Thomas Harris (politician)

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Thomas Harris

Thomas "Tom" Harris (* 20th February 1964 in Ayrshire ) is a Scottish politician of the Labor Party .

Life

Harris was born in the Ayrshire area in 1964 to a truck driver and clerk. He grew up in Beith and attended Spier's School and Garnock Academy . After Harris began studying engineering at Glasgow College (now part of Glasgow Caledonian University ), he moved to Napier College (now part of Edinburgh Napier University ), where he studied journalism. Harris worked as a local journalist until 1990.

In 1996 Harris accepted a position as Senior Media Advisor to Glasgow City Council . He then moved to a similar position for the East Ayrshire Regional Council . Harris was then Head of Marketing for Strathclyde Transportation Services until his parliamentary career.

Political career

Harris joined the Labor Party in 1984. In 1998 he was elected chairman of the Labor local chapter in the Cathcart district of Glasgow . After John Maxton , who had represented the constituency of Glasgow Cathcart in the British House of Commons since 1979 , announced his resignation in the 2001 general election , the Labor Party put Harris on as Maxton's successor. With a share of the vote of 54.4%, Harris won the mandate clearly and subsequently moved into the House of Commons for the first time. Between 2003 and 2005 Harris held a position as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) under Junior Minister John Spellar in the Northern Ireland Ministry .

In the course of the constituency revision, Harris' constituency was dissolved at the end of the electoral term. In the following general election in 2005 , he therefore ran in the newly created constituency of Glasgow South , in which parts of his former constituency were absorbed. He won the mandate and defended it in the 2010 elections . In Parliament, Harris took from 2005 to 2007 a position as PPS under the Minister of Health Patricia Hewitt and then moved to a post as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Transportation. In the Labor Party's shadow cabinet , he was appointed State Secretary for the Environment, Food and Rural Areas from 2012 . After the SNP gained massive votes in the 2015 general election , Harris was unable to achieve a majority in his constituency and subsequently left the House of Commons. The mandate went to the SNP candidate Stewart McDonald .

Elections for the leader of the Scottish Labor Party

After the Labor Party's poor performance in the 2011 Scottish general election , Iain Gray announced his resignation as leader of the Scottish Labor Party . Harris applied for Gray's successor alongside Johann Lamont and Kenneth Macintosh . Harris recognized his impending defeat in advance and practically withdrew from the election campaign. Lamont finally narrowly prevailed against the Macintosh.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d http://tomharris.org.uk/wordpress/about-tom/ ( Memento from August 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ a b c http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/person/6371/tom-harris ( Memento from August 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ^ Results of the 2001 general election
  4. ↑ a b http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/tom-harris/25568 ( Memento from June 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ Results of the lower house elections 2005 ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.politicsresources.net
  6. ↑ Results of the 2010 general election ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.politicsresources.net
  7. ↑ Results of the general election 2015
  8. ↑ BBC News: Scottish election: Labor leader Iain Gray to quit , May 6, 2011
  9. ^ The Scotsman: Labor contest for leader now 'two-horse race' , December 11, 2011.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Harris, Thomas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Harris, Tom
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish politician
DATE OF BIRTH February 20, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Ayrshire