add site
services
publishers
database
health videos
toolbar
stats
live show
health store
more stuff
JOIN/LOGIN
| advertise add site services publishers database health videos
| | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
About Dr. Roger Lim | Roger Lim Orthodontic Arts Center | Alhambra,... orthoartscenter.com | Dr. Roger El Khoury - Professional Aesthetic Surgeon rogerelkhoury.com | Roger L Turner, D.C. - Barrie, Ontario CCO Disciplinary Decision - 2002 chirowatch.com | Marbella injectable fillers, Roger Amar, Costa del sol,... rogeramar.com |
Roger Duncan Godsiff (born 28 June 1946) is a British Labour politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath since 1992.
[edit] Early lifeRoger Godsiff was born in London and educated at the Catford Comprehensive School. He was a bank clerk for five years from 1965, joining the Labour Party in 1966. He was a political officer from 1970 with the trade union Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff (APEX) and then from 1990 with its successor the GMB Union until his election to Parliament in 1992. During his time as a trade union official he was a leading member of the St Ermins Group, a secret caucus of moderate trade unionists who moved the Labour Party back towards the political centre by organising slates for elections to the party's National Executive Committee. [edit] Political careerElected as a councillor in the London Borough of Lewisham in 1971, he became the Mayor of Lewisham in 1977, before quitting the council at the 1990 London Borough elections. He unsuccessfully contested Birmingham Yardley at the 1983 general election where he finished in third place behind the sitting Conservative MP David Gilroy Bevan. He was subsequently elected to the House of Commons for Birmingham Small Heath at the 1992 general election following the retirement of Denis Howell. Godsiff held Small Heath with a majority of 13,989 votes and has remained an MP since. His constituency was abolished in 1997 and aided by the retirement of Birmingham Sparkbrook MP Roy Hattersley, Godsiff was elected for the newly combined constituency of Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath at the 1997 general election. At the 2001 general election, six of his seven opponents were Asian Muslims. The Sparkbrook and Small Heath seat is due to be abolished at the next election, with its constituent parts moving into neighbouring seats. Godsiff was selected for the redrawn Birmingham Hall Green seat in 2008, which includes some of his existing constituency and wards which were formerly in the two Birmingham constituencies of Hall Green and Selly Oak. In Parliament he was a special adviser to the former Minister of Sport Richard Caborn on cricket and is the chairman of the All Party Japan Group. In October 2006, Godsiff was one of 12 Labour MPs to back Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's call for an inquiry into the Iraq War.[1] He also rebelled against the government in November 2005 on legislation permitting the detention of terrorist suspects for 90 days without trial.[2] Andy McSmith's book Faces of Labour (1996), contends that Godsiff obtained selection for his seat in 1992 by dubious means, which although accepted by the Labour Party, were too late to act upon. In 2005, Tribune made similar allegations about his successful bid to stave off deselection, which was only thwarted by the local votes of his former employer, the GMB Union. Godsiff had angered many in his local party by his calls for curbs on immigration. [edit] Personal lifeGodsiff has been married to Julia Brenda Morris since 1977 and they have a son and a daughter. He is a lifelong supporter of Charlton Athletic F.C. and is presently chairman of the Charlton Athletic Community Trust which oversees the club's community work.[3] [edit] References
[edit] External links
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |
