21 Facts About Nigel Griffiths

Nigel Griffiths was born on 20 May 1955 and is a British Labour Party politician, and former Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South from 1987 to 2010.

Nigel Griffiths was educated at Hawick High School in the Scottish Borders before attending the University of Edinburgh where he was awarded an MA in 1977.

Nigel Griffiths finished his education at the now Moray House School of Education in Edinburgh in 1978.

Nigel Griffiths was president of the University of Edinburgh Labour Group in 1976, where he first met and supported Gordon Brown, who had recently served as the student-elected Rector of the University.

Nigel Griffiths remained in this position until his election to Parliament.

Nigel Griffiths worked with Anita Roddick to establish The Big Issue in Scotland and set up the Wester Hailes Citizens Advice Bureau.

Nigel Griffiths is a member of Amnesty International, Friends of the Earth, and The Ramblers.

Nigel Griffiths served as a member of the Edinburgh Health Council.

Nigel Griffiths was a member of the Edinburgh International Festival committee for three years from 1984 and was the chairman of the city council in 1986.

Nigel Griffiths was elected to parliament at the 1987 general election for Edinburgh South, when he ousted the sitting Conservative MP Michael Ancram by 1,859 votes and remained in the position until the 2010 general election.

Nigel Griffiths tabled more than 1,000 questions to Conservative ministers in his first four months.

Nigel Griffiths was made an Opposition Whip by Neil Kinnock in 1987, becoming a spokesman for eight years for the Department of Trade and Industry in 1989.

Nigel Griffiths was sacked by Tony Blair in his first reshuffle of 1998 after arguments with civil servants in the department.

Nigel Griffiths spent the rest of the parliament as a member of both the procedure and the public accounts select committees.

Nigel Griffiths returned to government following the 2001 general election with the same rank at the Department of Trade and Industry, this time with responsibility for small business.

Between 2005 and 2007, Nigel Griffiths served as Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, deputising for both Geoff Hoon and then Jack Straw.

Nigel Griffiths resigned over the renewal of the British Trident system in March 2007.

In March 2009, The News of the World alleged that Nigel Griffiths had an extramarital affair in his House of Commons office.

Nigel Griffiths subsequently launched a legal action against the newspaper for invading his privacy and obtaining the material that supported the allegations "in an extremely underhand way".

On 31 January 2010, Nigel Griffiths announced that he would stand down at the 2010 general election, and said that he would be taking up a job with an "international educational institution".

In late 2015 Nigel Griffiths became Scottish Co-ordinator of the Labour Leave campaign.