Hugh Lawrence Gaffney (born 10 August 1963) is a

Scottish Labour Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak of ...

politician who served as 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

Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post voting system. It was created for the 2005 general el ...

from 2017 to 2019. He was a Member of

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also ...

Council from 2017 to 2019.

Early life

Gaffney was raised in

Uddingston Uddingston ( sco, Uddinstoun, gd, Baile Udain) is a small town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is on the north side of the River Clyde, south-east of Glasgow city centre, and acts as a dormitory suburb for the city. Geography and boundaries ...

South Lanarkshire gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas , image_skyline = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms_slanarkshire.jpg , image_blank_emblem = Slanarks.jpg , blank_emblem_type = Council logo , image_map ...

; he has three brothers and two sisters. He is married and has three sons. Since he was in his twenties, until being elected, Gaffney worked for

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

and

Parcelforce Parcelforce Worldwide is a courier and logistics service in the United Kingdom. Parcelforce Worldwide is a trading name of the Royal Mail and is organised within the UK Parcels, International and Letters division of the group. The company del ...

, and wore his former work uniform to Westminster on his first day in 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. ...

Political career

Gaffney was elected to the

Council in 2017, representing the Thorniewood ward. In the 2017 general election, he stood as the Labour candidate for

, defeating the incumbent

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

Phil Boswell Philip John Boswell (born 23 July 1963) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill from 2015 to 2017. Early life and career Phil Boswell was born in Bellshill, ...

. In the 2017 Scottish Labour leadership election, Gaffney supported

Richard Leonard Richard Leonard (born January 1962) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2017 to 2021. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), as one of the additional members for the Central Scotland r ...

to succeed

Kezia Dugdale Kezia Alexandra Ross Dugdale (born 28 August 1981) is a Scottish former politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2015 to 2017. A former member of the Scottish Labour Party and Co-operative Party, she was a Member of th ...

to be

leader over the alternative candidate

Anas Sarwar Anas Sarwar (born 14 March 1983) is a Scottish politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party since 2021. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region since 2016, having been Member of Parliame ...

; Gaffney's own Constituency Labour Party (CLP) took a firm stance on supporting Leonard's campaign. In January 2018, Gaffney made jokes at a Labour Students Burns supper in which he used the phrases "bent" to describe gay people and "chinky" to describe Chinese food. He was not suspended from the Labour Party but instead given mandatory equality and diversity training. He later also apologised for the jokes. Gaffney resigned as a councillor in North Lanarkshire Council in July 2019, triggering a council by-election. In his resignation letter to the council's chief executive, Gaffney said he had been privileged to serve the community into which he had been born and bred. In the general election of December 2019, he was defeated by Steven Bonnar of the SNP.

Personal life

In 2010 Gaffney was one of the founding members of the Keir Hardie Society, alongside Scottish author and longtime Labour member

Bob Holman Bob Holman is an American poet and poetry activist, most closely identified with the oral tradition, the spoken word, and poetry slam. As a promoter of poetry in many media, Holman has spent the last four decades working variously as an author ...

and former Scottish Labour leader

, with whom Gaffney has been friends since the 1990s. Gaffney supports Albion Rovers Football Club.

References

External links

* Living people Scottish Labour MPs UK MPs 2017–2019 Scottish Labour councillors 1963 births People from Uddingston Royal Mail people Councillors in North Lanarkshire Politicians from South Lanarkshire {{UK-MP-2017-stub