Ian Cameron Swales (born 5 April 1953) 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 ...
. 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 ...
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
Redcar
Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located east of Middlesbrough.
The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdivision had a population of ...
in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Swales took Redcar 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 ...
incumbent
Vera Baird
Dame Vera Baird, (''née'' Thomas; born 13 February 1950) is a British barrister and politician who has held roles as a government minister, police and crime commissioner, and Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales.
A Labour Party Mem ...
for the Liberal Democrats at the
2010 general election, with a 21.8% swing. Swales added over 10,000 votes to his
2005 general election total. This was the biggest swing against any Labour candidate in the election and was also biggest majority overcome by any Liberal Democrat, until the
2022 Tiverton and Honiton by-election
A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Tiverton and Honiton was held on 23 June 2022. The vacancy was caused by the resignation on 4 May 2022 of the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Neil Parish of the Conservati ...
. He stood down at the
2015 general election.
Early life
Ian Swales is the son of Harry Swales and Elizabeth Adamson Doig. Through his Scottish mother he is a first cousin (1R) of
Peter Doig
Peter Doig ( ; born 17 April 1959) is a Scottish painter. One of the most renowned living figurative painters, he has settled in Trinidad since 2002. In 2007, his painting ''White Canoe'' sold at Sotheby's for $11.3 million, then an auction rec ...
, Labour MP for Dundee West from 1963 to 1979. Swales was born in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
and grew up in
Harrogate
Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...
; his mother died when he was eight years old. Educated at Woodlands Junior School, he became Head Boy and then won a County Council funded scholarship to
Ashville College
Ashville College is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils aged 2–18 in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England.
It was founded in 1877 as a boarding school for boys by the United Methodist Free Churches. It incorp ...
, Harrogate. Following a
chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...
degree at
University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for research. On 1 Oct ...
, where he met his wife, Pat, a Durham miner's daughter, he joined
Yorkshire Electricity
Yorkshire Electricity was an electricity distribution utility in England, serving much of Yorkshire and parts of Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.
History
Formed as the Yorkshire Electricity Board in 1948 as part of the nationalisat ...
and qualified as an accountant in 1977. He moved to
Teesside
Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire.
Historically a hub for heavy manu ...
in 1978 to join large chemical company
ICI and settled in Redcar. From 1983 to 1986, he worked for ICI in Brussels.
Political career
Swales joined the
SDP when it was founded in 1981, and was a member of the first Cleveland County Committee for the SDP. He contested the 2005 general election in the Redcar Constituency and moved the Liberal Democrats (the successor party to the SDP) from third to second place with a positive swing against both the Labour and Conservative parties.
In 2010, Swales achieved a 21.8% swing against Labour in winning the Redcar seat. He made his maiden speech in Parliament on 7 June 2010. For his role in helping to get Redcar steel works restarted Swales was Total Politics MP of the month for April 2011 and Dods constituency MP of the year finalist for 2011. During his time in Parliament, Swales was an active member of many All Party Parliamentary Groups including Chair of the APPG for the Chemical Industry and Vice-Chair of the APPGs for Steel and Energy Intensive Industries. In May 2014, Swales was appointed to the taskforce group for electrification of rail in the north by the Secretary of State for Transport,
Patrick McLoughlin
Patrick Allen McLoughlin, Baron McLoughlin, (born 30 November 1957) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he first became the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Derbyshire following the 1986 by-election. The constituen ...
, MP.
Shortly after the 2010 election, Swales became an active member of the Public Accounts Committee, which sits twice a week and scrutinises all public expenditure. In June 2014, Swales resigned from the Committee, citing frontbench commitments. He also sat on the Welfare Reform and Finance Bill Committees, and campaigned against tax avoidance. After his prominent role on the Public Accounts Committee, Swales was promoted to Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesman.
In July 2014, Swales announced that he was standing down as an MP at the 2015 general election, for "personal reasons".
In January 2015, he was made Parliamentary Private Secretary to
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 ...
, who at the time was
Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
The secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The incumbent is a memb ...
.
In October 2021, after the
murder of David Amess
On 15 October 2021, Sir David Amess, a British Conservative Party politician and Member of Parliament for Southend West, died after being stabbed multiple times at a constituency surgery at Belfairs Methodist Church Hall in Leigh-on-Sea, ...
, Swales revealed that he stood down because of a 2014 incident in which two men entered his constituency office claiming to know where he lived and threatening to kill him.
After Parliament
Following his retirement from Parliament, Swales continued to participate in local industry issues. He advised the management of Redcar steel works and in August 2015 joined the Board, becoming Chair, of the
Northeast of England Process Industry Cluster
The North East of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) is an economic cluster created following the industrial cluster ideas and strategy of Michael Porter. This Process Industry Cluster has been created by the chemistry using industries ...
(NEPIC), the body that represents companies in the chemical, pharmaceutical, polymer, renewable energy and materials, steel and biotechnology process industries in North-East England.
In 2016 he received an Honorary Fellowship from the Institute of Chemical Engineers (FIChemE) for his contributions to the chemical industry.
Swales was the founding Chair of mental health charity The Link Tees Valley Ltd. and remains as a Director. He is Chair of the grant giving Sirius Minerals Foundation Ltd. and a Director of Redcar Racecourse Ltd.
Personal life
In his spare time, Swales helps local organisations and campaigns on local issues. He was active in Redcar Swimming Club and after the closure of the old pool campaigned for a new one. Swales was on the Committee of Coatham Memorial Hall for many years.
Swales is a
humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
, and in 2015 was made an honorary life member of
Humanists UK
Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious be ...
for his work in Parliament. He and his wife Pat have three children and seven grandchildren, three boys and four girls. His interests include travel, reading, cooking, playing bridge, walking and genealogy.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swales, Ian
Living people
Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 2010–2015
1953 births
People educated at Ashville College
Alumni of the University of Manchester
Fellows of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians
People from Harrogate