Michael Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn

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Michael John Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn (* 3. July 1945 in Glasgow ; † 29. April 2018 ) was a British politician of the Labor Party and from 23 October 2000 to 21 June 2009 Speaker of the House ( House of Commons ) .

Origin and professional career

The son of a seaman and a school cleaner left St. Patrick's Boys School in the Glasgow district of Anderston when he was 15 to work in a sheet metal factory. Soon after, he joined the metalworkers' union and in 1966 the Labor Party . He later became a worker at the Rolls-Royce plant in Hillington and at the same time from 1970 to 1974 office manager of the United Union of Mechanical and Electrical Industries (AUEW). Most recently, from 1976 to 1979 he was organizational secretary of the National Public Service Union (NUPE).

Political career

MP

Martin began his political career in 1973 when he was elected councilor for the City of Glasgow . He held this office until his election as a member of the lower house.

On May 3, 1979 he was elected for the first time as a member of the House of Commons in the general election. Until 2005 he represented the interests of the Labor Party of the Glasgow-Springburn constituency . After the dissolution of this constituency, he became a member of the Glasgow Northeast constituency in 2005. As a young MP, he received particular support from Labor Vice-Chairs Roy Hattersley and Denis Healey , whose Parliamentary Private Secretary he was from 1980 to 1983.

Speaker of Parliament

In 1987 Martin became chairman of the Scottish Grand Committee , which includes all parliamentarians from Scotland. As such, he was also a member of the extended body of the Speaker of the House of Commons. He then became Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons in 1997 and, in this position, also First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means.

After the resignation of the first "Madame Speaker" Betty Boothroyd , he was elected as their successor as Speaker of the Lower House on October 23, 2000 . He was the first Roman Catholic speaker since the Reformation.

At question time in the House he caused a stir in 2006 on November 1, when he saw the opposition leader and chairman of the Conservative Party , David Cameron interrupted when he the chairman of the Labor Party and Prime Minister Tony Blair asked for its successor. Martin justified the interruption of the question by saying that the chairman of the Tories could not ask questions about the successor to the Labor Party. Cameron, however, related his question to the succession as prime minister.

On May 19, 2009, Martin announced his resignation from the office of speaker on June 21, 2009 after massive allegations were raised against him in the course of the affair over expense reports by MPs. This was the first time since 1695 that a Speaker of the House of Commons was forced to resign. Tory John Bercow was elected as his successor on June 22, 2009 .

On August 25, 2009, he was appointed Life Peer as Baron Martin of Springburn and of Port Dundas in the City of Glasgow and officially admitted to the House of Lords . He sat there as a crossbencher .

His son Paul Martin also embarked on a political career and has been a representative of the Labor Party in the Scottish Parliament for the constituency of Glasgow-Springburn since 1999 .

swell

  1. Michael Martin, former Speaker of the Commons, dies aged 72. In: The Guardian. April 29, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2018 .
  2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6106038.stm
  3. Carsten Volkery: British expenses scandal: The Brown twilight. In: Spiegel Online . May 19, 2009. Retrieved June 9, 2018 .

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