Robert William 'Bob' Ainsworth (b.
19 June 1952) is the
British Member of Parliament for
Coventry North East. He is a member of the
Labour Party. He is a the
Minister of State at the
Ministry of Defence.
Born in
Coventry and attended the local Foxford Comprehensive School, he first became active in politics as a trade unionist at the
Jaguar Cars plant in Coventry, where he worked from 1971. He had served in many capacities within the
Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union there, including four years as the Branch President. During 1982 and 1983 he was a candidate member of the
International Marxist Group, but he was never a full member of that organisation. In 1984 he was elected to the
Coventry City Council, and was its deputy leader from 1989–1992. He became MP for Coventry North East in 1992 after the sitting MP,
John Hughes, was de-selected by the
Constituency Labour Party. He stepped down from the city council the following year.
He has been an ever present member of
Tony Blair's government. From 1997–2001 he served as a
Lord Commissioner to the Treasury. In January 2001 the
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland,
Peter Mandelson resigned from government over what had become known as the
Hinduja Scandal, in the reshuffle which followed, Ainsworth was promoted as the
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the former
Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions. Following the
2001 General Election he was moved sideways to the
Home Office where he remained until 2003 when he became the Deputy Chief Whip also known as the
Treasurer of the Household. On
29 June 2007 he was replaced by
Nick Brown and moved to become the new
Minister of State for
Defence, replacing
Adam Ingram.
Bugga!
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