Tom Blenkinsop
Blenkinsop in 2010
Member of Parliament
for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
In office
6 May 2010 – 3 May 2017
Preceded byAshok Kumar
Succeeded bySimon Clarke
Personal details
Born
Thomas Francis Blenkinsop

(1980-08-14) 14 August 1980
Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England
Political partyLabour
Alma materTeesside University (BSc)
University of Warwick (MA)

Thomas Francis Blenkinsop (born 14 August 1980) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland from 2010 to 2017.

Early life and career

Thomas Francis Blenkinsop was born on 14 August 1980 in Middlesbrough and brought-up in Marton.[1][2][3] He was educated at St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Primary School in Coulby Newham, Newlands School FCJ, and St. Mary's Sixth Form College in Saltersgill.[3] He graduated from Teesside University with a BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and the University of Warwick with an MA in Continental philosophy.[2]

Blenkinsop worked as a constituency researcher for Ashok Kumar, Labour MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, from 2002 to 2008. He became a campaign manager for the Community Trade Union in 2008 and continued in the role until his election to Parliament in 2010.[3][4]

Parliamentary career

Blenkinsop was selected as the Labour candidate for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland in April 2010, following Ashok Kumar's unexpected death the previous month. He was elected at the May 2010 general election, albeit with a majority significantly reduced to under 2,000.[5]

In his first Parliamentary term, he was a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee from 2010 to 2012, the Standards and Privileges Committee from 2010 to 2011 and the Treasury Select Committee in 2011.[6] He joined the opposition front bench under the leadership of Ed Miliband, serving as a whip from 2011 to 2015.

He was re-elected with a marginally increased majority at the 2015 general election. During his second Parliamentary term, he was a member of the Energy and Climate Change Committee from 2015 to 2016, the Privileges Committee from 2015 to 2017, the Standards Committee from 2015 to 2017, and the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee from 2016 to 2017.[6] Blenkinsop signed up to the Army Reserve in 2017.[7]

Blenkinsop supported Liz Kendall in the 2015 Labour leadership election and Owen Smith in the 2016 leadership election.[8][9] After he called for party leader Jeremy Corbyn's resignation in 2016, a Labour member was suspended and investigated by the police for allegedly threatening him.[10]

After the calling of the 2017 general election, Blenkinsop announced that we would not seek re-election as an MP as he could not campaign for Labour whilst Corbyn served as party leader.[11][12]

Post-parliamentary career

Blenkinsop returned to the Community union as a London-based project manager after leaving Parliament,[13] and became a public affairs advisor for the Federation of Small Business in 2020.[14]

Personal life

Blenkinsop married Victoria Emtage in 2007.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8743.
  2. 1 2 3 "BLENKINSOP, Thomas Francis". Who's Who (Nov 2016 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 14 April 2017. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. 1 2 3 "Labour Party select Ashok Kumar replacement". Evening Gazette. 5 April 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  4. ↑ Hetherington, Graeme (5 April 2010). "Tom Blenkinsop, a campaign manager with steel union Community, chosen". Northern Echo. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "Middlesbrough South & Cleveland East – Election 2010". BBC News. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  6. 1 2 "Tom Blenkinsop MP". House of Commons. UK Parliament. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "From the benches to the ranks for Middlesbrough MP". ITV News. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  8. ↑ Blenkinsop, Tom (30 August 2015). "To stop Jeremy Corbyn, I am giving my second preference to Andy Burnham". New Statesman. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "Tom Blenkinsop: Jeremy Corbyn is turning Labour into a 'kumbaya' singing party". Evening Gazette. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  10. ↑ "Corbyn critic MP Tom Blenkinsop in Twitter threat probe". BBC News. BBC. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  11. ↑ Mortimer, Caroline (18 April 2017). "Labour MPs announce they are standing down as Theresa May calls for a snap general election". The Independent. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  12. ↑ "General Election: Middlesbrough South MP Tom Blenkinsop won't stand". BBC News. 18 April 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  13. ↑ Brown, Mike (21 June 2017). "Tom Blenkinsop lands first job since quitting as MP". TeessideLive. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  14. ↑ "Tom Blenkinsop". Linkedin. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
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