examine subordinate provisions to amend primary legislation as created under the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994, amended by the...

, the Unopposed Bills (Panel) Committee, the Scottish Affairs Committee

Scottish Affairs Committee

The Scottish Affairs Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the Committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Scotland Office , and relations with the Scottish Parliament...

 and the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee. In May 2006 he became a PPS

Parliamentary Private Secretary

A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...

 to James Purnell

James Purnell

James Mark Dakin Purnell is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Stalybridge and Hyde from 2001 to 2010. He is currently the Head of the Open Left project at the left leaning think tank Demos...

, and subsequently left the Scottish and Northern Ireland committees.

In October 2010 he was appointed as one of the Shadow Ministers of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. He resigned in April 2011 in order to concentrate on his constituency.

Personal life

Banks is married with two children. He is a member of the Coeliac

Coeliac disease

Coeliac disease , is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine that occurs in genetically predisposed people of all ages from middle infancy onward...

Society.