David Stanley Borrow (born 2 August 1952) is a

British Labour Party The Labour Party, often referred to as Labour, is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that sits on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum. The party has been describe ...

politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for

South Ribble South Ribble is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Leyland. The borough includes the towns and villages of Penwortham, Leyland, Farington, Farington Moss, Hutton, Longton, Walmer B ...

from

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. He is currently a Labour Party councillor on Preston City Council and was appointed Mayor of Preston on 15 May 2019.

Education

Born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

, David Borrow was educated at

Mirfield Mirfield () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the A644 road (Great B ...

Grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

and the Lanchester Polytechnic (now

Coventry University Coventry University is a Public university, public research university in Coventry, England. The origins of Coventry University can be linked to the Coventry School of Art and Design, Coventry School of Design in 1843. It was known as Lancheste ...

) where he was awarded a degree in economics.

Political career

He joined the Labour Party in 1970 aged 18, and in 1973 he became a trainee at the

Yorkshire Bank Yorkshire Bank was a trading name used by Clydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations in England. The Yorkshire Bank was founded in 1859 as the West Riding of Yorkshire Provident Society and Penny Savings Society but the Provident ...

. He was appointed as an assistant clerk at the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

Valuations Tribunal in 1975, being promoted to Deputy Clerk in 1978. He was the Deputy Clerk to the

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

South Valuations Tribunal in 1981, before becoming the Clerk to The Tribunal at the

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

Valuations Tribunal in 1983. David Borrow was elected as a councillor to the Preston Borough Council in 1987, and was the council leader between 1992 and 1994, and again from 1995 until his election to

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

. He stood down from the council in 1998. He contested the parliamentary seat of Wyre at the 1992 General Election and he finished second 11,664 votes behind the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP Keith Mans. At the 1997 General Election David Borrow contested South Ribble, the seat of the former Conservative Minister of State, minister Robert Atkins. Borrow was selected to fight the seat at the last minute after the previous candidate fell ill. South Ribble was one of the many seats which was won by Labour in 1997, and David Borrow was elected to serve as the Labour Member of Parliament for the South Ribble constituency with a majority of 5,084, and held the seat until 2010. He made his

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 many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

on 3 July 1997. He joined the Agriculture Select Committee in 1999. Following the 2001 General Election he joined the newly formed

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee (EFRA) 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 Depa ...

. In 2003 he became the Parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to the Minister of State at the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

Kim Howells Kim Scott Howells (born 27 November 1946) is a Welsh Labour Party former politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontypridd from 1989 to 2010, and held a number of ministerial positions within the Blair and Brown governments. ...

, and remained so when his boss moved sideways to the Department for Education and Skills in 2004. He did not remain as Howells's PPS after the 2005 General Election. He was formerly a member of the Defence Select Committee.

Personal life

Borrow is an openly gay man. He

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

publicly in 1998 to be able to speak honestly during the age of consent campaign and raise issues that are important to all lesbians and gay men. He also contributed articles to the gay rights magazine '' Outcast''. He entered into a

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

with John Garland, his long standing partner, in May 2006, the first MP to do so.

Footnotes

External links

* official site
Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: David Borrow MPTheyWorkForYou.com – David Borrow MPDavid Borrow's voting record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borrow, David 1952 births Living people People from Huddersfield Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies English gay politicians UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Alumni of Coventry University LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom LGBTQ people from Yorkshire 20th-century English LGBTQ people 21st-century English LGBTQ people