Jim Fitzpatrick (politician)

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This article is about the British politician. For other people with the same name, see Jim Fitzpatrick.

Jim Fitzpatrick
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office
29 May 2002 – 13 June 2003
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byAnne McGuire
Succeeded byJoan Ryan
Member of Parliament
for Poplar and Limehouse
Poplar and Canning Town (1997–2010)
In office
1 May 1997 – 6 November 2019
Preceded byConstituency created
Succeeded byApsana Begum
Personal details
Born (1952-04-04) 4 April 1952 (age 72)
Fire Brigade Medal
Websitewww.jimfitzpatrick.org.uk

James Fitzpatrick (born 4 April 1952) is a British politician and former firefighter who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1997 to 2019, for Poplar and Canning Town until 2010 and for Poplar and Limehouse until his retirement. He is a member of the Labour Party.

Fitzpatrick served as Minister of State for Farming and the Environment at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs during the Brown ministry. In June 2019, he announced that he would not stand for reelection to Parliament.

Early life

Fitzpatrick was born in

fire service
when he was elected to the House of Commons in 1997.

Fitzpatrick was elected as the chair of the Barking Constituency Labour Party, and was chair of the Greater London Labour Party for seven years.

Parliamentary career

Member of Parliament

Fitzpatrick was selected as the Labour candidate over two sitting MPs, Mildred Gordon and Nigel Spearing.

He was elected to the

seat of Poplar and Canning Town in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets at the 1997 general election with a majority of 18,915. He made his maiden speech
in the House of Commons on 17 June 1997.

Fitzpatrick was appointed as the

Secretary of State for Health later in the same year. After the 2001 general election, Fitzpatrick was appointed to government by Tony Blair as an Assistant Government Whip, becoming a Lord Commissioner to the Treasury (Government Whip) in 2002. He was again promoted within the Whips Office in 2003 when he became the Vice-Chamberlain of HM's Household
.

2005 Parliament

Fitzpatrick was re-elected in the

CWU strike
saying it would harm their cause.

On 29 June 2007, he moved to become the

shipping, aviation and road safety amongst his responsibilities,[5] and was replaced as Minister for London by Tessa Jowell
.

In 2008, during the Christmas period, Fitzpatrick and his wife visited Bangladesh, touring the development projects supported by the Canary Wharf Group. The purpose of the trip was to re-visit the country since 1999, and see the regeneration projects that this group supports. During his visit, he visited the Football Academy in Dhaka, also to Jagannathpur and Sylhet, where many Bangladeshis in the UK originate from including many in his constituency.[6] Fitzpatrick was promoted to Minister of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs[1] in the June 2009 reshuffle. He kept this role until Labour's defeat at the 2010 General Election.

In August 2009, Fitzpatrick left a wedding at the

Islamic Forum Europe for encouraging segregation, though the couple claimed Fitzpatrick had "hijacked [the wedding] for political gain". Fitzpatrick stated he had left the wedding as discreetly as possible: "it was never my intention to offend Mr Islam and if he thinks that I done so then of course I will apologise to him".[7]

2010 Parliament

Following boundary changes, Fitzpatrick contested the newly created

Poplar and Limehouse
constituency in 2010, and was returned with a 4.7% swing to Labour, contrary to the national swing against the party.

He was campaign manager for former Labour MP Oona King (Baroness King of Bow) in her failed attempt to be endorsed as the Labour candidate in the 2012 London Mayoral Election.[8] From 2010 until his resignation in 2013, he served as Shadow Minister of State for Transport,[9][10] covering aviation, shipping and road safety, his former ministerial brief. Fitzpatrick was a parliamentary supporter of Labour Friends of Israel.[11]

In August 2013, he resigned from his

chemical weapons in Syria[12] stating he was "opposed to military intervention in Syria, full stop".[13]

2015 and 2017 Parliament

In December 2015, Fitzpatrick voted for the use of

ISIS.[14]

Fitzpatrick was one of 13 MPs to vote against triggering the 2017 general election.[15]

Fitzpatrick has spoken of a desire to implement the decision of the

Northern Irish backstop.[18]

In June 2019, he announced that he would not stand for re-election to Parliament, having said that the 2017 general election would be his last election.[19]

Personal life and honours

Fitzpatrick is married to Sheila Fitzpatrick.[20] He has two children from a previous marriage.[21]

In 2011, Fitzpatrick received the

Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights. In 2017, he was elected to the Court of the Shipwrights Livery[22] and made a Younger Brother at Trinity House.[citation needed] He is an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.[23]
In October 2021 he was awarded Freedom of the Borough of Tower Hamlets.

References

  1. ^ a b c Millward, David (13 August 2009). "Jim Fitzpatrick: profile of a sure-footed minister". London: The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  2. ^ a b "JIM FITZPATRICK MP APPOINTED PPS TO CHIEF SECRETARY ALAN MILBURN". HM Treasury. 24 September 1999. Archived from the original on 7 April 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  3. ^ www.cfoa.org.uk Archived 31 July 2012 at archive.today
  4. ^ "ODM of the United Kingdom: Fire Brigade Long Service and Good Conduct Medal". www.medals.org.uk.
  5. ^ "Shipping Minister opens PLA Centenary Exhibition". Archived from the original on 2 April 2012.
  6. ^ Jim Fitzpatrick MP re-visits Bangladesh Archived 18 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine Labour Party LBTH.
  7. ^ Caroline Gammell and Martin Beckford (14 August 2009). "Jim Fitzpatrick condemned for 'hijacking' Muslim wedding by bridegroom". London: The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 17 August 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  8. ^ Morris, Nigel (28 June 2010). "Oona King: 'I can appeal to Tories as well'". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  9. ^ Caroline Crampton (11 October 2010). "Shadow Cabinet: junior appointments in full". New Statesman. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Jim Fitzpatrick". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  11. ^ "2014 11 – Parliamentary Notes". Labour Affairs Magazine. November 2014.
  12. ^ "Shadow Minister resigns from Labour front bench over Syria vote". labourlist.org. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  13. ^ "Labour frontbencher opposed to Syria military action 'full stop' resigns". The Guardian. Press Association. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  14. ^ "Syria air strikes: MPs authorise UK action against Islamic State". BBC News. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  15. ^ "The 13 MPs who opposed snap general election". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  16. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  17. ^ "Labour's Jim Fitzpatrick comes out for the Brexit deal – but who will follow him?". www.newstatesman.com. 11 January 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  18. ^ "Calls for Labour MPs to face disciplinary action". 31 January 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  19. ^ Acton, Luke (25 June 2019). "Poplar and Limehouse MP Jim Fitzpatrick announces he won't stand for re-election". East London Advertiser. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  20. ^ Westminster, Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 27 July 2010 (pt 0004)". www.publications.parliament.uk.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ "Public Service Events". www.publicserviceevents.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012.
  22. ^ "Dockyard Notice 26 January 2017". The Worshipful Company of Shipwrights. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  23. ^ "National Secular Society Honorary Associates". National Secular Society. Retrieved 26 August 2019.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for Poplar and Canning Town
1997–2010 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Poplar and Limehouse
2010–2019 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
2003–2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for London
2005–2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
2008–2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of State for Farming and the Environment
2009–2010 		Succeeded by
James Paice
Party political offices
Preceded by Chair of the
London Labour Party

1990–1997 		Succeeded by
Chris Robbins
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