John Burton was a Labour Party councillor in County Durham, England. He was a member of Sedgefield Borough Council, representing the

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of Fishburn and Old Trimdon. He was the constituency agent of former British

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

, who represented the Sedgefield constituency from 1983 until standing down as Prime Minister in 2007.

Relationship with Tony Blair

Burton was one of the first to spot the potential of the young

. When the new Sedgefield constituency was created for the 1983 general election, which included Burton's home of Trimdon, the local Labour Party found themselves needing to appoint a candidate for the forthcoming election at short notice. Blair, then a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

-based barrister, identified Burton as a branch secretary willing to consider his candidature and travelled to Trimdon (Burton's power base) to put his case. Blair secured the nomination, was elected an MP and began his political rise. The Sunday newspaper ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' reported in December 2007 that Burton planned to write a book about

, focusing on his faith. However, to date, this has not materialised.

Later career

Burton was suspended by Sedgefield Borough Council for one month in 2007 after threatening the former Deputy Leader of the Council that he would be deselected if he voted against a planning application. Burton was a strong critic of

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 ...

's leadership of the Labour Party, saying before the 2017 general election that he couldn't see Labour forming a Government for 30 years. After the Labour Party's historic loss at the 2019 United Kingdom general election, he blamed Corbyn for the loss of Blair's former Sedgefield seat, citing

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

and the public's mistrust of the leadership, confessing that, even though he had voted Labour, he did not wish to see a Corbyn-led government. He also encouraged centrist Labour MPs to split from the left-leaning leadership to form a new party.

Personal life

According to Sedgefield Council's Register of Members' Interests, Burton is a member of the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

, a

church warden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...

, and a governor of Trimdon College. He was formerly a

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

teacher. John Burton's biography is called ''The Grit in the Oyster''.

References

External links

Sedgefield Borough Council: Councillor Details - Councillor John Burton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, John Sedgefield (borough) People from Trimdon Living people Labour Party (UK) officials Labour Party (UK) councillors Councillors in County Durham Year of birth missing (living people)