Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Add Reply
James Chichester-Clark
Topic Started: Feb 26 2011, 03:53 PM (116 Views)
James Chichester-Clark MP
Member Avatar

Posted Image

Name: James Chichester-Clark
Date of Birth (age): January 17, 1954 (56)
Party:: Labour
Constituency: Edinburgh East
Religion: Catholic

University Education

BA in Labour Studies from University of Edinburgh (1979-1983)

Career

Street Maintenance in Edinburgh (1970-1977)
NUPE Organizer (1977-1979, 1983-1984)
Member of NUPE Scottish Council (1984-1988)
Member of NUPE Scottish Committee (1988-1992)
President of NUPE Scotland (1992-1993)
General-Secretary of UNISON (1993-1997)
Member of Parliament for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (1997-2005)
MP for Edinburgh East (2005-Present)
Under Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1998-2001)
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (2001-2004, 2007-Present)
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (2004-2005)
Secretary of State for Scotland (2005-2007)


Family

Father: James Clark (1933-1966)- Born a poor Catholic in Belfast worked on the docks and became a local Sinn Fein and union activist. Killed in June 1966 by UVF

Mother: Mary Chichester (1935-Present)- Another poor Catholic in Belfast. Moved family to Edinburgh after James Clark's death. Worked as a cleaning lady in Caledonian Brewery.

Wife: Lisa Moore Chichester-Clark (1960-Present)- Dropped out of school in 1976 and became a local government office cleaner. Met James Chichester-Clark that year when he was meeting NUPE members in the office. In 1977 she fled home where she was abused and James Chichester-Clark gave her shelter. She returned to school and entered Edinburgh University with him in 1979 on NUPE sponsorship. Two began more romantic relation during university but didn't marry until 1984. Worked as a NUPEorganizer from 1984-1993 when she was elected to the Scottish Council of the new UNISON and subsequently to the Scottish Committee in 1997. In 2005 she became President of UNISON Scotland and continues to serve in that role.

Son: James Chichester-Clark Jr- Born in 1985 currently attend University of Edinburgh where he plans to major in Labour Studies like his father.

Daughter: Mary Chichester-Clark- Born 1987 also attends University of Edinburgh where she plans to major in International Studies.

Memberships

Labour Party, (1972-)
NUPE (1970-1993)
UNISON (1993-)
Christian Socialist Movement (1997-)

Bio:

Born to a poor Catholic couple in 1954, James Chichester-Clark had relatively uneventful early childhood. That is, until his father, a local republican and trade union activist in Belfast was killed in the early stages of The Troubles in 1966. Chichester-Clark's mother moved the family to Edinburgh where she got a job a cleaning lady. James Chichester-Clark was rarely very academically engaged in his early days and due to this and financial constraints did not attend university immediately. Instead he took a full time position in street maintenance in Edinburgh.

In this role he became a member of the National Union of Public Employees. He eventually became very involved in NUPE and left his maintenance job to become an organizer in 1977. In 1979 NUPE sponsored Chichester-Clark to attend Edinburgh University where he majored in Labour Studies. In 1983, upon graduation, he returned to organizing for a year.

James Chichester-Clark made his first move towards the NUPE hierarchy in 1984 when he was elected to the NUPE Scottish Council, the elected body of union reps for NUPE in Scotland. He impressed his fellow council members as an active and able leader and they elected him to the Scottish Committee in 1988, the top governing body for the NUPE. After 4 years on the Committee he was elected to last NUPE President in Scotland in 1992 at 38. In the office he became instrumental to the formation of UNISON, the new public employees union formed when three public sector trade unions, the National and Local Government Officers Association (NALGO), the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) and the Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE) combined.

In 1993 he was subsequently elected to first General-Secretary of UNISON at only 39. He was reelected to the position in 1995. He announced in 1996 that he would not seek the office again in 1997 as he was running as the Labour Party candidate for parliament in Edinburgh East and Musselburgh. He was successfully elected and began service as a backbencher.

Chichester-Clark got his first cabinet position in 1998 when he became Under Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. After the 2001 elections he got his first top level position as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. He left the position in 2004 and served briefly as Secretary of State for North Ireland from 2004-2005 and Secretary of State for Scotland (2005-2007) before returning to the position of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2007-the present.
Labour Party MP for Edinburgh East
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Character Biographies · Next Topic »
Add Reply