1. Roger Duncan Godsiff was born on 28 June 1946 and is a British former politician who served as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1992 to 2019, for the seats of Birmingham Small Heath, Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath, and Birmingham Hall Green.
Roger Godsiff lost the seat to the Labour Party candidate, Tahir Ali, coming third behind Labour and the Conservatives.
Roger Godsiff was born in London and educated at Catford Comprehensive School.
Roger Godsiff was a bank clerk for five years from 1965, joining the Labour Party in 1966.
Roger Godsiff was a political officer from 1970 with the trade union APEX and then from 1990 with its successor the GMB until his election to Parliament in 1992.
Roger Godsiff unsuccessfully contested Birmingham Yardley at the 1983 general election, where he finished in second place behind the sitting Conservative MP David Gilroy Bevan.
Roger Godsiff was elected to the House of Commons for Birmingham Small Heath at the 1992 general election following the retirement of Denis Howell.
Roger Godsiff held Small Heath with a majority of 13,989 votes and remained an MP from that point.
Roger Godsiff's constituency was abolished in 1997 and, aided by the retirement of Birmingham Sparkbrook MP Roy Hattersley, Godsiff was elected for the newly combined constituency of Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath at the 1997 general election.
Roger Godsiff was selected for the redrawn Birmingham Hall Green seat in 2008, which includes some of his existing constituency and wards which were formerly in the two Birmingham constituencies of Hall Green and Selly Oak.
Roger Godsiff was re-elected at the May 2010 general election with a majority of 3,799.
In October 2006, Roger Godsiff was one of 12 Labour MPs to back Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's call for an inquiry into the Iraq War.
Roger Godsiff rebelled against the government in November 2005 on legislation permitting the detention of terrorist suspects for 90 days without trial.
In January 2005, Roger Godsiff called for economic migration to the UK to be "stopped".
Roger Godsiff said that economic migration was unnecessary and it posed a danger to race relations within the UK.
Andy McSmith's book Faces of Labour, contends that Roger Godsiff obtained selection for his seat in 1992 by dubious means which, although accepted by the Labour Party, were too late to act upon.
Roger Godsiff had angered many in his local party by his calls for curbs on immigration.
Roger Godsiff responded to the Birmingham Mail about his participation, saying, "when you are in opposition and the government has a substantial majority, you know perfectly well that you aren't going to be able to have an effect on every vote".
In May 2013, Roger Godsiff voted against the Marriage Act 2013 final reading, opposing the legalisation of same-sex marriage within England and Wales.
Roger Godsiff was one of seven signatories in 2014 of an open letter to Ed Miliband calling upon him to commit to restricting the ability of workers from low income EU countries to move to the UK.
Roger Godsiff supported Owen Smith in the latter's failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership election.
In May 2019, in the wake of protests in Birmingham over LGBT-inclusive education in primary schools, Roger Godsiff sided with the protestors: "I have concerns about the age appropriateness of children of four and five being introduced to these ideas", he said, later admitting that he had not read the books.
Roger Godsiff had indicated that he intended to stand for re-selection.
Roger Godsiff stood as an Independent at the 2019 general election and came third.
Roger Godsiff was succeeded in the seat by Tahir Ali.
Roger Godsiff has been married to Julia Brenda Morris since 1977 and they have a son and a daughter.
Roger Godsiff is a lifelong supporter of Charlton Athletic FC Roger Godsiff was previously the chairman of the Charlton Athletic Community Trust, which oversees the club's community work.
Roger Godsiff resigned from this position on 26 June 2019 following the controversy surrounding his support for the anti-LGBT protesters in Birmingham.