Ian Lavery (born 6 January 1963) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Blyth and Ashington from 2024. He was previously the MP for Wansbeck from 2010 to 2024. Lavery served as the chair of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn from 2017 to 2020, and was the president of the National Union of Mineworkers from 2002 to 2010. He is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus.{{cite web |title=Socialist Campaign Group Twitter |url=https://twitter.com/i/lists/1220096981848162305 |access-date=13 May 2020 |website=Twitter}}

Early life and education

Ian Lavery was born on 6 January 1963 in Newcastle upon Tyne to parents John Robert Lavery and his wife, Patricia.{{cite web|title=Lavery, Ian (born 6 January 1963), MP (Lab) Wansbeck, since 2010|url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-251554|access-date=16 August 2020|website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO|year=2010|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U251554|isbn=978-0-19-954088-4}} After leaving East School, Lavery began a Youth Training Scheme before working in the construction industry. Following a recruitment campaign by the National Coal Board, he started work at the Lynemouth colliery in January 1980.{{cite web|url=http://www.thegreatdebate.org.uk/IanLavery.html|title=The Great Debate Contributors: Ian Lavery|work=thegreatdebate.org.uk|access-date=10 February 2015}} In July 1980, Lavery started a mining craft apprenticeship, transferring to Ellington Colliery in 1981 and attended New College Durham, receiving a Higher National Certificate in mining engineering."Lavery, Ian, (born 6 January 1963), MP (Lab) Wansbeck, since 2010." WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 1 December 2010.

Early political career

In 1986, Lavery was elected onto the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) committee at Ellington Colliery as compensation secretary. Later, he was voted on to the Northumberland Executive Committee, and then on to the North East Area Executive Committee. He has said that because of his union activity, he was barred by management from completing his Higher National Diploma qualification:

I was the only one in the whole of the North East Area who had completed the HNC who wasn't given that opportunity. I went to see the manager, not that I would have gone by the way, and he said that they didn't think I would be interested. I asked him if he had thought to ask me, and he said no, not really, and he was smiling as he said it.{{cite journal|date=Autumn 2005|title=An Interview with Ian Lavery, Lavery, president of the National Union of Mineworkers|journal=Capital and Class|volume=29|issue=3|pages=29–42|doi=10.1177/030981680508700104|s2cid=141357880}}

After serving as first cabinet chair of Wansbeck District Council, Lavery was appointed general secretary of the Northumberland area through the NUM.{{cite web|title=Ian Lavery Labour Party MP in Wansbeck – about me|url=http://www.ianlavery.org.uk/about_ian|access-date=10 February 2015|work=Ian Lavery|archive-date=27 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227201148/http://www.ianlavery.org.uk/about_ian|url-status=dead}} In 1992, Lavery stood for the national executive committee of the NUM. In the subsequent ballot, he was elected in the first round having gained more than 50% of the vote. When Arthur Scargill stood down as NUM president in August 2002, Lavery was elected unopposed to replace him.{{cite news |last=Syal |first=Rajeev |date=20 October 2017 |title=Labour party chair received £165,000 from union, watchdog finds |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/oct/20/labour-party-chair-received-165000-from-union-watchdog-finds |access-date=21 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}

Parliamentary career

= First term (2010–2015) =

In February 2010, Lavery became the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party for Wansbeck.{{cite web|url=http://www.labourmatters.com/labour-north/former-miner-ian-lavery-to-fight-wansbeck-for-labour/|title=Labour Win|access-date=10 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614214356/http://www.labourmatters.com/labour-north/former-miner-ian-lavery-to-fight-wansbeck-for-labour/|archive-date=14 June 2013|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/ian-lavery/4139|title=Ian Lavery MP|work=UK Parliament|access-date=25 March 2015}} At the 2010 general election, Lavery was elected as MP for Wansbeck with 45.9% of the vote and a majority of 7,031.{{cite web |title=Election Data 2010 |url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2010.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726162034/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2010.txt |archive-date=26 July 2013 |access-date=17 October 2015 |publisher=Electoral Calculus}}

