Gordon Birtwistle (born 6 September 1943) is a British
Liberal Democrat
Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology.
Active parties
Former parties ...
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 ...
and former MP. 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 the
constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...
of
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
, England, from May 2010 to May 2015. He was
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 ...
to
Danny Alexander
Sir Daniel Grian Alexander (born 15 May 1972) is a former politician who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2010 and 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency from 2005 u ...
,
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The chief secretary to the Treasury is a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom. The office is the second most senior in the Treasury, after the chancellor of the Exchequer. The office was created in 1961, to share the burden ...
from 2010 to 2012.
[ From 2013, he was Government Apprenticeship Ambassador to Business.
]
Career
Birtwistle began work as a craft engineering apprentice in 1958, with Howard & Bullough
Howard & Bullough was a firm of textile machine manufacturers in Accrington, Lancashire. The company was the world's major manufacturer of power looms in the 1860s.
History
The firm of Howard and Bleakley was founded in 1851 with four workers ...
, who were textile machinery manufacturers in Accrington
Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...
.[ He studied engineering at Accrington College on one day release and two nights a week and achieved two higher nationals, one in mechanical engineering and one in production engineering.
At the age of 21, he became a jig and tool draftsman with the same company, and stayed there until 1968, when he moved to ]Lucas Aerospace
Lucas Industries plc was a Birmingham-based British manufacturer of motor industry and aerospace industry components. Once prominent, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was formerly a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In August 1996 ...
in Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
as a machine shop methods engineer. He stayed there until aged 30, when he became a technical representative for ''Osborne Mushet Tools'' in Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
, who were manufacturers of metal cutting tools.
After five years, he became a director of ''C&G Cutter Grinding Services'' in Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...
, named after its two founders Thomas Chew and William Gradwell. The company was sold in the mid-1980s, to a large engineering PLC, whom he continued to work for. After four years, he set up P&J Engineering Supplies, buying and selling engineering tools.[ In the late 1990s, he bought Stewart Engineering (precision engineers) with a partner. This later folded, due to a bad debt in 2002. P&J is still in existence, however Birtwistle retired in 2008.
]
Politics
Before entering Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, he had been Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
Council leader since the 2006 local elections, and a local councillor since 1982. He originally entered politics as a Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
councillor in the 1970s.[Introducing East Lancashire's four new MPs (From Blackburn Citizen)]
. Blackburncitizen.co.uk (11 May 2010). Retrieved on 4 February 2013. , he remains a councillor for the borough's Coal Clough with Deerplay ward. He was also a candidate in the 2014 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election.[
]
MP
Birtwistle took Burnley from Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
for the Liberal Democrats at the 2010 general election, with a 12% swing and 1,818 majority.[ The first non-Labour MP in the Burnley constituency since 1935, he had previously contested the seat in ]1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
, 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 ...
and 2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
. He was the oldest new MP of the 2010 intake, aged 66. On election, his three main aims were returning the Accident and Emergency department
An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...
to Burnley General Hospital; bringing new high-value jobs and firms to Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
; and reinstating direct rail travel between Burnley and Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
.[
A few weeks after his election, he was offered the role of ]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 ...
to Danny Alexander
Sir Daniel Grian Alexander (born 15 May 1972) is a former politician who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2010 and 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency from 2005 u ...
, Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The chief secretary to the Treasury is a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom. The office is the second most senior in the Treasury, after the chancellor of the Exchequer. The office was created in 1961, to share the burden ...
.[ He hosted a manufacturing summit for the North West region in Burnley in June 2011, which was opened by ]Vince Cable
Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet a ...
with a speech at the new £80 million Burnley College
Burnley College is a further education college based in Burnley, Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries ...
and University of Central Lancashire
, mottoeng = "From the Earth to the Sun"
, established = as Institution for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledgere-established 1992 (University status granted)
, type = Public
, chancellor ...
campus. In October, it was announced that with government investment through the Regional Growth Fund, the planned direct rail link between Manchester and Burnley would proceed.
The project included the reinstatement of the Todmorden Curve
The Calder Valley line (also previously known as the Caldervale line) is a railway route in Northern England between the cities of Leeds and Manchester as well as the seaside resort of Blackpool. It is the slower of the two main rail routes ...
, a five hundred metre stretch of track unused since the 1960s, and an upgrade to Burnley Manchester Road railway station
Burnley Manchester Road is the main railway station in Burnley, Lancashire, England. It is situated on the Calder Valley Line east of , near to the route's junction with the East Lancashire Line.
History
On 12 November 1849, the Manchester a ...
. Birtwistle's successor as Burnley Council leader, Charlie Briggs, was reported as saying "Gordon Birtwistle has been an important influence as he been very active in pressing the case for this and a number of other economic development priorities". Projects to construct a new business park called "Burnley Bridge" and create the Visions Learning Trust University Technical College
A university technical college (UTC) is a type of specialist secondary school in England that is led by a sponsor university and has close ties to local business and industry. These university and industry partners support the curriculum developm ...
had also recently received funding.
In February 2012, Birtwistle became chairman of a new 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 ...
dedicated to the advancement of apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...
s.[ In March, he wrote of his support for increasing the ]minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
and the introduction of the pupil premium The pupil premium is a grant given by the government to schools in England to decrease the attainment gap for the most disadvantaged children, whether by income or by family upheaval. For each pupil who is eligible for free school meals, or has clai ...
, and argued for measures to tackle tax avoidance
Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdict ...
.
That October, he introduced a private members bill
A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...
to the Commons
The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...
demanding improved careers advice for 12 to 16-year-old students. Although the bill received cross-party support and was given an unopposed first reading
A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature.
In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming, ...
, it did not progress further. In March 2013, he was appointed as Government Apprenticeship Ambassador to Business, a new role intended to raise the profile and prestige of apprenticeships.[New government ambassadors created to promote apprenticeships]
Government Digital Service – Press release, 14 March 2013
He was one of only a few Liberal Democrat MPs to oppose allowing same sex couples to marry, rebelling against his party in a number of Commons votes on the issue in 2013–14. He has been quoted as saying "Civil partnerships
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
are fine. Gay marriage is just not on". He also said "I have been against it right from the beginning because I believe that's the view of the vast majority of people in Burnley".
In 2014, Birtwistle called for fellow Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Maajid Nawaz
Maajid Usman Nawaz (; born 2 November 1977) is a British activist and former radio presenter. He was the founding chairman of Quilliam. Until January 2022, he was the host of an LBC radio show on Saturdays and Sundays.
Born in Southend-on-Sea ...
to be de-selected and his party membership cancelled, after he posted a controversial cartoon of Jesus and Muhammad on Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
.'Burnley MP's anger at Jesus-Muhammad cartoon'
, ''Lancashire Telegraph'', 19 February 2014
At the 2015 general election, Birtwistle lost his seat to Labour's Julie Cooper, who had also stood in 2010. However, the 6.2% swing away from Birtwistle was less than half the 15.2% national swing against his party. Birtwistle stood again in 2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
, but was unsuccessful, and fell behind 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 ...
, into third place. In 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, Birtwistle contested Burnley for the seventh time. He remained in third place, but the Liberal Democrat constituency vote share declined again, falling to its lowest level since the party's formation in 1988.
References
External links
Burnley Liberal Democrats
Profile
at the Liberal Democrats
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birtwistle, Gordon
1943 births
Councillors in Lancashire
Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Living people
Politics of Burnley
UK MPs 2010–2015
Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors
Leaders of local authorities of England