David Gordon Clelland (born 27 June 1943) is a British Labour Party

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He 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

Tyne Bridge The Tyne Bridge is a through arch bridge over the River Tyne in North East England, linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. The bridge was designed by the engineering firm Mott, Hay and Anderson, who later designed the Forth Road Bridge, ...

from the 1985 by-election until the 2010 general election.

Early life

David Clelland was born in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

and educated locally at the Kelvin Grove Boys' School (now a primary school) and the Gateshead and Hebburn Technical College. After leaving education in 1959 he was an electrical fitter for Reyrolle in

Hebburn Hebburn is a town in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It governed under the borough of South Tyneside; formerly governed under the county of Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the south ...

for twenty-two years from 1964. He was elected as a councillor in the

Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead The Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, North East England. It includes Gateshead, Rowlands Gill, Whickham, Blaydon, Ryton, Felling, Pelaw, Dunston and Low Fell. The boroug ...

in 1972 and became its leader in 1984.

Parliamentary career

Clelland was selected to contest the 1985 Tyne Bridge by-election, one of the safest Labour seats in the country, which had become vacant following the death of the MP

Harry Cowans Harry Lowes Cowans (19 December 1932 – 3 October 1985) was a British Labour Party politician. Cowans was elected Member of Parliament for Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central at a 1976 by-election. After boundary changes, he was elected for Tyne Br ...

. Clelland retained the seat at the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

on 5 December 1985 with a majority of 6,575. At the by-election, he defeated

Rod Kenyon Rodney Frank Kenyon (June 1945 – 8 December 2013) was a former Human Resources Director at British Gas and was Director of the British Gas Engineering Academy.http://www.uwl.ac.uk/the_university/how_the_university_works/profiles/rod_kenyon.j ...

and

Jacqui Lait Jacqueline Anne Harkness Lait (born 16 December 1947) is a British Conservative Party politician and former Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituencies of Hastings and Rye (1992–1997) and Beckenham (1997–2010). Early life Lait was bo ...

, later the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Member of Parliament for

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

. In parliament, Clelland served on the

Home Affairs Select Committee The Home Affairs Select Committee is a Departmental Committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Remit The Home Affairs Committee is one of the House of Commons Select committees related to government departments: its ...

from 1986 until he joined the Energy Select Committee for a year in 1989. He became an opposition

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

in 1995 under the leadership of

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

and was made an Assistant Government Whip in office following the 1997 General Election. He was promoted to become a Lord Commissioner to the Treasury, a 'full' whip, in January 2001. He ceased being a whip following the 2001 election, and became a member of the

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duti ...

Select Committee, until 2005. Following the 2005 General Election he became a member of the

Transport Select Committee The Transport Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the Committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Transport and its associ ...

. In 2002, he was appointed an advisor to the

Minister of Sport A Ministry of Sports or Ministry of Youth and Sports is a kind of government ministry found in certain countries with responsibility for the regulation of sports, particularly those participated in by young people. The Ministry of Youth and Spo ...

Richard Caborn Richard George Caborn (born 6 October 1943) is a British politician who served as Minister of Sport from 2001 to 2007 and later as the prime minister's ambassador for England's 2018 FIFA World Cup bid. He previously served as a junior minister ...

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

. Following boundary changes, the seat of Tyne Bridge was abolished and replaced by a new seat

at 2010 general election. Following a close fought contest with

Sharon Hodgson Sharon Hodgson (born 1 April 1966) is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Washington and Sunderland West, previously Gateshead East and Washington West, since 2005. Hodgson was appointed as the Par ...

, the MP for Gateshead East and Washington West, Clelland was chosen to fight the new seat at the next election for the Labour Party. On 26 January 2010, Clelland announced that he would stand down at the 2010 General Election.

Controversy

David Clelland was in the news during July 2008 with his reply to a letter from a disgruntled constituent. The constituent, a Mr Gary Scott, wrote to Clelland accusing him of following the views of the Labour Party and not those of his constituents. Clelland responded by saying: "Given your rude and offensive manner I accept your offer not to vote for me again - if indeed you ever have - I do not want your vote so you can stick it where it best pleases you".

Personal life

David Clelland married Maureen Potts on 31 March 1965 in Gateshead, with whom he had two children and four grandchildren. In 1998 they separated after Clelland had an affair with his secretary, Brenda Graham, who he later married in 2005. Maureen Clelland died in May 2007. He also recorded the

Alex Glasgow Alex Glasgow (14 October 1935 – 14 May 2001) was an English singer-songwriter from Low Fell, Gateshead, England. He wrote the songs and music for the musical plays ''Close the Coal House Door'' and '' On Your Way, Riley!'' by Alan Plater, and ...

song "The Socialist ABC" on the CD ''From Tees to Tyne'', saying "I've been singing this song as a party piece for years, but I was surprised and delighted when the people from

The Northumbria Anthology The Northumbria Anthology is a collection of music and poems derived from the North East of England. The Anthology is a musical celebration of the history and culture of this region. The collection spans musical boundaries from folk and rock to cla ...

asked me to record it".

References

External links

David Clelland MP
official site

* ttps://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/david_clelland/tyne_bridge TheyWorkForYou.com - David Clelland MP
Public Whip - Voting Record: David Clelland MP

BBC Politics

The Socialist ABC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clelland, David 1943 births Living people Amalgamated Engineering Union-sponsored MPs Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 People from Gateshead Politicians from Tyne and Wear