Michael Tappin (born 22 December 1946) is a British

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

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 ...

Education

Tappin graduated a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

from the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...

, he has also been educated at

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal c ...

and the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

Career

Tappin started lecturing at

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

in 1974. He also worked in the field of politics across the world, being on the campaign team of US Senators. His particular specialization was in American politics. Tappin was nominated as the Labour Party candidate in the

1994 European Parliament election The 1994 European Parliamentary election was a European election held across the 12 European Union member states in June 1994. This election saw the merge of the European People's Party and European Democrats, an increase in the overall numbe ...

for the seat of Staffordshire West and Congleton. He won the seat, defeating Conservative Party candidate Anthony Brown. The other two candidates for the seat represented Liberal Democrats,

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

and

Natural Law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...

parties. Unusually, all parties claimed to be the 'opposition' in the seat - Labour and Lib Dems because of boundary changes, Conservatives because they were in a minority in the European Parliament. Mr Tappin was supported in his campaign by a talented team of young Labour members. The 'inner core' of this team, as one local councillor put it, made the

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

campaign look like aged amateurs. He was given a five-year leave of absence from his duties at Keele University, as his important work in the EU saw him work on budget issues. Tappin lost his seat under the new list system in 1999. Tappin continued his involvement in

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

and won the Stoke-on-Trent Council seat for

Blurton Blurton is a district in the south of Stoke on Trent, in the English county of Staffordshire. Hollybush, Old Blurton, Blurton Farm and Newstead are the names of the areas in which make up the town known as Blurton. Education Sutherland Prim ...

. In 2007, he became Leader of the Labour group on the Stoke-on-Trent City Council. One major decision under his watch was the sale of the Council's stake in the

Britannia Stadium The Bet365 Stadium (stylised as ''bet365 Stadium'') is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but was ...

Stoke City F.C. Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

for £4.5 million. However, in the May 2008 local elections he lost his seat. He retired from his post at Keele University in 2010, after 36 years at the institution.

Bibliography

*''American Politics Today'' (co-author)

Publications

*''British Journal of Political Science'' *''Politics Today''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tappin, Michael 1946 births Living people Academics of Keele University Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of the University of Essex Alumni of the University of Strathclyde British political writers Labour Party (UK) MEPs MEPs for England 1994–1999