Michael Connarty

Early life

Michael Connarty was born in Coatbridge. He was educated at St. Patrick's, the local Roman Catholic High School. He was a year below fellow future MP John Reid and ahead of fellow future MP Helen Reilly (later Liddell). He then studied at the University of Stirling, (1967–72) where he was elected as the sabbatical President of the Student Association from 1970–71 and received a BA in Economics in 1972.

He returned to study at Jordanhill College and Glasgow University 1975-76) where he received a Diploma in Childcare and Education (DCE) in 1975. He was a special needs teacher from 1976 until he was elected to the House of Commons in 1992. He was also an Economics and Modern Studies teacher at a secondary school. He was elected as Honorary President of Stirling Student Association in 1983-84.

He became a councillor on the Stirling District Council in 1977, becoming Council Leader in 1980 until he left the council in 1990. He was a founding member and Financial Comptroller of the Loch Lomond, Stirling and Trossachs Tourist Board 1981–1990. He was also a director of Stirling Economic and Enterprise Development Company (SEEDCO) from 1984–1990.

Parliamentary career

He unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary constituency of Stirling at the 1983 General Election but finished 5,133 behind the Conservative and Unionist future Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Forsyth. Connarty ran against Forsyth again at Stirling at the 1987 General Election, although Forsyth won by a margin of 548.

Connarty was selected as the Labour candidate for Falkirk East at the 1992 General Election following the retirement of the sitting MP Harry Ewing. Connarty was elected to Westminster with a majority of 7,969. He used his maiden speech on 13 May 1992 to raise concerns about the fragility of the petro-chemical industry at Grangemouth, the largest town in Falkirk East.

Following the 1997 General Election he became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Film and Tourism Tom Clarke but this appointment lasted only until 1998 when Clarke was sacked from government. Connarty spent his parliamentary career as a backbencher. In 1998 he became a member of the European Scrutiny Select Committee, which is the committee responsible for scrutinising the legislation set by the European Parliament. He was appointed the Chair of the Committee from 2006–10. In 2002, Connarty was one of three MPs behind the revival of the Tribune Group of left-wing Labour MPs.

As a result of the Fifth Periodical Review of the Boundary Commission for Scotland, the Falkirk East constituency was combined with Linlithgow and the new constituency was named Linlithgow and East Falkirk. He was elected to this new constituency in 2005. The Spectator awarded him the "Inquisitor of the Year Award" in the Threadneedle/Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Awards in 2007, recognising his Chairmanship during the committee investigation into the Lisbon Treaty. In November 2008, he was one of 18 MPs who signed a Commons early day motion in support of forming a Team GB football team for the 2012 Olympics, contrary to the position held by the football governing bodies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who all had reservations that such a move would block them competing as individual nations in future tournaments.

In 2011, he was appointed a UK Parliament representative on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). In 2013 he was elected as Chair of the PACE sub-committee on Education, Youth and Sport issues. He successfully acted as rapporteur for a report on recommendations on 'Youth Access to Fundamental Rights' adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly in April 2013. He was a member of a special Ad-hoc Sub Committee investigating 'Governance and Corruption in Football' meeting with FIFA and EUFA and the ECA. The report was tabled by Anne Brasseur (ALDE, Luxembourg) and adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly in 2013. He was appointed Rapporteur for a follow - up report on The Reform of Football Governance focusing on FIFA and EUFA (and the awarding of the Football World Cup to Qatar by FIFA) in January 2014. After a series of hearings held in 2014, he authored a report that noted the extent of the corruption that was involved and recommended that the process should be rerun.

He is a supporter of the British Humanist Association and was Co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group. and vice president of the National Youth Jazz Collective.

Connarty was Vice Chair of the Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking 2011–15. He was an active participant in the Parliamentarians Against Human Trafficking network working with like minded politicians across the EU, set up by the Human Trafficking Foundation. His Private Members Bill, Transparency of UK Company Supply Chains, which would have required UK Companies to audit and report on the ethical quality of their supply chain, was 'talked out' by Jacob Rees-Mogg during its second reading on 18 January 2013.

In the Scottish independence referendum, 2014, Connarty campaigned with Better Together. He stood at the 2015 election, but with a 70% turnout he lost to the SNP candidate, Martyn Day, who took a majority of 12,934.

Personal life

He married Margaret Doran in 1969. They have a son and daughter. They also have two granddaughters and a grandson.

Controversies

On 19 May 2009, the Daily Telegraph revealed that Connarty was the fifth highest claiming MP in the UK, having claimed £156,207 in allowances between 2007 and 2008, excluding travel costs.