Gwynfor Matthews Prosser (born 27 April 1943) is a British politician and engineer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

from 1997 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he worked as a marine engineer and served on Dover District Council and

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Kent in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes the Unitary authorities of England, unitary auth ...

prior to his election to Parliament.

Early life and career

Gwynfor Matthews Prosser was born on 27 April 1943 in Swansea, Wales. He was educated at Dunvant Secondary Modern School and gained a National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Swansea Technical College. Prosser began his

marine engineering Marine engineering is the engineering of boats, ships, submarines, and any other marine vessel. Here it is also taken to include the engineering of other ocean systems and structures – referred to in certain academic and professional circ ...

career in 1960, as a Merchant Navy cadet engineer, and was later employed at BP and Blue Funnel Line. He became as a senior engineer in the 1970s, working for BR Shipping, John Kincaid of Greenock,

Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ') or Aramco (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a majority state-owned petroleum and natural gas company that is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. , it is the fourth- lar ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, and Anscar. Prosser was chief engineer for Sealink Ferries in Dover from 1979 to 1992. During his engineering career, he served on the executive of the National Union of Marine, Aviation and Shipping Transport Officers. Between the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and 1997 general elections, he was a social survey interviewer for the civil service.

Political career

Elected to Dover District Council in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, he served as a committee chair on both during his tenure in the roles. Prosser was elected as Member of Parliament for the

constituency at the 1997 general election, defeating incumbent

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 ...

David Shaw. He had unsuccessfully contested the seat at the 1992 general election, but substantially reduced Shaw's majority to less than 900 votes. Re-elected in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

and

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, Prosser was a member of the

Home Affairs Select Committee The Home Affairs Select Committee is a departmental select committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Remit The Home Affairs Committee is one of the House of Commons Select ...

from 2001 to 2010. He was defeated by Conservative

Charlie Elphicke Charles Brett Anthony Elphicke (born 14 March 1971) is a British former politician and a convicted sex offender. As a member of the Conservative Party and later an independent, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dover from 2010 to 20 ...

at the 2010 general election, and subsequently retired from politics.

Personal life

Prosser married his wife in 1972, with whom he had two daughters and one son.

References

External links

* official site *
TheyWorkForYou.com - Gwyn Prosser MP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prosser, Gwyn 1943 births Living people Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Politicians from Swansea UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Councillors in Kent Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dover