Francis Roy (born 29 August 1958) is a former

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Motherwell and Wishaw 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 ...

to 2015. He was a Government Whip and Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury from 2006 to 2010, after having served as an Assistant Whip from 2005.

Early life

Roy was educated at

Our Lady's High School, Motherwell Our Lady's High School is a Roman Catholic secondary school for 11- to 18-year-olds in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, that is close to Fir Park stadium. The school educates around 850 pupils. The headteacher is Louisa McGraw. History The sch ...

, and later at

Motherwell College New College Lanarkshire Motherwell Campus is a further education college located in the Ravenscraig area of Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. An independent institution from 1967, in 2013 it merged with Cumbernauld College to form New Co ...

(1992) and

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University, informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley (), is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and Glasgow Polytechnic (originally Glasg ...

in Consumer and Management Studies (1994). Roy was, like many others in the area, a steelworker until he was made redundant in 1991 when

Ravenscraig Steelworks The Ravenscraig steelworks, operated by David Colville & Sons, Colvilles and from 1967 by British Steel Corporation, consisted of an integrated iron and steel works and a hot strip steel, strip steel mill. They were located in Motherwell, North ...

closed. He describes the strikes of the 1980s as ensuring his "politicisation was cemented for life"

Political career

Roy worked as a parliamentary assistant to

Helen Liddell Helen Lawrie Liddell, Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke PC (' Reilly; born 6 December 1950) is a British politician and life peer who served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 2001 to 2003 and British High Commissioner to Australia from 2005 t ...

MP before becoming MP for Motherwell and Wishaw. He is the first MP born locally to represent Motherwell and Wishaw. In 2001 Roy resigned as parliamentary private secretary to Helen Liddell in the wake of the cancellation of a visit to

Carfin Grotto Carfin Lourdes Grotto is a Catholic shrine in Scotland dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes and created in the early twentieth century. The "Carfin Grotto", as the shrine is locally termed, was the brainchild of Canon Thomas N. Taylor (died 1963), pa ...

by Irish

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, and as Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008. A Teachta Dála (TD) from 1977 to 2011, he served ...

. Ahern was due to visit the grotto to open a memorial to victims of the Great Famine but the visit was cancelled due to Roy's advice of risk of possible sectarian violence, despite statements from Strathclyde Police that they did not consider the visit to be a security risk. In 2015, Roy worked on

Liz Kendall Elizabeth Louise Kendall (born 11 June 1971) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester West sinc ...

's unsuccessful bid for the Labour leadership. He is the father of Brian Francis Roy, former general secretary of Scottish Labour. Roy was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for political and public service.

References

External links

Frank Roy MP
official site * 1958 births Living people Scottish Labour MPs Alumni of Glasgow Caledonian University People educated at Our Lady's High School, Motherwell UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 Commanders of the Order of the British Empire {{Scotland-Labour-UK-MP-stub