Roger Stott

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:One source Template:Infobox officeholder Roger Stott, Template:Postnominals (7 August 1943 – 8 August 1999) was a British Labour Party politician.

Biography

Stott was born in Rochdale, the first child of Richard and Edith Stott.<ref name = Times>Template:Cite news</ref> He was of Scottish descent. He went to school in Rochdale and when he was 15 he joined the Merchant Navy. He was educated at Ruskin College, Oxford.<ref name = Times/> He worked as an engineer for the Post Office and became local councillor for the Labour Party in Rochdale, where he was the Chair of the Housing Committee.<ref name = Times/> He married Irene Mills in 1969, and had two sons.<ref name = Times/> The marriage ended in 1982 and he married again for a second time to a teacher Gillian Pye on 30 March 1985; they had two children.<ref name = Times/> When Stott was not working, he loved to play sport, he was a great rugby league fan and went to watch it whenever he had the chance. He was also a great fan of cricket.

Political career

Stott represented the North West Region on the National Committee of the Labour Party Young Socialists in 1969, following Peter Kent. He contested Cheadle in 1970, coming third.

Stott was first elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament (MP) for Westhoughton at a by-election in 1973, following the death of the sitting Labour MP Tom Price. He was sponsored by the Post Office Engineering Union (POEU). He held that seat at three subsequent general elections before the constituency was abolished for the 1983 general election.

He was then elected MP for the Wigan constituency in Greater Manchester, and held that seat at the next three general elections. His death in office in 1999 made him the fourth Wigan MP in the twentieth century to die in office (the others being John Parkinson, Ronald Williams and William Foster).

Stott was a longtime joint chairman of the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding, and served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to James Callaghan during his administration. He later served as a junior opposition spokesman.

Death

Stott died in hospital in Wigan from cancer on the evening of 8 August 1999, at the age of 56.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He had been ill for some time. After his death many people, including Ian McCartney and Jack Cunningham, wrote tributes to him and the work he had done while he was MP.

External links

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