He was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to deputy leader Harriet Harman, but resigned in 2012 after breaking the party whip by levelling an amendment to exempt prison staff and psychiatric workers from a general public sector increase in the pension age to 68.{{cite web|last=Pearson|first=Adrian|date=7 December 2012|title=Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery resigns as aide over pensions battle|url=http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/wansbeck-mp-ian-lavery-resigns-4399201|access-date=10 February 2015|work=journallive|archive-date=10 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210162631/http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/wansbeck-mp-ian-lavery-resigns-4399201|url-status=dead}} In December 2012, he said that miners with criminal charges related to the Battle of Orgreave should have them struck.{{cite news|last1=Townsend|first1=Mark|date=1 December 2012|title=Criminal records of striking miners 'should be erased'|work=The Observer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/dec/01/criminal-records-1984-striking-miners|access-date=16 August 2020|issn=0029-7712}} In the same month, he said in Parliament that he had been given a copy of a suicide note written by a constituent who had died by suicide after being told he was no longer eligible for state support.{{cite news|last=Adrian|first=Pearson|title=Journal NE Article December 2012|work=The Journal|url=http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/wansbeck-mp-shows-northumberland-mans-4399721|access-date=31 May 2019|archive-date=31 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531132116/http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/wansbeck-mp-shows-northumberland-mans-4399721|url-status=dead}}

In March 2014, Lavery posed with one of his sons who had blackened his face to look like Michael Jackson. According to the Daily Mail, some of Lavery's constituents said they found it offensive.{{cite news|date=11 March 2014|title=Anti-racism MP under fire after posing with son blacked up to look like Michael Jackson|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10689115/Anti-racism-MP-under-fire-after-posing-with-son-blacked-up-to-look-like-Michael-Jackson.html|access-date=10 February 2015}}

= Second term (2015–2017) =

At the 2015 general election, Lavery was re-elected as MP for Wansbeck with an increased vote share of 50% and an increased majority of 10,881.{{cite web |title=Election Data 2015 |url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2015.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017112223/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2015.txt |archive-date=17 October 2015 |access-date=17 October 2015 |publisher=Electoral Calculus}}{{cite web|url=http://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/local-news/labour-s-ian-lavery-honoured-to-be-re-elected-as-wansbeck-mp-1-7251782|title=Labour's Ian Lavery 'honoured' to be re-elected as Wansbeck MP|work=Northumberland Gazette|first=David |last=Sedgwick|date=8 May 2015|access-date=10 July 2015}} After Ed Miliband resigned as leader of the Labour Party, Lavery supported Andy Burnham in the subsequent leadership election which was won by Jeremy Corbyn.{{cite news|last=Wintour|first=Patrick|date=15 June 2015|title=In the running: profiles of the four Labour leadership candidates|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jun/15/in-the-running-profiles-of-the-four-labour-leadership-candidates|access-date=16 August 2020|issn=0261-3077}} In September 2015, Corbyn appointed him shadow minister for trade unions and civil society.

In 2016, it was reported that Lavery had received £165,387 from the NUM, the union he had run.{{cite web |title=Ian Lavery MP received £165,000 from NUM trade union – Workers of England Union |url=https://www.workersofengland.co.uk/w-e-u-news/ian-lavery-mp-received-165000-from-num-trade-union/ |access-date=21 February 2024 |website=www.workersofengland.co.uk}} A union fund provided him a loan of £72,500 to buy a house in 1994, which was written off in 2003 when Lavery was NUM president. He kept £18,000 returned by an endowment fund he had paid into to repay the cost of the house, and received £89,887.83 in termination payments from the union. He paid back £15,000 of the redundancy payment. Allegations of impropriety were examined by the Trades Union Certification Officer, who in 2017 found that there were no documents detailing the process or decision about Lavery's redundancy, so no investigation followed.{{cite news|last=Syal|first=Rajeev|date=20 October 2017|title=Labour party chair received £165,000 from union, watchdog finds|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/oct/20/labour-party-chair-received-165000-from-union-watchdog-finds|access-date=16 August 2020|issn=0261-3077}}

