James Aloysius Joseph Patrick Gabriel WrayAaron Goldstei
"Jimmy Wray, R.I.P."
, ''The American Spectator'', 25 May 2013. (28 April 1935 – 25 May 2013) was a Scottish politician and

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 ...

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

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Baillieston Baillieston ( sco, Bailiestoun) is a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It is about east of the city centre. It also gives its name to Ward 20 of Glasgow City Council and forms part of the Glasgow East constituency of the UK Parliament. Geograph ...

and Glasgow Provan."'Jack-the-lad' MP"
BBC News, 3 March 2000. Born and raised in the

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportun ...

,Fiona McKa
"Estranged wife pays tribute to 'lion of a man' Jimmy Wray"
''The Herald'', 27 May 2013 he was one of eight children born in an economically disadvantaged Roman Catholic family.Brian Beaco
"Jimmy Wray"
''The Herald'', 27 May 2013. A boxer in his younger days, he was elected as a councillor to the then

Town Council in 1964 for

Kelvinside Kelvinside is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde and is bounded by Broomhill, Dowanhill and Hyndland to the south with Kelvindale and the River Kelvin to the north. It is an affluent area of Gl ...

, and moved over to the larger

Strathclyde Regional Council Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. ...

in 1975 for

. He successfully blocked implementation of fluoridation in court by arguing it violated the 1946 Water Act and the 1968 Medicine Act. By the time he became an MP, Wray was a wealthy man. He was on the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

of the Labour Party, and joined the

Campaign Group The Socialist Campaign Group, officially the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs and also known as the Campaign Group, is a left-wing, democratic socialist grouping of the Labour Party's Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the ...

. His political stances were

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...

, an advocate of

Irish republicanism Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The develop ...

regarding

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 ...

,Robert Waller and Byron Criddl
''The Almanac of British Politics''
London and New York: Routledge, 1999 (6th ed.), p. 312. and opposed to

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

and the abolition of

Section 28 Section 28 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received R ...

. His views on Northern Ireland led him to be tagged "I.R. Wray" by ''Private Eye''. In 2002, he attacked the Scottish Parliament, labeling its members "odds and sods"."MP lays into Scots Labour colleagues"
BBC News, 22 March 2002 Wray stood down as an MP, aged 70, at the 2005 general election following a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in December 2003.

Death

Wray died on 25 May 2013 in Mearnskirk Home Hospital in Renfrewshire after suffering from bowel cancer, aged 78. He had two daughters and two sons.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wray, Jimmy 1935 births 2013 deaths Deaths from cancer in Scotland Baillieston People from Gorbals Councillors in Glasgow Scottish Labour councillors European democratic socialists Scottish Labour MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Glasgow constituencies Transport and General Workers' Union-sponsored MPs UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 Scottish people of Irish descent Scottish Roman Catholics