James Patrick Dowd (born 5 March 1951) is a former British
Labour Party politician, who was a Member of Parliament (MP) from
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 ...
to
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 ...
, first for
Lewisham West and following
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
for
Lewisham West and Penge
Lewisham West and Penge is a constituency in Greater London created in 2010 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Ellie Reeves of the Labour Party.
History
Following the adoption of the Boundary Commissi ...
. He stood down at the
2017 general election, following the announcement of Prime Minister
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
's snap election in June 2017.
Early life
Jim Dowd grew up in
Lewisham
Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...
, London, with an Irish father and German mother. He was educated at the Dalmain Infant and Junior Schools in
Forest Hill; the
Sedgehill Comprehensive School,
Catford
Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdiv ...
, and the
London Nautical School
The London Nautical School (LNS) is an 11–18 foundation secondary school for boys and mixed sixth form in Blackfriars, Greater London, England. It was established in 1915.
History
The London Nautical School was established in 1915 in respon ...
,
Lambeth
Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...
. He began his career in telephone engineering as an apprentice in 1967 with the
General Post Office
The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...
(GPO). Following his apprenticeship, he became a manager in 1972 at a Heron
petrol station
A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel.
Gasoline ...
for a year before joining
Plessey
The Plessey Company plc was a British electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after World War II by acquisition of companies and formed overseas compani ...
as a telecommunications engineer in 1973, where he remained 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. ...
.
Dowd was elected as a councillor in the
London Borough of Lewisham
Lewisham () is a London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Meridian passes throug ...
in 1974, becoming deputy leader in 1984 for two years. He was twice deputy mayor in 1987 and 1990, and was the Mayor of Lewisham in 1992. He stepped down from the council in 1994.
Dowd first stood for parliament at the
1983 general election for the seat of
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 ...
, finishing in third place behind the long-standing
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 ...
MP
Philip Goodhart
Sir Philip Carter Goodhart (3 November 1925 – 5 July 2015) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, the son of Arthur Lehman Goodhart.
Biography
Goodhart attended the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. He co ...
by 17,330 votes. At the
1987 general election he contested the marginal seat of Lewisham West, but was defeated by
John Maples
John Cradock Maples, Baron Maples (22 April 1943 – 9 June 2012) was a British politician and life peer who served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 1989 to 1992. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) fo ...
by 3,772 votes.
Parliamentary career
At the
1992 general election, Dowd again contested Lewisham West, and defeated Maples by 1,809 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 ...
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. ...
on 10 June 1992.
Jim Dowd was appointed as an
opposition whip
A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...
in 1994, before becoming the spokesman on
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
in 1995. Following the election of the Labour government at the
1997 General Election he was given a place in the Blair government as a whip. He was unexpectedly sacked after the
2001 general election, since when he was a member of the
Health Select Committee
The Health and Social Care Select Committee (abbreviated to HSC, HSCC and HSCSC) is a Departmental Select Committee of the British House of Commons, the lower house of the United Kingdom Parliament. Its remit is to examine the policy, administr ...
and maintained a voting record strongly in line with government policies. In June 2012, Dowd joined the Science and Technology Select Committee.
In 2005, he was involved in a heated confrontation in Parliament with fellow Labour MP
Bob Marshall-Andrews
Robert Graham Marshall-Andrews KC (born 10 April 1944) is a British barrister, author, and retired politician, who was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Medway from 1997 to 2010. He defected from his former party at the 2017 general ele ...
over the
Terrorism Bill. He was a vice-chair of the
All Party Parliamentary Intellectual Property Group.
He supported
Owen Smith
Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a former Labour Party politician and subsequently a British lobbyist, who has been the UK government relations director for pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb since 2020. Smith was Member of Parliamen ...
in the failed attempt to replace
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
in the
2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election
The 2016 Labour Party leadership election was called when a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party arose following criticism of his approach to the Remain campaign in the referendum on membership of the European Union and q ...
.
Intellectual Property Bill
On 20 January 2014, Dowd made a speech in the House of Commons during a debate on the Intellectual Property Bill, stating that he had asked for
Worcester Sauce whilst eating a meal at the
Hare and Billet pub in
Blackheath Blackheath may refer to:
Places England
*Blackheath, London, England
** Blackheath railway station
**Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England
*Blackheath, Surrey, England
** Hundred of Blackh ...
and that he was provided with
Henderson's Relish
Henderson's Relish is a condiment produced in Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is similar in appearance to Worcestershire sauce, but contains no anchovy, anchovies. It is made of water, sugar and spirit vinegar with a selection of spic ...
.
Dowd used Henderson's as an example of "parasitic packaging", implying in the debate that it was attempting to pass itself off as
Lea and Perrins
Lea & Perrins (L&P) is a United Kingdom-based subsidiary of Kraft Heinz, originating in Worcester, England where it continues to operate. It is best known as the maker of Lea & Perrins brand of Worcestershire sauce, which was first sold in 183 ...
.
Henderson's Relish is well known within
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 ...
and parts of
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
and has been manufactured there for over 100 years. Dowd upset supporters of the sauce; the
Sheffield Central
Sheffield Central is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Paul Blomfield, a member of the Labour Party.
Boundaries
;First creation
1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Sheffield wards of S ...
member of parliament,
Paul Blomfield
Paul Christopher Blomfield (born 25 August 1953) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Central since 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he was a Shadow Minister for Exiting the European Union fr ...
, offered to bring a bottle to Parliament and invite Dowd for a meal with him using it – an invitation accepted by Dowd.
![The Hare and Billet Public House, Blackheath Vale - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/The_Hare_and_Billet_Public_House%2C_Blackheath_Vale_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1600346.jpg)
Simon Freemanthe managing director of Henderson'sjokingly stated that he would order "an internal investigation to find out how it got out of Yorkshire";
a local newspaper, the ''
Sheffield Star
''The Star'', often known as the ''Sheffield Star'', is a daily newspaper published in Sheffield, England, from Monday to Saturday each week. Originally a broadsheet, the newspaper became a tabloid in 1993. ''The Star'', the weekly ''Sheffield ...
'', launched a Twitter campaign with the
hashtag
A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
#Hendogate to defend Henderson's, attracting support locally.
Dowd later stated his "amazement" at the backlash his comments had caused, which he said included threats of violence.
The assistant manager of the Hare and BilletAdam Beastonclaimed that Dowd branded Henderson's a "blatant copy" of Lea and Perrins at the time but that he warned the MP that such a view would be "blasphemy in Sheffield".
Personal life
Dowd lists his interests as music, theatre and reading, and enjoys travelling in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
. His partner
Janet Anderson
Janet Anderson (born 6 December 1949) is a former Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rossendale and Darwen from 1992 until 2010, when she lost her seat. Her time as MP is remembered for her role as Minister for ...
was the former Labour MP for
Rossendale and Darwen
Rossendale and Darwen is a constituency in Lancashire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Sir Jake Berry, the former Chairman of the Conservative Party.
Boundaries
1983 to 1997: The Borough of Rossendal ...
.
References
External links
Jim Dowd official site*
*
ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/370.stm BBC News: Politics – Jim Dowd MP profile (2005)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowd, Jim
1951 births
Living people
People educated at the London Nautical School
English people of German descent
English people of Irish descent
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 1992–1997
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
UK MPs 2010–2015
UK MPs 2015–2017
Councillors in the London Borough of Lewisham
Mayors of places in Greater London
Labour Party (UK) mayors