Terry Rooney

Terence Henry Rooney (born 11 November 1950) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bradford North from 1990^[1] to 2010.^[2] 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.^[2]

Early life and career

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.

Member of Parliament

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 (2003–05)
• 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 (2003–05)

Political interests

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 was Chair of the Amicus Parliamentary Group. 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.

Personal life

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; since 2010 there have been two Mormons in the Commons, Conservative MPs David Rutley and Craig Whittaker. Rooney was a member of Labour Friends of Israel.^[3]

References

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Terry Rooney
• ePolitix – Terry Rooney official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Terry Rooney MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com – Terry Rooney MP
• The Public Whip – Terry Rooney MP voting record
• – BBC profile