James Andrew Plaskitt (born 23 June 1954) is a British Labour Party politician who was the member of parliament (MP) for

Warwick and Leamington Warwick and Leamington is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since the 2017 general election by Matt Western of the Labour Party. Boundaries 1885–1918: The existing parliamentary borough of Warwick, the ...

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 ...

until his defeat at the 2010 general election.

Early life

Born in

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...

, Plaskitt was educated at the Pilgrim School (then a

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 ...

that became a comprehensive

upper school Upper schools in the UK are usually schools within secondary education. Outside England, the term normally refers to a section of a larger school. England The three-tier model Upper schools are a type of secondary school found in a minority ...

in 1974 and closed down and now has the Pilgrims Pre-Preparatory School on the former site and council offices) on ''Brickhill Drive'' in

Brickhill Brickhill is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and Ward (politics), electoral ward within northern Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. The boundaries of Brickhill are approximately Kimbolton Road to the east, Bedford Park, Bedford, Bedfor ...

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

and went up to

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

to read PPE and gained an MA. He graduated in 1976 and subsequently took a MPhil in Politics before taking up a lectureship at University College until 1979. He moved to

Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

for four years as a lecturer in Government and then to

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

from 1984 to 1986 as a lecturer. From 1985 he was a business analyst for

Oxford Analytica Oxford Analytica is an international consulting firm providing strategic analysis of world events. It was founded in 1975 by David Young, an American employee of the National Security Council during the Nixon administration. Clients of Oxford A ...

, joining as a

business consultant A business consultant (from Latin ''consultare'', "to discuss") is a professional who provides professional or expert advice or service in a particular area such as security ( electronic or physical), management, accountancy, law, human resource ...

and later becoming consultancy director.

Parliamentary career

His political career began in 1985 when he was elected to

Oxfordshire County Council Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. Established in 1889, it is an elected body responsible for most strategic local government ...

. He was leader of the Labour group from 1990 to 1996. In the 1992 general election he contested

Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. History The Toponymy, place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest kno ...

for Labour, losing by a substantial margin to the then

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 ...

Foreign Secretary

Douglas Hurd Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, (born 8 March 1930) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1979 to 1995. A career diplomat and ...

. As Labour were swept to power in the 1997 general election landslide, Plaskitt was elected MP for the previously Conservative constituency of

, beating the incumbent

Dudley Smith Sir Dudley Gordon Smith (14 November 1926 – 14 December 2016) was a British Conservative politician who served as a junior minister under Edward Heath. He was a Member of Parliament for a total of 35 years, latterly for Warwick and Leaming ...

into second place. He served on the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

Treasury Select Committee The House of Commons Treasury Committee (often referred to as the Treasury Select Committee) is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The committee is responsible for examining and scrutinizing the ...

from 1999, and in the 2001 general election was re-elected with an increased margin, although on a lower turnout. He is a strong supporter of reforming the law on assisted dying, tackling

child poverty Child poverty refers to the state of children living in poverty and applies to children from poor families and orphans being raised with limited or no state resources. UNICEF estimates that 356 million children live in extreme poverty. It is esti ...

and expanding

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

. He spoke out against Israel's actions in Gaza and called for urgent reform of international banking regulation. Plaskitt tended to vote with the government on major issues such as

university tuition fees Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...

and foundation hospitals. He made clear that he would only ever support increases in university tuition fees which were matched by increases in Government grants for less well-off students, and he played a leading role in supporting Warwick Hospital's application for Trust status. He is notable among Labour MPs in that he did not vote for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. After the general election in May 2005, Plaskitt was appointed as a

junior minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry (government department), ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is desi ...

in the

Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for welfare spending, welfare, pensions and child maintenance ...

. He left the

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

Government by mutual agreement in October 2008, and was re-appointed to the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee in July 2009. Plaskitt was one of 98 MPs who voted against the provisions of the

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act (United States) of 1966 * F ...

concerning MPs' addresses applying to Members of Parliament. Plaskitt lost to the Conservative candidate, Chris White in the 2010 general election by 3,513 votes, a swing to the Conservatives of 8.2%. The Warwick and Leamington constituency saw a very high 71% turnout.

Other work

Since leaving Parliament, he has co-written ''The Pigeon House'', published in 2011. Plaskitt's face was used as the model for the character of Colonel George Blake in the 2001 computer game '' Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis''. In 2012 Plaskitt was selected as the Labour candidate for the

Police and Crime Commissioner A police and crime commissioner (PCC; ) is an elected official in England and Wales responsible for generally overseeing police services. A police, fire and crime commissioner (PFCC) is an elected official in England responsible for generally ...

election for the

Warwickshire Police Warwickshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Warwickshire in England. It is the second smallest territorial police force in England and Wales after the City of London Police, with 1,126 regular officers as of Ju ...

. In the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

on 15 November 2012 he came runner-up to

Ron Ball Ronald William Ball (born August 1950) is a former Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), and the first person to hold the post. At the time of his election he was the only independent PCC not to have a background in policing. After ...

the

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate.

References

External links

James Plaskitt
official site *

* ttps://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/james_plaskitt/warwick_and_leamington TheyWorkForYou.com – James Plaskitt MP
The Public Whip – James Plaskitt MP
voting record
BBC Politics

Press officer intervenes in radio interview in August 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plaskitt, James 1954 births Living people Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Alumni of University College, Oxford Fellows of University College, Oxford Academics of Brunel University London Members of Oxfordshire County Council People from Grimsby UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010