Robert Laxton (born 7 September 1944) is a British Labour Party politician who was the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Derby North from

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

until standing down at the 2010 general election.

Early life and education

Laxton attended the Woodlands

Secondary Modern School A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usually ...

(became the

Woodlands Community School Allestree Woodlands School (formerly Woodlands School) is a coeducational academy secondary school and sixth form in Derby, England. Admissions The academy currently has around 1,350 students on roll. The school enrols an average of 220 student ...

) on ''Blenheim Drive'' in

Allestree Allestree is a suburb and ward of the city of Derby, a unitary authority area, in Derbyshire, England. It is the northernmost ward and is on the A6 road, about north of Derby city centre. It is bordered by the district of Amber Valley along i ...

. He also attended the Derby College of Art and Technology.

Career

Laxton was a telecommunications engineer for the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...

from 1961. Whilst in this employment, he was a union representative and branch official for the

Post Office Engineering Union The Post Office Engineering Union (POEU) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It represented engineering staff in the Post Office, mostly working in telecommunications. History The union was founded in 1915 when the Post Office Enginee ...

, which became the

National Communications Union The National Communications Union (NCU) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1985 when the Post Office Engineering Union and the Postal and Telecommunications Group of the Civil and Public Services Association merge ...

in 1985, and finally the Communication Workers Union in 1995. Prior to becoming an MP, he was leader of Derby City Council from 1986 to 1988 and again from 1994 to 1997. He was first elected to the city council in 1979.

Parliamentary career

During the 2001 Parliament he served as

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

Alan Johnson Alan Arthur Johnson (born 17 May 1950) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 2006 to 2007, Secretary of State for Health from 2007 to 2009, Home Secretary from 2009 to 2010, and Shadow Chancel ...

, an old friend from his days as a union official who was Higher Education Minister and then

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions The secretary of state for work and pensions, also referred to as the work and pensions secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Department for Work and P ...

before resigning from this role in 2005 to become a British representative on the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

. He was chair of th
Waterways

All-Party Parliamentary Group An all-party parliamentary group (APPG) is a grouping in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that is composed of members of parliament from all political parties, but have no official status within Parliament. Description and functions All-party ...

. On 19 October 2009, Laxton announced his intention to stand down at the next general election.

References

External links

Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Bob Laxton MP

TheyWorkForYou.com - Bob Laxton MP
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News items

Boycotting the Labour conference in 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laxton, Bob 1944 births Living people Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Alumni of the University of Derby People from Derby Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire Councillors in Derby British Telecom people