Clive Stafford Soley, Baron Soley (born 7 May 1939) is a British Labour Party politician. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, and later as a Member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

until 2023.

Early life

He went to Downshall Secondary Modern School (eventually ended up as Seven Kings High School) on Aldborough Road in

Seven Kings Seven Kings is an area of Ilford in Greater London, England, part of the London Borough of Redbridge. Situated approximately two miles from Ilford town centre, Seven Kings forms part of the Ilford post town. Historically part of Essex, it was p ...

near

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

, then Newbattle Adult Education College in

Newbattle Newbattle (from Old Scots ''Neubothle'', "new building") is a village and civil parish in Midlothian, Scotland. The village lies south of Dalkeith, about seven miles from Edinburgh. It is notable for containing Newbattle Abbey, a stately hom ...

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

, from 1961 to 1963. He did RAF National Service from 1959 to 1961. He went to the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () 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 charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

, where he gained a BA in Politics and Psychology in 1968, then the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

, where he gained a Diploma in Applied Social Studies in 1970. He was a

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Officer from 1968 to 1969, then a

Probation Officer A probation or parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probat ...

from 1970 to 1979 for the Inner London Probation Service. He was a councillor on Hammersmith Council from 1974 to 1978.

Parliamentary career

Soley was a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1979, first for the constituency of Hammersmith North, then

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

and finally Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush from 1997 to 2005. In 1981, he was a member of the anti-nuclear Labour Party Defence Study Group and was chair of the

Parliamentary Labour Party The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is the parliamentary group of the Labour Party in the British House of Commons. The group comprises the Labour members of parliament as a collective body. Commentators on the British Constitution sometimes ...

from 1997 to 2001. In 2003, he voted in favour of the government's decision to engage in military action against Iraq. In 2005, it was announced that he would be given a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

age, and on 29 June 2005 he was created Baron Soley, of

in the

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London boroughs, London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 as the London Borough of Hammersmith from the merger of the former Metr ...

. He was from 2005 to 2010 Campaign Director of Future Heathrow, an organisation dedicated to the expansion of Heathrow. He was from 2004 to 2016, chair of the trustees of Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal, now renamed the Mary Seacole Trust, which worked for the erection of the statue of Mary Seacole in the grounds of St Thomas's Hospital in London.

Personal life

Soley has a son and daughter. He is an Honorary Associate of the

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. The Soc ...

. National Secular Society. Retrieved 27 July 2019

References

External links

Hammersmith & Fulham Labour Party

Lord Soley of Hammersmith
Open Rights Group
BBC Politics profile, 2002
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soley, Clive 1939 births Living people Alumni of the University of Southampton Alumni of the University of Strathclyde British bloggers Labour Party (UK) life peers Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Ilford UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 Royal Air Force airmen Life peers created by Elizabeth II Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014