Michael Clapham was born on 15 May 1943 and is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Barnsley West and Penistone from 1992 to 2010.
11 Facts About Michael Clapham
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Michael Clapham earned a Postgraduate Certificate in Education at the University of Leeds in 1974, and a Master of Philosophy at the University of Bradford in 1990.
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Michael Clapham was the treasurer of the Barnsley West and Penistone Constituency Labour Party after 1983.
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Michael Clapham was elected as the MP there at the 1992 General Election following the retirement of Allen McKay, holding the seat with a majority of 14,504.
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Michael Clapham made his maiden speech, speaking on the concerns in the local coal mining industry, on 6 May 1992.
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Michael Clapham is a left-winger and was a member of the Socialist Campaign Group, rebelling against the government on various issues.
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Michael Clapham was a member of the Trade and Industry Committee from 1992 to 1997 and again from 2003; in between he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Alan Milburn following the 1997 general election, but he resigned over Harriet Harman's decision to cut lone parent benefits in December of that year.
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Michael Clapham used to be very loyal to his old boss Arthur Scargill, but later criticised him for being too Stalinist.
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Michael Clapham announced he would stand down at the next general election; his constituency became part of the new constituency of Penistone and Stocksbridge.
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Michael Clapham is a supporter of Republic, a campaign to replace the British monarchy with an elected head of state.
11.
Michael Clapham has been married to Yvonne Hallsworth since 1965 and they have a son and a daughter.