Tommy Graham

For other people named Thomas Graham, see Thomas Graham (disambiguation).
Tommy Graham
Member of Parliament
for Renfrewshire West
Renfrew West and Inverclyde (1987-1997)
In office
11 June 1987 – 7 June 2001
Preceded by Anna McCurley
Succeeded by Jim Sheridan
Personal details
Born (1943-12-05) December 5, 1943
Died 20 April 2015(2015-04-20) (aged 71)
Paisley
Nationality British
Political party Labour

Thomas 'Tommy' Graham (5 December 1943–20 April 2015) was a Scottish Labour Party politician. A native of Glasgow, Graham worked as an engineer before serving on Strathclyde Regional Council from 1978 to 1987.

He was elected in 1987 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Renfrew West and Inverclyde, defeating the Conservative incumbent Anna McCurley. After favourable boundary changes in 1997, he was elected for the new seat of Renfrewshire West.[1]

Following the suicide of his parliamentary colleague Gordon McMaster in July 1997, a long investigation was launched, since in his suicide note McMaster had accused Graham of smearing him that he had a homosexual affair with a 17-year-old employee of Graham's. In September 1998, Graham was expelled from the Labour Party for "bringing the party into disrepute", despite his categorical denials of any wrongdoing. He became an independent and described himself as a 'Scottish Labour' MP.

After his expulsion when Graham was asked where he would be sitting in the House of Commons, he replied, 'On my bum.' In fact, he actually sat on the opposition benches of the Commons but continued to vote with the government on many issues. It was thought that Graham would stand again at the 2001 general election, but he did not do so and quietly retired. His successor was Labour's Jim Sheridan. He died on 20 April 2015 following a brief illness.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "The ex-MPs who died in 2015 - part two". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  2. ↑ "Farewell to 'larger than life' Tommy as long serving MP dies in hospital". dailyrecord. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Anna McCurley		 Member of Parliament for Renfrew West and Inverclyde
1987–1997 		constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Renfrewshire West
1997–2001 		Succeeded by
Jim Sheridan
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