Clive Betts
Clive James Charles Betts (
January 13,
1950) is a
British politician, and the
the Labour Member of Parliament for
Sheffield Attercliffe.
Born in 1950 in
Sheffield, Clive Betts was educated at the Longley School in Sheffield and
King Edward VII School, Sheffield (
photo); and
Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he received a degree in
economics and
politics.
He joined the Labour Party in
1969 and joined the
Trades Union Congress in
1971 as an
economist. In
1973 he was appointed as an economist with
Derbyshire County Council, and moved to the
South Yorkshire County Council in
1974. Clive Betts stood for election to the house of commons in 1979 in Louth against the Tory MP Micheal Brotherton and lost.
Clive Betts had been elected as a councillor to Sheffield City Council in
1976, he was its deputy leader under
David Blunkett for a year in
1986, and succeeded Blunkett as the council leader in
1987. He left the council on his election to
Westminster. In
1986 he was appointed as an economist with
Rotherham Borough Council.
He was selected to contest the safe Labour seat of Sheffield Attercliffe following the retirement of the veteran Labour MP
Patrick Duffy. Clive Betts was easily elected as the Labour MP for Sheffield Attercliffe at the
1992 General Election. He made his
maiden speech on
May 6,
1992.
Clive Betts was made an
Opposition Whip under
Tony Blair in
1996, and after the
1997 General Election, he entered the government as an Assistant Whip, he was promoted in
1998 when he became a (full) Whip, with the title of Lord Commissioner to the Treasury. He was dropped from the government after the
2001 General Election.
Since
2002, Betts has been a Member of the
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Select Committee.
In
2003 he was suspended for 7 days from the House of Commons for an incident involving Jose Gasparo.[
1]
After the
2005 General Election he has also been a Member of the Finance and Services Select Committee. He plays
cricket and supports
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.*
Clive Betts official site
*
Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Clive Betts MP*
TheyWorkForYou.com - Clive Betts MP
