Gordon Prentice

He was educated at the independent George Heriot's School in Edinburgh, and the University of Glasgow, where he received an MA in Politics and Economics in 1972, and was president of the union. From 1982 to 1992, he worked for the Labour Party Policy Directorate.

Prentice was first elected at the 1992 General Election, for Pendle. Prior to becoming the Member of Parliament, he was the council leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council.[1][2] He was one of the few Labour MPs not to endorse Gordon Brown for the 2007 Labour Leadership, instead nominating left winger John McDonnell. He became the second MP, after Graham Stringer, to call for Gordon Brown to resign on 28 July 2008.[3]

He was a member of the Public Administration Committee during the 2005–10 Parliament. He began his membership on 14 July 2005. He claimed that an alliance with the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats had “deep seated antipathy” in January 1999, when the two parties engaged in talks on constitutional issues.[4]

He had the support of around one hundred MPs in May 2000 regarding the hunting ban, and vowed not to abandon his tabled amendment unless the government gave a “cast iron statement” which promised to introduce legislation before the forthcoming election, which didn’t take place until November 2004, with it coming into force in February 2005.[5]

He revealed in July 2008, how he became victim to credit card fraud two months prior, in Yorkshire, and how he lost £3,500 after his card was copied with the use of the ‘skimming’ device.[6]

He once stated that members of the British Royal Family should register their financial and business interests like MPs, in the wake of the affair involving Sophie Wessex, in April 2001.[7] He also claimed he was “shocked by revelations” involving her.[8] Soon after leaving office, in May 2010, he described the moment he was “nearly killed” by a sledgehammer wielding man in August 1998.[9] He also announced he wouldn’t stand in Pendle in the next election, stating he was now a private citizen.[10]

He married Bridget Prentice (née Corr), later also an MP, whom he had met while at university on 20 December 1975. The couple divorced in 2000.[11]

He had lived in Newmarket, Ontario for almost three years by January 2014, therefore permanently leaving the United Kingdom, which he continues to do so to this day.[12]

• Ask Aristotle: Gordon Prentice MP, Guardian Unlimited Politics
• Gordon Prentice MP, TheyWorkForYou.com
• BBC Politics page