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Jim Dowd (politician)
Encyclopedia
James Patrick Dowd is a British
Labour Party
politician
, who has been a Member of Parliament
(MP) since 1992
, first for Lewisham West and since 2010 for Lewisham West and Penge
.
, London, with an Irish
father and German mother. He was educated at the Dalmain Infant and Junior Schools in Forest Hill
; the Sedgehill Comprehensive School, Catford
, and the London Nautical School
, Lambeth
. He began his career in telephone
engineering
as an apprentice in 1967 with the General Post Office (GPO). After his apprenticeship in 1972, he became a manager at a Heron petrol station
for a year before joining Plessey
as a telecommunication
s engineer in 1973, where he remained until his election to Parliament
.
Dowd was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Lewisham
in 1974, becoming deputy leader in 1984 for two years. He was twice deputy mayor in 1987 and 1990, and was the Mayor
of Lewisham in 1992. He stepped down from the council in 1994.
for the seat of Beckenham
, finishing in third place behind the long-standing Conservative
MP Philip Goodhart
by some 17,330 votes. At the 1987 general election
he contested the marginal seat of Lewisham West, but was defeated by John Maples
by 3,772 votes.
Five years later though, at the 1992 general election
, Dowd again contested Lewisham West, and defeated Maples by 1,809 votes. He made his maiden speech
in the House of Commons on 10 June 1992.
Jim Dowd entered the new Tony Blair
team as an opposition whip
in 1994, before becoming the spokesman on Northern Ireland
in 1995. Following the election of the Labour government at the 1997 General Election
he was given a place in the Blair government as a whip. He was unexpectedly sacked after the 2001 general election
, since when he has been a member of the Health Select Committee
and maintained a voting record strongly in line with government policies.
In 2005 he was involved in a heated confrontation in Parliament with fellow Labour MP Bob Marshall-Andrews
over the Terrorism Bill
.
Dowd is a member of the Unite
trade union.
. His partner Janet Anderson
is the former Labour MP for Rossendale and Darwen.
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 a 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) since 1992
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
, first for Lewisham West and since 2010 for Lewisham West and Penge
Lewisham West and Penge (UK Parliament constituency)
Lewisham West and Penge is a cross-border constituency represented in 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....
.
Early life
Jim Dowd grew up in LewishamLewisham
Lewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
, London, with an Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
father and German mother. He was educated at the Dalmain Infant and Junior Schools in Forest Hill
Forest Hill, London
Forest Hill is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It situated between Dulwich and Sydenham. The area has enjoyed extensive investment since plans to extend the East London Line to Forest Hill were unveiled in 2004....
; the Sedgehill Comprehensive School, Catford
Catford
Catford is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-Architecture:...
, and the London Nautical School
London Nautical School
The London Nautical School was founded in 1915, as a consequence of the official report into the loss of the Titanic. The primary aim of the school is "to educate and prepare pupils to meet the needs of society either at sea or in any other occupation where responsibility, attention to duty and...
, Lambeth
Lambeth
Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
. He began his career in telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
as an apprentice in 1967 with the General Post Office (GPO). After his apprenticeship in 1972, he became a manager at a Heron petrol station
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
for a year before joining Plessey
Plessey
The Plessey Company plc was a British-based international electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after the second world war by acquisition of companies and formed overseas companies...
as a telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s engineer in 1973, where he remained until his election to Parliament
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
.
Dowd was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Lewisham
London Borough of Lewisham
The London Borough of Lewisham is a London borough in south-east London, England and forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham...
in 1974, becoming deputy leader in 1984 for two years. He was twice deputy mayor in 1987 and 1990, and was the Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Lewisham in 1992. He stepped down from the council in 1994.
Parliamentary career
Dowd first stood for Parliament at the 1983 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
for the seat of Beckenham
Beckenham (UK Parliament constituency)
Beckenham is a parliamentary constituency represented in 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.-Constituency profile:...
, finishing in third place behind the long-standing Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP Philip Goodhart
Philip Goodhart
Sir Philip Carter Goodhart is a British Conservative politician, the son of Arthur Lehman Goodhart.Goodhart contested Consett in 1950 whilst still a student at Trinity College, Cambridge....
by some 17,330 votes. At the 1987 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
he contested the marginal seat of Lewisham West, but was defeated by John Maples
John Maples
John Cradock Maples, Baron Maples is British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as a Member of Parliament representing Lewisham West from 1982 to 1992 and Stratford-upon-Avon from 1997 to 2010...
by 3,772 votes.
Five years later though, at the 1992 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
, Dowd again contested Lewisham West, and defeated Maples by 1,809 votes. He made his maiden speech
Maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country...
in the House of Commons on 10 June 1992.
Jim Dowd entered the new Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
team as an opposition whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
in 1994, before becoming the spokesman on Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Office
The Northern Ireland Office is a United Kingdom government department responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and is based in Northern Ireland at Stormont House.-Role:...
in 1995. Following the election of the Labour government at the 1997 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
he was given a place in the Blair government as a whip. He was unexpectedly sacked after the 2001 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
, since when he has been a member of the Health Select Committee
Health Select Committee
The Health Select Committee is one of the Select Committees of the British House of Commons. It oversees the operations of the Department of Health and its associated bodies.-Membership:...
and maintained a voting record strongly in line with government policies.
In 2005 he was involved in a heated confrontation in Parliament with fellow Labour MP Bob Marshall-Andrews
Bob Marshall-Andrews
Robert Graham Marshall-Andrews QC is a British Labour Party politician and barrister, who was the Member of Parliament for Medway from 1997 to 2010.-Early life:...
over the Terrorism Bill
Terrorism Act 2006
The Terrorism Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received Royal Assent on 30 March 2006, after being introduced on 12 October 2005. The Act creates new offences related to terrorism, and amends existing ones. The Act was drafted in the aftermath of the 7 July 2005...
.
Dowd is a member of the Unite
Unite the Union
Unite – the Union, known as Unite, is a British and Irish trade union, formed on 1 May 2007, by the merger of Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union...
trade union.
Personal life
Dowd lists his interests as music, theatre and reading, and enjoys travelling in CornwallCornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. His partner Janet Anderson
Janet Anderson
Janet Anderson is an English Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Rossendale and Darwen from 1992 until 2010.-Early life:...
is the former Labour MP for Rossendale and Darwen.