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Sir David Anthony Crausby (born 17 June 1946) is a British Labour politician who served as
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 o ...
(MP) for Bolton North East from 1997 to 2019. Born in
Bury, Lancashire Bury ( ) is a market town on the River Irwell in Greater Manchester, England. Metropolitan Borough of Bury is administered from the town, which had an estimated population of 78,723 in 2015. The town is within the historic county boundarie ...
, Crausby worked as a
turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for turni ...
and later became a workplace representative for the
Amalgamated Engineering Union The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992. History The history of ...
. He was a Member of
Bury Metropolitan Borough Council Bury Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of ten in Greater Manchester and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of ...
from 1979 to 1992, and elected as an MP at the 1997 general election. A
backbencher In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the ...
throughout his tenure in Parliament, Crausby was a long-serving member of the
Defence Select Committee The Defence Select Committee is one of the Select Committees of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, having been established in 1979. It examines the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Ministry of Defence and its associated publ ...
and
Panel of Chairs The Panel of Chairs (formerly the Chairman's Panel) are members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom responsible for chairing public bill committees and other General Committees, as well as debates in Westminster Hall, the parallel de ...
. He represented the UK internationally as a delegate to the
Nato The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
and Council of Europe Parliamentary Assemblies, and was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...
in the
2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...
. Crausby lost his seat to the
Conservatives 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 in ...
at the 2019 general election.


Early life and career

Crausby was born in
Bury, Lancashire Bury ( ) is a market town on the River Irwell in Greater Manchester, England. Metropolitan Borough of Bury is administered from the town, which had an estimated population of 78,723 in 2015. The town is within the historic county boundarie ...
and educated locally at Derby Grammar School, now Derby High School, and Bury Technical College. He began a career as a turner, becoming an
apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
centre
lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, and turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece ...
turner in 1962, and later became works convenor for the
Amalgamated Engineering Union The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992. History The history of ...
at Beloit Walmsleys Ltd in Bolton. He remained in this position until his election to the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
in 1997. He was elected a councillor in 1979 to the then Bury District Council, and served until 1992.


Parliamentary career

He contested the marginal
Bury North Bury North is a borough constituency in Greater Manchester, created in 1983 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. With a Conservative majority of 105 votes, it is the most marginal constituency for a sitting MP in the U ...
seat, having been just elected as Chairman of the local constituency Labour Party, at the 1987 general election but was defeated by the sitting
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 in ...
MP
Alistair Burt Alistair James Hendrie Burt (born 25 May 1955) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Bedfordshire from 2001 until 2019. He was previously MP for his native Bury North in Greater Manchester from 1983 unti ...
by 6,911 votes. He contested the Conservative-held marginal seat of Bolton North East at the 1992 general election where the sitting MP
Peter Thurnham Peter Giles Thurnham (21 August 1938 – 10 May 2008) was a British politician. He was Member of Parliament for Bolton North East from 1983 to 1997, originally as a Conservative before resigning to become an independent in February 1996 and ...
was defending an 813 majority. Bolton North East became more marginal with Thurnham retaining the seat by just 185 votes. Thurnham retired at the 1997 general election, having
crossed the floor Crossed may refer to: * ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis * ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie * "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead'' S ...
to join the Liberal Democrats on 12 October 1996. Crausby defeated the new Conservative candidate,
Rob Wilson Robert Owen Biggs Wilson (born 4 January 1965) is an English politician and political author. He was elected Conservative Member of Parliament for the Reading East parliamentary constituency in the 2005 general election, being re-elected in ...
, by 12,669 votes. He made his
maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
on 17 July 1997, in which he remembered the
inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
of the
spinning mule The spinning mule is a machine used to spin cotton and other fibres. They were used extensively from the late 18th to the early 20th century in the mills of Lancashire and elsewhere. Mules were worked in pairs by a minder, with the help of tw ...
Samuel Crompton Samuel Crompton (3 December 1753 – 26 June 1827) was an English inventor and pioneer of the spinning industry. Building on the work of James Hargreaves and Richard Arkwright he invented the spinning mule, a machine that revolutionised th ...
who was born in
Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...
. Crausby remained the MP there from 1997 until 2019. His majority fell to 8,422 in 2001 and 4,103 in 2005. In the 2010 and 2015 general elections his majorities were 4,084 and 4,377. In the 2017 general election he was again returned, with a majority of 3,797. He lost his seat to the Conservative Mark Logan by 378 votes in the 2019 general election. In parliament, Crausby joined the
Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
Select committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system) A select committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster system o ...
in 1999, and was a member of the
Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...
Select Committee from the 2001 general election to 2010. He voted against the Iraq War in 2003. In 2010 he became a member of the Speaker's Panel of Chairs and has overseen many debates in the Commons on behalf of the speaker, including the historic European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Crausby has a long-standing interest in improving railways in his constituency. He lobbied the last Labour government to address overcrowding and opposed the idea of a Greater Manchester congestion charge because of the lack of viable alternatives. He campaigned to retain the Preston-Bolton-Manchester electrification project which was at risk of cancellation after Labour lost the 2010 election. He has continued to lobby the Government through letters, petitions, and Parliamentary debates. In 2018 Crausby led a debate on Northern trains and called for the resignation of Transport Secretary
Chris Grayling Christopher Stephen Grayling (born 1 April 1962) is a British Conservative Party politician and author who served as Secretary of State for Transport from 2016 to 2019. He has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Epsom and Ewell since 2001. ...
after the disastrous May timetable caused mass disruption across the North of England. Crausby has also been involved in international politics. He represented the UK as a member of the delegation to the
NATO Parliamentary Assembly Founded in 1955, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Alliance. Its current President is Gerald E. Connolly from the United States, elected in 2019. Its curre ...
from 2005–2015 and the UK delegation to the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up ...
from 2013 to 2017. In 2011, Crausby won '' The House'' magazine's Commons Speech of the Year, for his speech on bringing the military covenant into law, beating the then Prime Minister,
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
. In 2013, he became one of the few Labour MPs to vote against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, which eventually was passed with cross-party support. Crausby was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...
in the
2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...
. Crausby lost his seat at the 2019 General Election.


Personal life

He married Enid Anne Noon in 1965 in Bury and they have two sons. His eldest son, also named David, is a commercial and editorial photographer; his work is represented by several agencies including
Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. is an American visual media company and is a supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three markets—creativ ...
and
Alamy Alamy (registered as Alamy Limited) is a British privately owned stock photography agency launched in September 1999. Its headquarters are in Milton Park, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It has a development and operations centre at ...
. His son is currently based in Germany.


References


External links


David Crausby MP's website
*

* ttps://www.youtube.com/user/CrausbyD Official YouTube channel


Video clips

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crausby, David 1946 births Living people Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Bury, Greater Manchester UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 English Roman Catholics UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 Knights Bachelor Politicians awarded knighthoods UK MPs 2017–2019 British republicans