David Chaytor

David Michael Chaytor (born 3 August 1949) is a British politician, elected as the Labour Member of Parliament for Bury North but currently suspended from the parliamentary party while an investigation is carried out. On 2 June 2009, he announced that he would not be standing for parliament at the next General Election.^[1][2]

Education

David Chaytor was born in Bury and was educated at the East Ward Primary School and the Bury Grammar School both in the town. He later attended the University of London where he was awarded a BA degree in 1970, the University of Huddersfield, the University of Bradford, and he then qualified as a teacher in 1976 at the University of Leeds. He then returned to the University of London to finish his Masters (MPhil) in philosophy in 1979 and did further postgraduate work at the University of Bradford.

Early career

He started work as a college lecturer in 1973, before being appointed as the senior staff tutor at the Manchester College of Arts and Technology in 1983. In 1990, he became the Head of Continuing Education at the same institute. He remained here until his election to parliament.

Political career

Local council

He was elected as a councillor on the Calderdale Borough Council in 1982 and served until 1997. He served as Chair of the Labour Group, and Chair of the Education, Economic Development, and Highways & Transportation Committees.

Parliament

He unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary constituency of Calder Valley at the 1987 General Election, but was defeated by 6,045 votes by the sitting Conservative MP Donald Thompson. He again contested Calder Valley at the 1992 General Election, at which he reduced Thompson's majority to 4,878. He had to cede the candidacy for Calder Valley because of an all women shortlist which selected Christine McCafferty. However, Chaytor contested the marginal seat of Bury North at the 1997 General Election which he won, defeating the then Social Security minister Alistair Burt by a clear 7,866 votes and has remained the MP there since. Chaytor made his maiden speech on 17 June 1997,^[3] where he talked of the humble Bury black pudding and Bury's most famous son, Robert Peel.

Chaytor’s main political interests are in the Environment, Education, Transport and Foreign Affairs. In the 1997–2001 Parliament he was a Member of the Environmental Audit Select Committee and in January 2000 he received the Green Ribbon award as best environmentalist backbencher in the House of Commons. He has been a backbencher since his election and is a member of the Education & Skills Select Committee and the Environmental Audit Select Committee. He voted against the government on the privatisation of the National Air Traffic Services, and has announced his intention to vote against the last clause of the Gambling Bill. Despite being educated under the Direct Grant system at Bury Grammar School, Chaytor is Chairman of Comprehensive Future, an organisation set up to end selection in British schools. He chairs the All Party Group for Intelligent Energy, and co-chairs the All Party Group for Further Education and Lifelong Learning. He is the Secretary of Globe UK, the British branch of the international network of environmentalist parliamentarians.

Suspension and subsequent retirement as an MP

On 16 May 2009, he was suspended by the Labour party in response to an allegation in the Daily Telegraph that he had claimed nearly £13,000 in mortgage expenses on a home on which the mortgage had already been paid, and on 2 June 2009 he announced that he would be stepping down as an MP at the next General Election. He was shortly after officially barred from standing for election as a Labour Party Candidate by the Labour Party NEC's Special Endorsements Panel.^[1][2]

Despite the suspension and barring, he continued to serve on the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee. Notably, he asked home-educating parents on 14 October 2009, "I am just curious as to why you are so reluctant to demonstrate the quality of what you are doing. You are happy to assert it, but not to demonstrate it." His point was responded to on YouTube by Rowan Fortune-Wood, a home-educated young man.

Personal life

Chaytor is married to Sheena (née Whittingham), with a son and two daughters and is a keen cyclist. He is a founder member of Forever Bury, the Bury FC Supporters Club, a longstanding Member of the Transport and General Workers Union, and a lifetime member of the Rochdale Labour Club. He is a Vice President of the East Lancashire Railway, the President of Bury Speakeasy and Bury Horticultural Society and a Patron of Bury Crossroads. He is a longstanding supporter of Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Amnesty International.

References

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (March 2009)

External links

• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: David Chaytor MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - David Chaytor MP
• BBC Politics page

News items

• Claiming small sixth-forms waste money in October 1998