- Jim Dowd (politician)
Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = Jim Dowd
honorific-suffix =
constituency_MP = Lewisham West
parliament =
majority = 9,932 (31.1%)
predecessor =John Maples
successor =Incumbent
term_start =9 April 1992
term_end =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1951|03|5|df=yes
birth_place =Bad Eilsen ,Lower Saxony
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse =
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession =
religion =
website =
footnotes =James Patrick "Jim" Dowd (
5 March 1951 ) is a British Labourpolitician . He is theMember of Parliament for Lewisham West.Early life
Jim Dowd was born in
Bad Eilsen inLower Saxony ,Germany and grew up inLewisham ,London with an Irish father and German mother. He was educated at the Dalmain Infant and Junior Schools in Forest Hill; theSedgehill Comprehensive School ,Catford , and theLondon Nautical School ,Lambeth . He began his career intelephone engineering as an apprentice in 1967 with the General Post Office (GPO). After his apprenticeship in 1972, he became a manager at a Heron petrol station for a year before joiningPlessey as atelecommunication s engineer in 1973, where he remained until his election to Parliament.Dowd was elected as a councillor in the
London Borough of Lewisham in 1974, becoming its deputy leader in 1984 for two years. He was twice deputy mayor in 1987 and 1990, and was theMayor of Lewisham in 1992. He stepped down from the council in 1997.Parliamentary career
Dowd first stood for Parliament at the 1983 general election for the seat of Beckenham, finishing in third place behind the veteran Conservative MP
Philip Goodhart by some 17,330 votes. At the 1987 general election he contested the marginal seat of Lewisham West, but was defeated byJohn Maples by 3,772 votes.But, five years later at the 1992 general election, Dowd contested Lewisham West again, and this time defeated Maples by 1,809 votes. He made his
maiden speech in the House of Commons on10 June 1992 . [ [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199293/cmhansrd/1992-06-10/Debate-2.html "Hansard", 10 June 1992, col.337] ]Jim Dowd entered the new
Tony Blair team as an opposition whip in 1994, before becoming the spokesman on Northern Ireland in 1995. Following the election of the Labour government at the 1997 General Election he was given a place in the Blair government as a whip. He was unexpectedly sacked after the 2001 general election, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2118851.stm BBC News: Politics - Jim Dowd MP profile (2002)] ] since when he has been a member of theHealth Select Committee .In 2005 he was involved in a heated confrontation in Parliament with fellow Labour MP
Bob Marshall-Andrews over the Terrorism Bill. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4423152.stm BBC News: Politics - MP demands inquiry over colleague] ]Dowd is a member of the Unite trade union.
Personal life
Dowd lists his interests as music, theatre and reading, and enjoys travelling in
Cornwall . His partnerJanet Anderson is the Labour MP for Rossendale and Darwen.ee also
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Dowd (surname)References
External links
* [http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/Jim+Dowd ePolitix - Jim Dowd] official site
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-1456,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Jim Dowd MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/jim_dowd/lewisham_west TheyWorkForYou.com - Jim Dowd MP]
* [http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=Jim_Dowd&mpc=Lewisham_West The Public Whip - Jim Dowd MP] voting record
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/370.stm BBC News: Politics - Jim Dowd MP profile (2005)]
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