Peter Dowd

Peter Christopher Dowd[1] (born 20 June 1957) is a British Labour Party politician. He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bootle in May 2015.[2] From 2017 to 2020, he served as the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

For the Australian professor of mining engineering, see Peter Dowd (academic).

Peter Dowd

MP
Dowd in 2017
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In office
9 February 2017 – 6 April 2020
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byRebecca Long-Bailey
Succeeded byBridget Phillipson
Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury
In office
6 October 2016 – 9 February 2017
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byRob Marris
Succeeded byAnneliese Dodds
Member of Parliament
for Bootle
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byJoe Benton
Majority34,556 (70.2%)
Personal details
Born
Peter Christopher Dowd

(1957-06-20) 20 June 1957
Bootle, England
Political partyLabour
Alma materHugh Baird College
University of Liverpool
Lancaster University

Early life

Dowd was born and raised in the heart of Bootle into a large working class Labour family with a long history of activism in the party. Educated at local primary and secondary schools and college, he gained undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from Liverpool and Lancaster Universities and other postgraduate qualifications.

Political career

Dowd's great-uncles, Simon and Peter Mahon, were Labour MPs. Dowd was a Merseyside County Councillor from 1981-1986 for Bootle number 1 ward (Hawthorne) which is around the Hawthorne road area of Bootle and Derby park area. He became a Sefton Borough councillor in 1991 when he replaced Joe Benton for the Derby ward.

He was a councillor for Derby from 1991 to 2003, before he moved to St Oswalds ward (covering Netherton and Marion Square). He was also chair of Merseyside Fire Authority in the 1990s. Dowd was elected Sefton Labour group leader after the death of Dave Martin, and was leader until 2015. He was consequently elected Leader of Sefton Council from 2011 to 2015.

In 2015, he was elected to the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Bootle, which forms part of the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton where Dowd was in local government. Bootle has traditionally been one of the safest Labour seats in the UK; Dowd succeeded Benton as the seat's MP.

Dowd was one of 48 Labour MPs to vote against the second reading of the government's Welfare Reform and Work Bill, which included £12bn in welfare cuts, on 20 July 2015. In doing so they defied the party's leadership, which had ordered MPs to abstain.[3]

In February 2017, he was appointed to the position of Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.[4]

Personal life

On 6 October 2020, Dowd's daughter, Jennie, died at the age of 31 following a cycling collision.[5]

References
  1. "No. 61961". The London Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 11778.
  2. "Bootle parliamentary constituency - Election 2015". BBC News. 1 January 1970. Archived from the original on 6 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  3. "Welfare cuts backed amid Labour revolt". BBC News. 21 July 2015. Archived from the original on 30 August 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  4. @jeremycorbyn (9 February 2017). "I'm pleased to announce appointments to Labour's Shadow Cabinet @RLong_Bailey @SueHayman1 @Rees4Neath @Peter_Dowd" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. O'Reilly, Luke (14 October 2020). "Sir Keir Starmer leads tributes to daughter of Labour MP killed in crash on Merseyside". Evening Standard. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Joe Benton		 Member of Parliament
for Bootle
2015–present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Rebecca Long-Bailey		 Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
2017–present		 Incumbent
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