Harry Michael Cohen was born on 10 December 1949 and is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Leyton from 1983 to 1997 and Leyton and Wanstead from 1997 to 2010.
12 Facts About Harry Cohen
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Harry Cohen later gained MSc in Politics and Administration from Birkbeck College, University of London in 1995.
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Harry Cohen became an accountant and auditor for the boroughs of Waltham Forest, Hackney and Haringey, then later for the union NALGO.
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Harry Cohen was elected as a local councillor in Waltham Forest at the age of 22, and served for 11 years before becoming an MP.
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Harry Cohen was first elected to the House of Commons at the 1983 general election as MP for Leyton, transferring to the new Leyton and Wanstead constituency after boundary changes for the 1997 general election.
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Harry Cohen was a member of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee between 1997 and 2001, and has been a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee since 2005.
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On 31 October 2006, Harry Cohen was one of 12 Labour MPs to back Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's call for an inquiry into the Iraq War.
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Harry Cohen was Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet and Secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Race and Community Group and was a member of the Socialist Campaign Group, a signatory to Jews for Justice for Palestinians, and counts Karl Marx, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama as political influences.
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The home that Harry Cohen represented as his primary home was a house in Colchester, despite the fact that Harry Cohen spent very little time at that location and used it only as a holiday home.
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Harry Cohen responded to criticism by stating that the Additional Costs Allowance was intended to be de facto salary for Members of Parliament.
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Harry Cohen said the strain caused by the criticism over his expenses, and the formal investigation into his claims, were the main factors behind his departure.
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The report did recognise that the ill-health of Harry Cohen's wife had been a significant factor in the decisions he had made but maintained that he had still committed a serious breach of the rules.