Clive Stafford Soley, Baron Soley (born 7 May 1939) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. 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 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, and has since then served as a Member of the House of Lords.

Early life

He went to Downshall Secondary Modern School (eventually ended up as

Seven Kings High School Seven Kings School, previously ''Seven Kings High School'', is a co-educational comprehensive primary and secondary school located in Ilford in the London Borough of Redbridge, England. It caters for pupils aged 4–18 years old. Seven Kings Sc ...

) on Aldborough Road in Seven Kings near Ilford, then Newbattle Adult Education College in Newbattle,

Midlothian Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, 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, ...

, from 1961 to 1963. He did RAF National Service from 1959 to 1961. He went to the University of Strathclyde, where he gained a BA in Politics and Psychology in 1968, then the University of Southampton, where he gained a Diploma in Applied Social Studies in 1970. He was a British Council Officer from 1968 to 1969, then a Probation Officer from 1970 to 1979 for the Inner London Probation Service. He was a councillor on

Hammersmith Council 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. ...

from 1974 to 1978.

Parliamentary career

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

Hammersmith North Hammersmith North could refer to: *Hammersmith North (UK Parliament constituency) * Hammersmith North (electoral division), Greater London Council *Hammersmith North (London County Council constituency) Hammersmith North was a constituency used ...

, 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. ...

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 The Labour Party Defence Study Group was a grouping within the British Labour Party established in 1975 by the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) under the chairmanship of Ian Mikardo. History The party was established at a time when Brit ...

and was chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party from 1997 to 2001. In 2003, he voted in favour of the government's decision to engage in military action against Iraq despite the absence of convincing evidence that Iraq still had an active WMD programme. 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. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

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

in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. 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. 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