19 Facts About Tommy McAvoy

Tommy McAvoy served as Member of Parliament for Glasgow Rutherglen from 1987 to 2005, and Rutherglen and Hamilton West from 2005 to 2010.

Tommy McAvoy held several positions in the Government Whips' Office under the Blair and Brown governments, serving as Comptroller of the Household from 1997 to 2008 and Treasurer of the Household from 2008 to 2010.

Tommy McAvoy entered the Lords after choosing not to seek re-election to the Commons, where he served as an opposition spokesperson for Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as a senior whip.

Tommy McAvoy held the position of Lords opposition chief whip from 2018 to 2021 after serving as Deputy Chief Whip from 2015 to 2018.

Tommy McAvoy was born in Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, on 14 December 1943.

Tommy McAvoy worked in a pawnbrokers, as a storeman at the Hoover factory in Cambuslang, and was a shop steward for the Amalgamated Engineering Union; following the succession of trade union mergers, he was a member of Unite the Union.

In 1982, Tommy McAvoy was elected to Strathclyde Regional Council, and served until 1987.

Tommy McAvoy was elected to Parliament in 1987 as the Scottish Labour and Co-operative Member for Glasgow Rutherglen.

Tommy McAvoy was an opposition whip from 1990 to 1993 and again from 1996 to 1997.

Tommy McAvoy retained the same job until 2008, becoming one of the longest serving Comptrollers in history.

Tommy McAvoy was appointed to the Privy Council in 2003.

Tommy McAvoy achieved the rare feat among whips of remaining popular with Labour MPs.

On 20 February 2010, Tommy McAvoy announced that he would stand down at the next general election.

On 22 June 2010, Tommy McAvoy was created a life peer as Baron Tommy McAvoy, of Rutherglen in Lanarkshire, and was introduced in the House of Lords that day.

Tommy McAvoy remains to this day the longest serving Government Whip in the history of parliament with 13 years and 10 days service in the Government Whips Office.

Tommy McAvoy was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2022 New Year Honours for political and public service.

Tommy McAvoy was a school friend of Bobby Murdoch, later a successful footballer with Celtic and Scotland.

Tommy McAvoy's brother Eddie is a retired local politician who worked at Hoover and subsequently served as the leader of South Lanarkshire Council from 1999 to 2017.

Tommy McAvoy died on 8 March 2024, at the age of 80.