Tom Blenkinsop

Thomas Francis Blenkinsop[1] (born 14 August 1980)[2] is a British former Labour Party politician and former Member of Parliament (MP) for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland. He did not stand in the 2017 general election.[3]

Tom Blenkinsop
Tom Blenkinsop MP at the Park End Medical Centre in Middlesbrough
Member of Parliament
for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
In office
6 May 2010 – 3 May 2017
Preceded byAshok Kumar
Succeeded bySimon Clarke
Personal details
Born
Thomas Francis Blenkinsop

(1980-08-14) 14 August 1980
Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England
Political partyLabour
Spouse(s)Victoria Emtage
Alma materTeesside University
University of Warwick

Early life

Born in Middlesbrough,[2] and brought up in Marton,[4] Blenkinsop attended St Augustine's RC Primary School in Coulby Newham and Newlands School FCJ, before attending St Mary's Sixth Form College in Saltersgill.[4] He attended Teesside University graduating with a BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and the University of Warwick, where he was awarded an MA in Continental philosophy.[2]

Political career

Blenkinsop worked as a constituency researcher for Ashok Kumar from 2002 until 2008, when he became a campaign manager for the Community Trade Union until his election to Parliament.[4][5]

He stood as a candidate for the 2010 general election after the sudden death of Kumar, taking the seat with a 1,677 majority.[6]

In his first term he was a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee (2010-2012), the Standards and Privileges Committee (2010-2011) and the Treasury Select Committee (July–November 2011).[7] He also served as a Labour Party whip from 2011 until 2015 under the leadership of Ed Milliband.

In his second term he was a member of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (2016-2017), the Committee of Privileges (2015-2017), the Committee on Standards (2015-2017) and the Energy and Climate Change Committee (2015-2016).[7]

In 2011, he was made honorary president of Guisborough Town F.C., an amateur football club in his constituency.

Blenkinsop supported Liz Kendall in the 2015 Labour Party leadership election and Owen Smith in the 2016 leadership election.[8][9]

In 2016, a Labour Party member was suspended and investigated by the Police for allegedly threatening Blenkinsop, who had called for the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to resign.[10]

In January 2017, Blenkinsop took the final steps in signing up to the Army Reserve, in the Royal Military Police reserves.[11] The following April, after Theresa May announced her intention for a general election to be held on 8 June 2017, Blenkinsop announced he was to stand down because he could not campaign for Labour while Corbyn was party leader.[3]

Personal life

He has been married to Victoria Emtage since 2007.[2]

References
  1. "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8743.
  2. "BLENKINSOP, Thomas Francis". Who's Who (Nov 2016 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 14 April 2017. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  3. Mortimer, Caroline (18 April 2017). "Labour MPs announce they are standing down as Theresa May calls for a snap general election". The Independent. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  4. "Labour Party select Ashok Kumar replacement". Evening Gazette. 5 April 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  5. Hetherington, Graeme (5 April 2010). "Tom Blenkinsop, a campaign manager with steel union Community, chosen". Northern Echo. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  6. "Middlesbrough South & Cleveland East". Election 2010. BBC News. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  7. "Tom Blenkinsop MP". House of Commons. UK Parliament. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  8. Blenkinsop, Tom (30 August 2015). "To stop Jeremy Corbyn, I am giving my second preference to Andy Burnham". New Statesman. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  9. "Tom Blenkinsop: Jeremy Corbyn is turning Labour into a 'kumbaya' singing party". Evening Gazette. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  10. "Corbyn critic MP Tom Blenkinsop in Twitter threat probe". BBC. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  11. "From the benches to the ranks for Middlesbrough MP". ITV News. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Ashok Kumar		 Member of Parliament
for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
2010–2017		 Succeeded by
Simon Clarke
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