David Crausby

David Crausby was born in Bury, Lancashire and was educated locally at the Derby Grammar School (now Derby High School) in Bury and at Bury Technical College. He began a career as a turner, becoming an apprentice centre lathe turner in 1962, and later became works convenor for the Amalgamated Engineering Union at Beloit Walmsleys Ltd, Bolton. He remained in this position until his election to the House of Commons in 1997. He was elected a councillor in 1979 to the then Bury District Council, and served until 1992.

He contested the marginal Bury North seat, having been just elected as Chairman of the local constituency Labour Party, at the 1987 general election but was defeated by the sitting Conservative MP Alistair Burt by 6,911 votes. He contested the Conservative-held marginal seat of Bolton North East at the 1992 general election where the sitting MP Peter Thurnham was defending an 813 majority. Bolton North East became more marginal with Thurnham retaining the seat by just 185 votes.

Thurnham retired at the 1997 general election, having crossed the floor to join the Liberal Democrats on 12 October 1996. Crausby defeated the new Conservative candidate, Rob Wilson, by 12,669 votes. He made his maiden speech on 17 July 1997, in which he remembered the inventor of the spinning mule Samuel Crompton who was born in Bolton.[1]

Crausby remained the MP there from 1997 until 2019. His majority fell to 8,422 in 2001 and 4,103 in 2005. In the 2010 and 2015 general elections his majorities were 4,084 and 4,377. In the 2017 general election he was again returned, with a majority of 3,797.[2] He lost his seat to the Conservative Mark Logan by 378 votes in the 2019 general election.

In parliament, Crausby joined the Social Security Select committee in 1999, and was a member of the Defence Select Committee from the 2001 general election to 2010. He voted against the Iraq War in 2003.[3][4]

In 2010 he became a member of the Speaker's Panel of Chairs [5] and has overseen many debates in the Commons on behalf of the speaker, including the historic European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.[6]

Crausby has a long-standing interest in improving railways in his constituency. He lobbied the last Labour government to address overcrowding and opposed the idea of a Greater Manchester congestion charge because of the lack of viable alternatives.[7] He campaigned to retain the Preston-Bolton-Manchester electrification project which was at risk of cancellation after Labour lost the 2010 election.[8] He has continued to lobby the Government through letters,[9] petitions,[10] and Parliamentary debates.[11] In 2018 Crausby led a debate on Northern trains and called for the resignation of Transport Secretary Chris Grayling after the disastrous May timetable caused mass disruption across the North of England.[12]

Crausby has also been involved in international politics. He represented the UK as a member of the delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly from 2005–2015[13][14] and the UK delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2013 to 2017.[15]

In 2011, Crausby won The House magazine's Commons Speech of the Year, for his speech on bringing the military covenant into law, beating the then Prime Minister, David Cameron.[16]

In 2013, he became one of the few Labour MPs to vote against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, which eventually was passed with cross-party support.[17]

Crausby was knighted in the 2017 New Year Honours.[18] Crausby lost his seat at the 2019 General Election.

He married Enid Anne Noon in 1965 in Bury and they have two sons. His eldest son, also named David, is a commercial and editorial photographer; his work is represented by several agencies including Getty Images and Alamy. His son is currently based in Germany.

• David Crausby MP's website
• 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
• Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: David Crausby MP
• Official YouTube channel