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| honorific-prefix =
| honorific-prefix =
| name = John Mason
| name = John Mason
| honorific-suffix = [[Member of Parliament#United Kingdom|MP]]
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Replace this image male.svg
| image = Replace this image male.svg
| constituency_MP = [[Glasgow East (UK Parliament constituency)|Glasgow East]]
| constituency_MP = [[Glasgow East (UK Parliament constituency)|Glasgow East]]
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| successor =
| successor =
| term_start = 24 July 2008<ref name="parliament"/>
| term_start = 24 July 2008<ref name="parliament"/>
| term_end =
| term_end = 6 May 2010
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|05|15|df=yes}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|05|15|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Rutherglen]], Scotland
| birth_place = [[Rutherglen]], Scotland

Revision as of 03:29, 7 May 2010

John Mason
Member of Parliament
for Glasgow East
In office
24 July 2008[1] – 6 May 2010
Preceded byDavid Marshall
Majority365 (1.4%)
Personal details
Born (1957-05-15) 15 May 1957 (age 67)
Rutherglen, Scotland
Political partyScottish National Party
ProfessionAccountant
WebsiteOfficial website

John Fingland Mason (born 1957) is the Scottish National Party (SNP) Westminster MP for Glasgow East constituency in Scotland.

Background

Originally from Rutherglen, Mason has lived in the East End of Glasgow for 18 years. His father was an electrical engineer and his mother a teacher.

He studied Accounting[2] at the University of Glasgow becoming an ICAS Chartered Accountant.

He worked for housing associations, nursing homes, and with a charity in London. He also spent three years in Kathmandu, Nepal with an NGO (United Mission to Nepal) representing churches from across the world. Mason is opposed to abortion.[3]

Mason is a supporter of Scottish First Division football team Clyde and his other interests include involvement in Easterhouse Baptist Church, hill-walking, camping and reading (Scottish history).[4]

Councillor

Mason has lived in the East End of Glasgow for the past 20 years and was elected as the councillor for the Garrowhill ward in Glasgow City Council at a by-election in 1998 and was re-elected in 1999 and 2003. [5]

He was elected in 2007 as the councillor for the new ward of Baillieston, achieving the highest personal vote of any councillor in Glasgow.

He rose to become the Leader of the Opposition in Glasgow City Council and led the SNP Council Group on the majority Labour-run Council between 1999 and 2008. He was the SNP's longest serving Glasgow councillor and during his term he led many protests against Labour's moves to weaken effective opposition by altering the council committee system. [5]

In his ward, he attended a wide variety of community groups, including Garrowhill and Swinton Community Councils, local school boards, tenants association, and Garrowhill Action Partnership. He was also on the management committee of Tenant Controlled Housing which aims to give local tenants control of their housing in place of Glasgow Housing Association (GHA).[6]

Elected as Member of Parliament

On 30 June 2008 David Marshall, Labour MP for Glasgow East, resigned from the UK Parliament on the grounds of "ill-health",[7][8] thereby triggering a by-election.[9] [10] In the following days after Marshall's resignation, controversies emerged surrounding his Commons expenses, which included allegations of payments to family members. [11][12][13]

The decision by Labour to call a quick by-election (set for 24 July 2008) was partly attributed to Labour's troubled finances and fears of an SNP campaign building up enough momentum.[14]John Mason was selected as SNP candidate for Glasgow East on July 3.[15]

After few weeks of major campaigning by both Labour and the SNP, John Mason won the by-election in a surprise victory, defeating the Labour candidate Margaret Curran, MSP for Glasgow Baillieston.[16][17] Mason overturned a Labour majority of more than 13,500 to win the seat on a swing of more than 22%. It was Labour's third safest seat in Scotland.[18]

As promised during the by-election, Mason resigned his council seat immediately after his election as MP.[19] The subsequent by-election was won by the SNP.

Mason is the SNP's Westminster spokesperson on Work and Pensions (2008-).[1]

He also sat on the Select Committee on Administration (2009-).[1]

In an interview with the Guardian newspaper in April 2010, when questioned about his beliefs and how that could conflict with the rights of others in the UK, Mason acknowledged the difficulty that this issue raised with him, informing the newspaper that he had been warned to leave this issue alone by his party,[20]

On 7 April 2010 he had the distinction of being the last MP to ask a question of Gordon Brown in Prime Minister's Questions of that Parliament.

References

  1. ^ a b c http://biographies.parliament.uk/parliament/default.asp?id=73286
  2. ^ http://www.gla.ac.uk/accountingfinance
  3. ^ Abortion and embryo controversies back in spotlight for final days of campaign, The Scotsman, 19 July 2008
  4. ^ Mason, John (13 December 2005). "Councillor John Mason; Autobiography". Glasgow City Council. Archived from the original on 2007-05-10. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  5. ^ a b http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jul/04/byelections.scotland
  6. ^ http://www.glasgowsnp.org/Council_candidates_2007/
  7. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/struggle-for-survival-in-labour-heartland-865816.html
  8. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/2207911/Labour-MP-David-Marshall-to-quit-causing-Brown-more-by-election-woe.html
  9. ^ "By-election looms after MP quits". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 2008-06-30. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
  10. ^ http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/849966/resigning-was-the-best-thing-david-marshall-ever-did-for-glasgow-east.thtml
  11. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1030240/Labours-Marshall-shock-resignation-rumours-expenses.html
  12. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1030201/Labour-mired-sleaze-claims-Scots-leader-quits-MPs-accused-homes-tax-dodge.html
  13. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1032385/Labour-MP-spent-500-000-taxpayers-money-running-office-home-staffed-wife.html
  14. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/2213548/Labour-Gordon-Browns-crisis-deepens-as-Wendy-Alexander-resigns.html
  15. ^ http://www.snp.org/node/14017
  16. ^ Labour concedes defeat in Glasgow East by-election, The Herald, 25 July 2008
  17. ^ SNP stuns Labour in Glasgow East, BBC News, 25 July 2008
  18. ^ A broken rule of thumb in Glasgow
  19. ^ http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/mason-calls-time-on-council-career-1.961136
  20. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/apr/20/religion-scotland-election
Coverage of the Glasgow East by-election, 2008
Parliament of the United Kingdom

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