Hugh Gaffney
{{Short description|Scottish Labour politician}}
{{About|the Scottish politician|Americal General|Hugh Joseph Gaffey}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Hugh Gaffney
| image = Official portrait of Hugh Gaffney crop 2.jpg
| caption = Official portrait, 2017
| honorific-suffix =
| office = Member of Parliament
for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
| term_start = 8 June 2017
| term_end = 6 November 2019
| predecessor = Phil Boswell
| successor = Steven Bonnar
| office1 = Member of North Lanarkshire Council
for Thorniewood
| term_start1 = 4 May 2017
| term_end1 = 1 July 2019
| successor1 = Norah Mooney
| birthname = Hugh Lawrence Gaffney
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1963|08|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, Scotland
| party = Labour
| alma_mater =
}}
Hugh Lawrence Gaffney (born 10 August 1963){{cite web |title=Hugh Gaffney MP |url=http://myparliament.info/Member/4614 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819192356/http://myparliament.info/Member/4614 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=19 August 2017 | website = myparliament.info |publisher= MyParliament |access-date=15 September 2017}} is a Scottish Labour politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill from 2017 to 2019.{{cite web|author=Judith Tonner |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/coatbridge-election-result-labour-regain-10589381 |title=Coatbridge election result: Labour regain constituency from SNP |publisher=Daily Record |date=9 June 2017 |accessdate=9 June 2017}} He was a Member of North Lanarkshire Council from 2017 to 2019.
Early life
Gaffney was raised in Uddingston, South Lanarkshire; he has three brothers and two sisters. He is married and has three sons.{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/HughGaffneyMP/status/873531131316105218|title=After a hectic few days, I'm delighted to have been elected MP for the area I grew up in. Thanks to voters and activists for their support.pic.twitter.com/FTTMx3mdfp|last=MP|first=Hugh Gaffney|date=10 June 2017|website=@HughGaffneyMP|access-date=12 June 2017}} Since he was in his twenties, until being elected, Gaffney worked for Royal Mail and Parcelforce,LinkedIn and wore his former work uniform to Westminster on his first day in the House of Commons.{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/HughGaffneyMP/status/874270769139896322|title=Always thought it was important to remember your roots – so on my way to Westminster, I wore my old work shirt as a reminder. #ForTheManypic.twitter.com/EcYBbPpitb|last=MP|first=Hugh Gaffney|date=12 June 2017|website=@HughGaffneyMP|access-date=12 June 2017}}
Political career
Gaffney was elected to the North Lanarkshire Council in 2017,{{Who's Who | title=Gaffney, Hugh Lawrence| id = U289482| volume = 2018 | edition = February 2018 online | access-date = 13 February 2018 }} representing the Thorniewood ward.{{cite web|author=Mike McQuaid |url=http://www.motherwelltimes.co.uk/news/politics/mailman-hugh-delivers-for-labour-1-4471222 |title=Mailman Hugh delivers for Labour |publisher=Motherwell Times |date=9 June 2017 |accessdate=12 June 2017}} In the 2017 general election, he stood as the Labour candidate for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill, defeating the incumbent Scottish National Party MP Phil Boswell.
In the 2017 Scottish Labour leadership election, Gaffney supported Richard Leonard to succeed Kezia Dugdale to be Scottish Labour leader over the alternative candidate Anas Sarwar; Gaffney's own Constituency Labour Party (CLP) took a firm stance on supporting Leonard's campaign.{{Cite web|title=Delighted to have been endorsed by my friend Hugh Gaffney MP|url=https://www.facebook.com/richardleonardmsp/posts/1413318408724105|access-date=2019-06-05|website=Richard Leonard MSP|language=en}}
In January 2018, Gaffney made jokes at a Labour Students Burns supper in which he used the phrases "bent" to describe gay people and "chinky" to describe Chinese food.{{Cite news|date=2018-02-07|title=Labour MP sorry for 'offensive' remarks|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-42975528|access-date=2019-06-05}}{{Cite news|date=2018-02-16|title=Chinese New Year Should Not Be The Only Time You See East Asians In The Mainstream Media|language=en|work=Huffington Post UK|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/chinese-new-year-should-not-be-the-only-time-you-see-east-asians-in-the-mainstream-media_uk_5a868f89e4b05c2bcac96314|access-date=2019-06-05}} He was not suspended from the Labour Party but instead given mandatory equality and diversity training.{{Cite news|last=Philip|first=Andy|date=2018-02-09|title=Richard Leonard dismisses MP suspension calls after 'deeply offensive' remarks|work=Daily Record|url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/richard-leonard-dismisses-mp-suspension-11994704|access-date=2019-06-05}} He later also apologised for the jokes.
Gaffney resigned as a councillor in North Lanarkshire Council in July 2019, triggering a council by-election. In his resignation letter to the council's chief executive, Gaffney said he had been privileged to serve the community into which he had been born and bred.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-48832425|title=Scots Labour MP triggers council by-election|date=2019-07-01|access-date=2019-07-12|language=en-GB}}
In the general election of December 2019, he was defeated by Steven Bonnar of the SNP.
Personal life
In 2010 Gaffney was one of the founding members of the Keir Hardie Society, alongside Scottish author and longtime Labour member Bob Holman and former Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, with whom Gaffney has been friends since the 1990s. Gaffney supports Albion Rovers Football Club.{{Cite web |last=Pirie |first=Mark |date=2019-04-26 |title=Famous fans and club legends back Albion Rovers ahead of crunch Berwick clash |url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/mon-rovers-famous-fans-club-14549275 |access-date=2023-10-06 |website=Daily Record |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{UK MP links |parliament=hugh-gaffney/4614 |publicwhip=Hugh_Gaffney |theywork=hugh_gaffney}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=Phil Boswell}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament
for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill|years=2017–2019}}
{{s-aft|after=Steven Bonnar}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaffney, Hugh}}
Category:Scottish Labour councillors
Category:People from Uddingston