Tommy Graham (Scottish politician)

Thomas Graham (5 December 1943 – 16 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.

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 – 14 May 2001
Preceded byAnna McCurley
Succeeded byJim Sheridan
Personal details
Born(1943-12-05)5 December 1943
Died16 April 2015(2015-04-16) (aged 71)
Paisley
NationalityBritish
Political partyLabour

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

Early years

Graham previously worked for Rolls-Royce as an engineer and as a shop steward for the engineering union AEEU.[2]

McMaster suicide

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, called Scott Anderson. 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.

Following 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.[3]

References
  1. "The ex-MPs who died in 2015 - part two". 27 December 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  2. James, Steve (17 September 1998). "What is behind Labour's expulsion of Scottish MP Tommy Graham?". World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  3. "Farewell to 'larger than life' Tommy as long serving MP dies in hospital". dailyrecord. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
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