John Heppell (born 3 November 1948) is a former

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 Nottingham East from

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 ...

until he stepped down at the 2010 general election. He was

Vice-Chamberlain of the Household The Vice-Chamberlain of the Household is a member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The officeholder is usually a senior government whip in the British House of Commons ranking third or fourth after the Chief Whip and ...

from 2005 to 2007.

Early life

Heppell was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

Tyneside Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...

and was educated locally at the Rutherford Grammar School (now the Westgate Community School) in

Fenham Fenham is an area of the west-end of Newcastle upon Tyne, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It lies to the west of the city centre, and is bounded on the north and east by a large area of open land known as the Town Moor. To the south ...

, then the South East Northumberland Technical College (became North Tyneside College and now called

Tyne Metropolitan College Tyne Metropolitan College is a college of further education in North Tyneside, England. About Tyne Metropolitan College Tyne Metropolitan College is a General Further Education College located in the borough of North Tyneside (one of five metr ...

) in

Wallsend Wallsend () is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of ...

, and he completed his education at the Ashington Technical College (now called Northumberland College) on ''College Road'' in

Ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

. He worked for the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "ve ...

from 1964 as a fitter until he left in 1970 to work as a fitter in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. He joined

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

in 1975, originally as a diesel fitter, becoming a

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

supervisor in 1978 until he left in 1989.

Parliamentary career

Heppell was elected as a councillor to

Nottinghamshire County Council Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the non-metropolitan county excludes the city of ...

in 1981, serving as the deputy leader for three years from 1989, stepping down from the council in 1993. He was elected to 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 ...

at the 1992 general election for Nottingham East by defeating the sitting

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 Michael Knowles by 7,680 votes and remained the MP there 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 11 May 1992, in which he recalled that it was in his constituency at

Sneinton Sneinton (pronounced "Snenton") is a suburb of Nottingham and former civil parish in the Nottingham district, in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. The area is bounded by Nottingham city centre to the west, Bakersfield to the n ...

that the founder of the

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

William Booth William Booth (10 April 1829 – 20 August 1912) was an English Methodist preacher who, along with his wife, Catherine, founded the Salvation Army and became its first General (1878–1912). This Christian movement, founded in 1865, has a qu ...

launched his crusade against poverty in the early 19th century. In

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, Heppell was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the

Leader of the House of Lords The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the governing party in the House of Lords who acts ...

Ivor Richard Ivor Seward Richard, Baron Richard, (30 May 1932 – 18 March 2018) was a British Labour politician who served as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1964 until 1974. He was also a member of the European Commission and latterly sat as a life pee ...

in 1997 and became the PPS to the Deputy Prime Minister

John Prescott John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (31 May 1938 – 20 November 2024) was a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the ...

in 1998. He became a member of the

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

government following the 2001 general election when he was appointed as a Lord Commissioner to the Treasury and Government Whip and was promoted within the Whips Office becoming the

following the 2005 general election. He held this office until June 2007. He was a member of the selection select committee from 2001. Heppell has been married to Eileen Golding since 1974 and they have two sons, a daughter and two grandchildren. He used to have knuckle tattoos with the words 'love' and 'hate', but they have since been removed. He is a member of the General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union having resigned from the

National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (commonly known as the RMT) is a British trade union covering the transport sector. Its current President is George Welch and its current General Secretary is Eddie Dempsey. The RMT ...

in 2002. He is a keen

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

. On 26 March 2010, Heppell announced that he would stand down at the 2010 general election due to his wife suffering from breast cancer.

References

External links

Official website
*
TheyWorkForYou.com – John Heppell MP
* ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/438.stm BBC Politics Profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Heppell, John 1948 births Living people Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Councillors in Nottinghamshire British republicans