Paul Gerard Goggins (16 June 1953 – 7 January 2014) was a British Labour 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 Wythenshawe and Sale East from 1997 until his death in January 2014. He was also previously a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

at the

Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; ga, Oifig Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for N ...

Early life

Paul Goggins was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and educated at St Bede's College, before going on to study at the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

Ushaw College (1971–1973), although he did not enter the priesthood. He went on to study at the Birmingham Polytechnic (now

Birmingham City University , mottoeng = "Do what you are doing; attend to your business" , established = 1992—gained university status1971—City of Birmingham Polytechnic1843—Birmingham College of Art , type = Public , affiliation = ...

), receiving a Certificate in Residential Care of Children and Young People in 1976. Later, he earned a Certificate of Qualification in Social Work from the

Manchester Polytechnic Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

in 1982. He worked as a child care worker with the 'Liverpool Catholic Social Services' for a year in 1974, before becoming an officer in charge at the

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

Children's Home in 1976. He was appointed as project director for the NCH Action for Children in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

in 1984. He became the national director for Church Action on Poverty, a national church-based campaigning organisation, in 1989 where he remained until his election to

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

Political career

He served as a councillor in the City of Salford from 1990 to 1998. He was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

at the 1997 general election for the newly created Wythenshawe and Sale East seat vacated by the retirement of Alf Morris, the former Labour MP for Manchester Wythenshawe. Goggins held the safe Labour seat with a majority of 15,019 and remained the MP there for almost 17 years. He made his

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

on 20 May 1997. He served on the social security select committee from 1997 until he was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Minister of State at the Department of Social Security John Denham in 1998, moving with Denham to the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

in 1999. In 2000 he was appointed PPS to the Secretary of State for Education and Employment

David Blunkett David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, (born 6 June 1947) is a British Labour Party politician who has been a Member of the House of Lords since 2015, and previously served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough ...

, and he remained Blunketts's PPS following the 2001 General Election in his new position as

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...

. It is during this period that, according to Blunkett, Goggins was lumbered with the nickname 'Mrs Goggins'. He was promoted to the government of

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 ...

in 2003, where he was made the

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...

at the Home Office with the role of prisons and

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

minister. He became the parliamentary under Secretary for State with responsibility for the voluntary and community sector. He forged links with various community and voluntary sector organisations such as ARVAC ''The Association for Research in the Voluntary and Community Sector''. In May 2006, he was appointed as a junior minister at the

. He was the co-founder of the All Party Parliamentary Friends of

CAFOD The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) is an international development charity and the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It aims to tackle poverty globally. Through local Catholic Church and secular pa ...

group and was Secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Group on poverty. Goggins opposed

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

, stating that he would vote against the government's bill to introduce same-sex marriage in England and Wales. In the second reading of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill in February 2013 he was one of 23 Labour MPs who voted against the legislation.

Personal life

He married Wyn Bartley in 1977 in

Crosby Crosby may refer to: Places ;Canada *Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario *Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the city of Markham, Ontario ;England *Crosby, Cumbria *Crosby, Lincolnshire *Crosby, Merseyside ** Crosby (U ...

and they had two sons and a daughter. He was a season ticket holder at Manchester City F.C. He was also a member of the

Christian socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...

movement who broadcast on the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

Thought for the Day ''Thought for the Day'' is a daily scripted slot on the ''Today'' programme on BBC Radio 4 offering "reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news", broadcast at around 7:45 each Monday to Saturday morning. Nowadays lastin ...

'' slot on the ''Today'' programme. In an interview on

BBC Radio Five Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcas ...

in 2004, he claimed his family was the inspiration for the "Mrs Goggins" character in the ''

Postman Pat ''Postman Pat'' is a British stop-motion animated television series first produced by Woodland Animations. The series follows the adventures of Pat Clifton, a postman who works for Royal Mail postal service in the fictional village of Greendal ...

'' series. On 30 December 2013, Goggins became seriously ill after collapsing while running, resulting in emergency surgery. He died in

Salford Royal Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust operated Salford Royal Hospital in Greater Manchester until 2017. Its chief executive is Dr Owen Williams. In December 2017 it was announced that the Trust was to form a new healthcare organisation by combining ...

hospital on 7 January 2014 following complications from a

brain haemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

, having never regained consciousness.

References

External links

MP Paul Goggins' official website

BBC Politics page

News items

Ending 50% remission of offenders in Northern Ireland in September 2007

Revealing Northern Ireland drinks the most fizzy drinks per capita in the UK in June 2006

Discussing Racial Hatred Bill in January 2006

Launching North West Faith Forum in January 2006

Making Magic Mushrooms illegal in July 2005

Video clips

Audio clips

Women's Parliamentary Radio
Short podcast on Paul Goggins' Get Well UK pilot project {{DEFAULTSORT:Goggins, Paul 1953 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Roman Catholics Alumni of Birmingham City University Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Alumni of Ushaw College Catholic socialists English Christian socialists English Roman Catholics Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Northern Ireland Office junior ministers People educated at St Bede's College, Manchester Politicians from Manchester UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015