Preceded by Thomas Graham Religion Roman Catholic Succeeded by Gavin Newlands Political party Labour Party Labour Party | Nationality British Role British Politician Majority 15,280 (34.96%) Name Jim Sheridan | |
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Born 24 November 1952 (age 71)
Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland ( 1952-11-24 ) Website www.james-sheridan-mp.org.uk Books Gangmasters Licensing Act 2004 (Amendment) Bill: A Bill to Apply the Provisions Fo the Gangmasters Licensing Act 2004 to the Construction Industry, and for Connected Purposes | ||
James Sheridan (born 24 November 1952) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Paisley & Renfrewshire North between 2005 and 2015. He was previously MP for Renfrewshire West from 2001 to 2005.
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Early life
Jim Sheridan was born in Glasgow and attended St Sixtus Primary School and St Pius Secondary School on Cally Avenue in Drumchapel, now the home of Drumchapel High School. He also served on Renfrewshire Council from 1999 representing Erskine Central. Before entering politics he worked in shipyards from 1970 to 1978, then as a printer for the Paisley Daily Express from 1978 to 1984, then for Thales Optronics (formerly Barr and Stroud before 2001) on Linthouse Road in Glasgow, where he was a trade union convenor for the TGWU from 1984 to 2000.
Parliamentary career
He was previously MP for Renfrewshire West from the 2001 election until the constituency was abolished in 2005.
Sheridan was the promoter of the Bill which successfully led to the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004.
Following the 2005 election, he was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Ministry of Defence. He resigned this post on 9 August 2006 in protest at the Government's policy on the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, particularly the permitting of aircraft carrying US weapons for Israel to refuel in the UK. He was a strong supporter of Speaker of the House Michael Martin, at the time of the second-home expenses scandal, for instance stating that Mr Martin did not know about the expenses claims of MPs on Radio 4's Today programme (18 May 2009).
In November 2008, Sheridan tabled a Commons early day motion backing a Great Britain football team at the 2012 Olympics, saying football "should not be any different from other competing sports and our young talent should be allowed to show their skills on the world stage". The football governing bodies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all opposed to a Great Britain team, fearing it would stop them competing as individual nations in future tournaments.
The Daily Telegraph reported in 2009 that the Labour MP claimed a 42-inch plasma TV costing £699.99, a leather bed and hundreds of pounds worth of furniture through his parliamentary allowances. He defended his expenses as "authorised by the Fees Office and receipts were provided against all claims."
He was one of 16 signatories of an open letter to Ed Miliband in January 2015 calling on the party to commit to oppose further austerity, take rail franchises back into public ownership and strengthen collective bargaining arrangements
Personal life
He lives in Erskine, Renfrewshire with his wife Jean. They have a son and daughter.