Iain Wright
Iain David Wright (born
May 9,
1972) is a
British Labour politician, and
Member of Parliament for
Hartlepool since winning a
by-election in September
2004.
Wright was born in Hartlepool, has a BA and MA in History from
University College London and worked as a
chartered accountant for
One North East before his election. He is married to Tiffiny with three children and lives in Rift House in the town. He was elected as a councillor for the Rift House ward of
Hartlepool Borough Council in
2002, and a served on the Council's
Cabinet with responsibility for performance management.
He was the only Hartlepool member on the shortlist when
Peter Mandelson stepped down as Labour MP for the town in September
2004 and was easily selected as the Labour Party candidate for the
by-election; during the later stages of the campaign, three local members - one of whom featured in
Conservative Party leaflets and another of whom had earlier failed to win the nomination - were reported in the
Guardian newspaper (which subsequently endorsed
Liberal Democrat rival
Jody Dunn) to have been unhappy that no other local candidate had been available. The Labour Party dismissed the claims as having come from the "usual suspects". One subsequently apologised and
another was expelled.
During the campaign Wright highlighted the Labour government's controversial policies for tackling
anti-social behaviour as well as the Liberal Democrats' refusal to support such measures in
Parliament and stressed his local origins, in contrast to his main rivals. On polling day (
September 30,
2004), Wright was elected with a majority of 2,033, reduced from Mandelson's majoirty of 14,571.
The campaign was unusually long for British by-elections - effectively having begun on
22 July (the day Peter Mandelson announced his intention to become a
European Commissioner) - 71 days before polling day itself.
Wright was re-elected in the May
2005 General Election with an increased majority of 7,478. In June 2005 he was appointed as
Parliamentary Private Secretary to Health Minister
Rosie Winterton. In
2006, he became Chairman of
Labour Friends of Israel.
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Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Iain Wright MP*
TheyWorkForYou.com - Iain Wright MP
