Barry Sheerman

Barry Sheerman MP
Official portrait, 2020
Chair of the Children, Schools and Families Select Committeea
In office 16 July 2001 – 19 June 2010
Preceded by	Malcolm Wicks
Succeeded by	Graham Stuart (Education)
Shadow Minister for Disabled People's Rights
In office 30 July 1992 – 21 October 1994
Leader	John Smith
Preceded by	Alf Dubs
Succeeded by	Tom Clarke (1995)
Shadow Minister for Home Affairs
In office 11 November 1988 – 30 July 1992
Leader	Neil Kinnock
Preceded by	Clive Soley
Succeeded by	Joan Ruddock
Shadow Minister for Employment and Training
In office 3 November 1983 – 11 November 1988
Leader	Neil Kinnock
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Derek Fatchett
Member of Parliament for Huddersfield Huddersfield East (1979–83)
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 May 1979
Preceded by	Joseph Mallalieu
Majority	4,936 (11.8%)
Personal details
Born	(1940-08-17) 17 August 1940 (age 81) Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour Co-op
Spouse(s)	Pamela Brenchley ​ (m. 1965)​
Children	4
Alma mater	London School of Economics University of London
Profession	Academic
Website	barrysheerman.co.uk
^ Education and Skills (2001–07).

Barry John Sheerman (born 17 August 1940) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Huddersfield, previously Huddersfield East, since 1979. He is currently the second longest serving member of the House of Commons, and is next in line to become Father of the House. He is also Labour's longest consecutively serving MP in the current parliament.

Early life[]

Sheerman was born on 17 August 1940 in Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex and went to Hampton Grammar School (which became the independent Hampton School in 1975) on Hanworth Road in Hampton, then on to Kingston Technical College.

He graduated from the London School of Economics (BSc Economics 1965) and from the University of London (MSc 1967). He became a lecturer at the University of Wales, Swansea in 1966 and remained there until his election to parliament in 1979.

Parliamentary career[]

Sheerman unsuccessfully contested Taunton in the October 1974 election, and became the MP for Huddersfield East from 1979 to 1983 and for Huddersfield since the 1983 general election. Sheerman has held the Huddersfield seats since, with his majority as low as 3,955 in 1983 and as high as 15,848 in the 1997 general election. In the most recent general election in 2019, Sheerman's majority was decreased to 4,937 with a swing of 7.8% to the Conservatives, in line with many other seats in Yorkshire.

As the shadow Employment and Training minister from 1983 to 1988, Sheerman was the opposition spokesperson for post-16 education in the both the education and employment teams. He served as a shadow Home Affairs minister from 1988 to 1992, focusing on police, prisons and probation as the Deputy to Roy Hattersley, the Shadow Home Secretary. Following John Smith's election as Labour leader, he served as the shadow Disabled People's Rights minister from 1992 to 1994.^[1][2]

He chaired the House of Commons Education and Skills select committee from 2001 to 2007, and remained chair of the renamed Children, Schools and Families Select Committee from 2007 to 2010. Under his chairmanship, the committee was often critical of government policy. Sheerman warned the government not to "lose their nerve" over reforming secondary education exam system back in 2005,^[3] and in 2006 said it was "naive" to allocate local school places through parental choice, with lottery selection being the best way to avoid "bloody awful" schools existing as a side effect of parents pushing for their children to study elsewhere.^[4] During Sheerman's chairmanship, the select committee produced reports on subjects such as home education, education outside the classroom, and young people not in education employment or training (NEETs).

Sheerman consistently voted for the Iraq war,^[5] and has nearly always voted to block subsequent independent investigations into the war, with the most recent such vote in 2016.^[6] He is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.^[7]

He is Chair of the Labour Forum for Criminal Justice and of the Cross-Party Advisory Group on Preparation for European Monetary Union. Outside parliament, he is Chair of the National Educational Research and Development Trust, and a trustee of the National Children's Centre. His political interests are listed as trade, industry, finance, further education, education, economy, the European Union, South America and the United States.

In June 2009, Sheerman called for a secret ballot of the Parliamentary Labour Party on whether Gordon Brown should continue in office as prime minister. This followed widespread criticism of Brown's performance and the resignation of Cabinet member James Purnell. Sheerman later reassured his local party chairman that he had not directly called for Brown's resignation.^[8]

Sheerman called for a London catering company to employ "English workers" in a Twitter exchange on 23 April 2012.^[9] The comments reached the national press. In response Sheerman said the objection to him speaking out was "pernicious political correctness".^[10]

He is founder and chairman of Policy Connect, a cross-party, not-for-profit based in London, where he regularly chairs seminar events and research inquiries. He is also chair and co-chair of a number of official All-Party Parliamentary Groups, including the All-Party Parliamentary Carbon Monoxide Group, the All-Party Parliamentary Manufacturing Group, and the Bullying All-Party Group. Since 2012, Sheerman has led the Schools to Work Commission, the Labour Party's policy review on the transition from education to employment.^[11]

In June 2015, Sheerman caused controversy when he argued that lowering the voting age to 16, by reducing childhood, might raise the risk of sexual abuse.^[12]

He supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election.^[13] Sheerman supported the UK remaining within the EU in the 2016 membership referendum.^[14]

Personal life[]

Barry Sheerman married Pamela Elizabeth Brenchley in 1965 in north Surrey, with whom he has one son (born in 1978) and three daughters (born in 1970, 1972 and 1981). He lives in a flat in Almondbury, Huddersfield.^[15] His recreations include walking, biography and films.

In 1993, Sheerman co-wrote, with Isaac Kramnick, a biography of the Labour intellectual Harold Laski.^[16]

References[]

External links[]

• MP Homepage
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Ask Aristotle
• BBC Politics
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• NEET: Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training Children, Schools and Families Committee
• The Review of Elective Home Education Children, Schools and Families Committee
• Transforming Education Outside the Classroom Children, Schools and Families Committee

News items[]

• Appointments in October 2009
• Single mothers hostels in September 2009
• School bully in November 2006
• Choice of schools in August 2006
• Gas safety in February 2006
• Obsession with A levels in February 2005
• Women are brighter than men in December 2004

Video clips[]

• 2020 Vision on the Environment in schools in November 2009 on YouTube
• Money skills at the Galpharm Stadium in October 2009 on YouTube
• Religion in schools on Teachers TV in January 2008 on YouTube