Philip Andrew Sawford (born 26 June 1950) is a British politician who served as

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 o ...

(MP) for

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of ...

from 1997 to 2005. A member of the Labour Party, he was Leader of

Kettering Borough Council Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of K ...

from 1991 to 1997.

Early life and career

Sawford was born in Loddington, a small

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

village west of

, on 26 June 1950. He was educated at Loddington Church of England Primary School and Kettering Grammar School. Sawford became an apprentice carpenter, and worked as a steelworker from 1977 until the closures and mass redundancies at Corby Steelworks in 1980. He gained a Diploma at

Ruskin College, Oxford Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

in 1982, and later gained a BA degree from the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

in 1985. Sawford forged a career in training and personnel development, working for a training partnership in Wellingborough from 1985 to 1997.

Local government career

Sawford was first elected to public office as a Member of

Desborough Desborough is a town in Northamptonshire, England, lying in the Ise Valley between Market Harborough and Kettering. It was an industrial centre for weaving and shoe-making in the 19th century and had a long association with the Co-operative ...

Town Council in 1977 and became Chair in 1984. He went on to represent Loatland ward on

from 1980. Sawford was elected leader of the borough council following the 1991 local elections, when Labour became the largest party. He continued to serve in the role when they won an overall majority in 1995, but stood down from the Borough and Town councils after his election to Parliament in 1997. Sawford returned to elected office as a Member of Desborough Town Council in 2018, and became Chair once again in 2021.

Parliamentary career

Sawford stood as the Labour candidate for

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

at the 1992 general election, but lost to the

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 in ...

incumbent Peter Fry despite a swing towards Labour. He unexpectedly won the

constituency at the 1997 general election, defeating Conservative Cabinet minister Roger Freeman. Sawford won with a majority of 189 after three recounts, which meant the election result was one of the last to declare. He narrowly increased his majority to 665 at the 2001 general election. He was a member of the Environmental Audit Committee from 2000 to 2001 and the

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the Committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department fo ...

from 2001 to 2003. Sawford is considered to be on the left of the Labour Party and was a member of the

Socialist 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 ...

whilst an MP. He was a sworn republican, an outspoken campaigner for the abolition of hunting, and an opponent of the

invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

in 2003. He frequently rebelled against the

New Labour New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...

government. Sawford was defeated by Conservative

Philip Hollobone Philip Thomas Hollobone (born 7 November 1964) is a British Conservative Party politician and former investment banker. He has been the Member of Parliament for Kettering since the 2005 general election. Early life Hollobone was born on 7 Novem ...

at the 2005 election, in line with the national swing against Labour. In 2007, he was re-selected to contest Kettering for Labour at the next general election. Constituency boundary changes implemented at the 2010 general election gave the seat a notional Labour majority, but Sawford was again defeated by Hollobone with an increased majority of almost 20 percentage points.

Personal life

He married Rosemary Stokes on 1 May 1971, with whom he had sons

Andy Andy may refer to: People * Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds * Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and pi ...

and Lee. Andy served as Labour MP for

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, the built-up ...

, a neighbouring constituency to Kettering, from a by-election in 2012 until 2015.

References

External links

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at

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on C-SPAN {{DEFAULTSORT:Sawford, Phil 1950 births Living people Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 Alumni of the University of Leicester People from Kettering European democratic socialists British republicans