27 Facts About Dennis Canavan

Dennis Andrew Canavan was born on 8 August 1942 and is a Scottish politician.

Dennis Canavan was the Member of Parliament for Falkirk West from 1974 to 2000, first as a member of the Labour Party, and then as an Independent.

Dennis Canavan then served as an Independent Member of the Scottish Parliament for Falkirk West from 1999 to 2007.

Dennis Canavan worked as a schoolteacher from 1968 until 1974 and was Assistant Head of Holy Rood High School Edinburgh at the time of his first election to Parliament.

Dennis Canavan was head of the maths department at St Modans High in Stirling.

Dennis Canavan was leader of the Labour Party Group on Stirling District Council in 1974 and, in October of that year, was elected as Labour Member of Parliament for West Stirlingshire.

Dennis Canavan was Chair of the Scottish Parliamentary Labour Group from 1980 to 1981.

Dennis Canavan voted against the Blair Government's proposals to cut benefits for children of lone parents, abolish student grants and introduce tuition fees.

Dennis Canavan has completed a marathon in less than three hours and the Ben Nevis Race in just over two hours.

Dennis Canavan won a gold medal, playing for Scotland in the British Universities Football Championships in 1967.

Dennis Canavan takes an active interest in international affairs and served as a member of the House of Commons select committees on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Dennis Canavan is still a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Amnesty International and is interested in conflict resolution.

Dennis Canavan chaired the Northern Ireland Committee of the Parliamentary Labour Party from 1989 to 1997, and led several parliamentary delegations to Ireland during The Troubles.

Dennis Canavan served on the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body from 1992 to 2000.

Dennis Canavan has frequently spoken out against sectarianism and racism.

Dennis Canavan therefore stood as an Independent, and was consequently expelled from the party.

Dennis Canavan won with almost 55 percent of the vote, the highest majority of any MSP in the 1999 election.

Dennis Canavan resigned his Westminster seat in 2000 to concentrate on representing his constituents in the Scottish Parliament.

Dennis Canavan retained his Holyrood seat in 2003 with 55.7 percent of the vote, again with the biggest majority in Scotland.

Dennis Canavan supported Falkirk's efforts to build a new stadium for community use and he still regularly attends the club's matches.

Dennis Canavan is Honorary President of Milton Amateurs Football Club.

Dennis Canavan enjoys hill-walking and, in the Scottish Parliament, he championed the people's right of access to the countryside, successfully introducing amendments to the Land Reform Bill to extend the right of access to country estates, including land belonging to the Queen.

Dennis Canavan is a strong supporter of the idea of a national holiday to celebrate St Andrew's Day, and his bill to achieve this was eventually passed as the St Andrew's Day Bank Holiday Act 2007.

Dennis Canavan has been a member of the board of trustees of the National Mining Museum Scotland.

Dennis Canavan has been a patron of Bonnybridge Driving Force, a charity involved with the organisation of volunteer drivers transporting patients to and from hospital.

Dennis Canavan has honorary doctorates from the Universities of Stirling and Strathclyde.

Dennis Canavan's autobiography, Let the People Decide, was published by Birlinn in September 2009.