Bill Etherington

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Bill Etherington
Member of Parliament
for Sunderland North
In office
10 April 1992 – 12 April 2010
Preceded byBob Clay
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1941-07-17) 17 July 1941 (age 82)
Sunderland, County Durham, England
Political partyLabour
SpouseIrene Holton
Alma materDurham University

William Etherington (born 17 July 1941) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Sunderland North from 1992 to 2010.

Early life

Bill Etherington was born in

UK miners' strike (1984-1985). From 1988 to 1992, he was also vice president of the North East Region of the NUM.[3]

Parliamentary career

He was first elected in the 1992 General Election for Sunderland North, replacing fellow left-winger, Bob Clay. Etherington held the seat comfortably with a majority of 17,004 votes, and was re-elected with strong majorities subsequently. He made his maiden speech on 11 May 1992.

In the 1992 general election, he polled 60.7% of the vote, with his Conservative opponent winning 26.9% of the vote. In the 1997 election, he took 68.2% against Conservative Andrew Selous, who ranked in second place with just 16.7% of the vote. He also confidently beat his Conservative opponents in the 2001 (62.7% against 17.9%) and 2005 general elections (54.4% against 19.8%).

He is a left-winger, a member of the Socialist Campaign Group and rebelled against Tony Blair's government. While debating the reform of the House of Lords in March 2007, Etherington also called for the abolition of the British Monarchy.[4]

Personal life

He has been married to Irene Holton since 1963 and they have two daughters. He was characterised in parliament by his three-piece suits and strong 'Mackem' accent.

In December 2006, Etherington announced he would be standing down at the end of the 2005 - 2010 Parliament as his constituency was to be abolished.[5]

Notes

  1. ^ "redbyprimary.org". redbyprimary.org. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  2. ^ [1][dead link]
  3. ^ "William Etherington". Politics 97. BBC. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  4. ^ "North MP calls for end to monarchy - the Journal". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  5. ^ "Sunderland Echo". Sunderlandtoday.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 March 2007. Retrieved 25 February 2014.

External links

News items

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Sunderland North
19922010
Constituency abolished