Terry Rooney
Encyclopedia
Terence Henry Rooney is a British
Labour Party
politician, who was the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Bradford North
from 1990
to 2010. His constituency was abolished in boundary changes for the 2010 general election, when he was defeated in the new Bradford East
seat by the Liberal Democrat
candidate David Ward
.
Rooney has lived all his life in Bradford. He has been a local Councillor and was Deputy Leader of the Council until winning the Bradford North seat at a by-election in 1990
. (The Bradford North constituency covered the communities in the Bolton, Bradford Moor, Bowling, Eccleshill, Idle and Undercliffe areas of the City, as well as a large part of the City Centre. The communities are diverse in terms of ethnicity, age and economic status.)
Terry Rooney was born in Bradford in 1950. He went to Buttershaw Comprehensive School and then to Bradford College where he was awarded a Diploma in Higher Education. Before being elected as the Member of Parliament for Bradford North in a by-election in November 1990, Terry was a welfare rights adviser at the Bierley Community Centre. He was also a Bradford City Councillor from 1983-91 where he was Chair of the Labour Group from 1988-91 and Deputy Leader of the Council from 1990-91.
In Parliament, Rooney was Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee from 2005 to 2010. Other posts he held included:
Rooney's main political interests are the welfare state, public sector housing, poverty and industrial relations. He is an active trade unionist and a member of Amicus and UNISON. He is Chair of the Amicus Parliamentary Group. He has a comprehensive knowledge of the nation's welfare system. Rooney is a firm supporter of the retention of first-past-the-post for Westminster and has also supported more directly redistributive tax and spend policies.
He has stated: “You do things because they’re right. It’s not necessarily a conscious action, it’s just a natural consequence. It’s really an extension of the idea that what you are dictates what you do, not the other way around.”
He is married to Susanne Rooney and they have three children and nine grandchildren.
Rooney is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints- also known as Mormons. Until his defeat in 2010 he was the only member of the LDS church in the British Parliament. Rooney was/is a member of Labour Friends of Israel. Whether he still is or not - is unclear. However, he no longer appears on the Labour Friends of Israel website.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician, who was the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Bradford North
Bradford North (UK Parliament constituency)
Bradford North was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Until it was abolished for the 2010 general election, it elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
from 1990
Bradford North by-election, 1990
A by-election was held for the United Kingdom House of Commons for one Member of Parliament in the constituency of Bradford North, in West Yorkshire, England, on 9 November 1990. This was due to the death of former MP Pat Wall....
to 2010. His constituency was abolished in boundary changes for the 2010 general election, when he was defeated in the new Bradford East
Bradford East (UK Parliament constituency)
Bradford East is the name of a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency originally existed from 1885 to 1974 and was recreated for the 2010 general election, electing one Member of Parliament by the first past the post...
seat by the Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
candidate David Ward
David Ward (politician)
David Ward is a British Liberal Democrat politician, who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament for Bradford East.-Early life:He attended Boston Grammar School in Boston, Lincolnshire...
.
Rooney has lived all his life in Bradford. He has been a local Councillor and was Deputy Leader of the Council until winning the Bradford North seat at a by-election in 1990
Bradford North by-election, 1990
A by-election was held for the United Kingdom House of Commons for one Member of Parliament in the constituency of Bradford North, in West Yorkshire, England, on 9 November 1990. This was due to the death of former MP Pat Wall....
. (The Bradford North constituency covered the communities in the Bolton, Bradford Moor, Bowling, Eccleshill, Idle and Undercliffe areas of the City, as well as a large part of the City Centre. The communities are diverse in terms of ethnicity, age and economic status.)
Terry Rooney was born in Bradford in 1950. He went to Buttershaw Comprehensive School and then to Bradford College where he was awarded a Diploma in Higher Education. Before being elected as the Member of Parliament for Bradford North in a by-election in November 1990, Terry was a welfare rights adviser at the Bierley Community Centre. He was also a Bradford City Councillor from 1983-91 where he was Chair of the Labour Group from 1988-91 and Deputy Leader of the Council from 1990-91.
In Parliament, Rooney was Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee from 2005 to 2010. Other posts he held included:
- Hon Secretary of the Yorkshire Group of Labour MPs (1991-2001)
- Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party Work and Pensions Committee (1990-2006)
- Member of the Broadcasting Committee (1991-1997)
- Member of the Joint Committee on House of Lords Reform (2003-5)
- Member of the Liaison Committee (2005- )
- Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for the Environment (1997-2001)
- Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Housing (2003-5)
Rooney's main political interests are the welfare state, public sector housing, poverty and industrial relations. He is an active trade unionist and a member of Amicus and UNISON. He is Chair of the Amicus Parliamentary Group. He has a comprehensive knowledge of the nation's welfare system. Rooney is a firm supporter of the retention of first-past-the-post for Westminster and has also supported more directly redistributive tax and spend policies.
He has stated: “You do things because they’re right. It’s not necessarily a conscious action, it’s just a natural consequence. It’s really an extension of the idea that what you are dictates what you do, not the other way around.”
He is married to Susanne Rooney and they have three children and nine grandchildren.
Rooney is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints- also known as Mormons. Until his defeat in 2010 he was the only member of the LDS church in the British Parliament. Rooney was/is a member of Labour Friends of Israel. Whether he still is or not - is unclear. However, he no longer appears on the Labour Friends of Israel website.