Thomas Francis Blenkinsop (born 14 August 1980) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland is a constituency created in 1997 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Simon Clarke of the Conservative Party. Boundaries 1997–2010: The Redcar and Cleveland Borou ...

from 2010 to 2017. A member of the Labour Party, he was an Opposition Whip under Ed Miliband's leadership from 2011 to 2015.

Early life and career

Born in Middlesbrough and brought up in Marton, Blenkinsop was educated at St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Primary School in Coulby Newham,

Newlands School FCJ Newlands Catholic School FCJ, was a mixed 11–16 Catholic, state school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary educat ...

, and St. Mary's Sixth Form College in Saltersgill. He graduated from Teesside University with a BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and the University of Warwick with an MA in

Continental philosophy Continental philosophy is a term used to describe some philosophers and philosophical traditions that do not fall under the umbrella of analytic philosophy. However, there is no academic consensus on the definition of continental philosophy. Pri ...

. Blenkinsop worked as a constituency researcher for Ashok Kumar, Labour MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, from 2002 to 2008. He became a campaign manager for the Community Trade Union in 2008 and continued in the role until his election to Parliament in 2010.

Parliamentary career

Blenkinsop was selected as the Labour candidate for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland in April 2010, following Ashok Kumar's unexpected death the previous month. He was elected at the May 2010 general election, albeit with a majority significantly reduced to under 2,000. In his first Parliamentary term, he was a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee from 2010 to 2012, the

Standards and Privileges Committee The Standards and Privileges Committee is a former committee of the United Kingdom House of Commons that existed from 1995 to 2013. The committee was established in 1995 to replace the earlier Committee of Privileges. It consisted of 10 Members of ...

from 2010 to 2011 and the Treasury Select Committee in 2011. He joined the opposition front bench under the leadership of Ed Miliband, serving as a

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

from 2011 to 2015. He was re-elected with a marginally increased majority at the 2015 general election. During his second Parliamentary term, he was a member of the

Energy and Climate Change Committee The Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that came into existence in April 2023. It is the successor to the previous Energy and Climate Change Select C ...

from 2015 to 2016, the Privileges Committee from 2015 to 2017, the Standards Committee from 2015 to 2017, and the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee from 2016 to 2017. Blenkinsop signed up to the Army Reserve in 2017. Blenkinsop supported Liz Kendall in the 2015 Labour leadership election and Owen Smith in the 2016 leadership election. After he called for party leader Jeremy Corbyn's resignation in 2016, a Labour member was suspended and investigated by the police for allegedly threatening him. He announced he would be standing down at the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

as he could not campaign for Labour whilst Corbyn served as party leader.

Post-parliamentary career

Blenkinsop returned to the Community union as a London-based project manager after leaving Parliament, and became a public affairs advisor for the Federation of Small Business in 2020.

Personal life

Blenkinsop married Victoria Emtage in 2007.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blenkinsop, Tom 1980 births Living people UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Alumni of Teesside University Alumni of the University of Warwick English Roman Catholics People from Middlesbrough