Lavery was appointed as Labour's national campaign co-ordinator, serving jointly with Andrew Gwynne in February 2017.{{cite news|last=Stewart|first=Heather|date=12 February 2017|title=Labour has plenty of potential leadership candidates, says party's elections chief|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/12/labour-potential-leadership-candidates-party-elections-lavery-corbyn|access-date=16 August 2020|issn=0261-3077}}{{cite news|last=Stewart|first=Heather|date=3 May 2017|title=Hope mingles with suspicion as Labour's election cranks into gear|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/03/hope-mingles-with-suspicion-as-labours-election-cranks-into-gear|access-date=16 August 2020|issn=0261-3077}}

= Third and fourth terms (2017–2024) =

At the snap 2017 general election, Lavery was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 57.3% and a decreased majority of 10,435.{{cite news |title=Wansbeck |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14001014 |access-date=12 June 2017 |work=BBC News}} In June 2017, Lavery was appointed to the role of chair of the Labour Party.{{cite news|last=Madeley|first=Pete|date=16 June 2017|title=Ian Lavery appointed Labour Chairman|work=Express & Star News|url=https://www.expressandstar.com/news/trending-topics/general-election-2017/2017/06/16/watson-ditched-as-labour-chair/|access-date=31 May 2019}} In the same month, he was criticised for saying that Labour was "too broad a church".{{cite news|last=Elgot|first=Jessica|date=3 July 2017|title=Jeremy Corbyn appoints clutch of unknowns to shadow frontbench|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/03/jeremy-corbyn-appoints-clutch-of-unknowns-to-shadow-front-bench|access-date=16 August 2020|issn=0261-3077}}

In December 2018, Lavery raised in parliament the high insurance premiums of his constituents living near the River Wansbeck in the wake of the 2015–16 Great Britain and Ireland floods.{{cite news|last=Meyer|first=Harriet|date=14 December 2015|title=For flood-hit areas the problems don't stop after the waters have receded|work=The Observer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/dec/11/flood-hit-areas-residents-battling-costs-insurance|access-date=16 August 2020|issn=0029-7712}} In the same month, he opposed Jeremy Corbyn's move to support a second referendum on Brexit, reportedly saying that if Labour supported a second referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union, the party would lose the next general election.{{cite news|last1=Helm|first1=Toby|date=16 December 2018|title=Party activists pile pressure on Corbyn to back second vote|work=The Observer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/dec/16/labour-activists-pressure-corbyn-second-vote-new-referendum|access-date=16 August 2020|issn=0029-7712}}

At the 2019 general election, Lavery was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 42.3% and a decreased majority of 814.{{cite news |title=Wansbeck Parliamentary constituency |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14001014 |access-date=24 November 2019 |website=BBC News |publisher=BBC}}File:Official portrait of Ian Lavery crop 2.jpg

In January 2021, Lavery was criticised after he questioned why anyone would have faith in the COVID-19 vaccine and expressed concern about the time it took to approve the vaccine. In a statement, Lavery said that his words had been taken out of context.{{cite news |last1=Murphy |first1=Simon |title=Former Labour chair criticised for raising doubts over Covid vaccine |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/05/former-labour-chair-ian-lavery-criticised-for-raising-doubts-over-covid-vaccine |access-date=6 January 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=5 January 2021}}

On 24 February 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lavery was one of 11 Labour MPs threatened with losing the party whip after they signed a statement by the Stop the War Coalition which questioned the legitimacy of NATO and accused the military alliance of "eastward expansion". All 11 MPs subsequently removed their signatures after being threatened with suspension from the party.{{cite news |last1=Wearmouth |first1=Rachel |title=11 Labour MPs threatened with suspension for signing Stop The War letter attacking NATO |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/11-labour-mps-face-suspension-26323193 |access-date=24 February 2022 |work=Mirror |date=24 February 2022}}

He has gained the seat in the constituency of Blyth and Ashington, being the 2nd confirmed Labour seat in the 2024 General Election

=2024 to present=

He was elected MP for Blyth and Ashington at the 2024 general election.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/jul/04/general-election-2024-uk-live-labour-tories-starmer-sunak-results-exit-poll|title=Exit poll suggests Labour set for huge landslide win in UK general election – latest live news|date=4 July 2024|work=The Guardian|access-date=4 July 2024}}

Personal life

Lavery married Hilary Baird in 1986, aged 23, at the Holy Sepulchre Church in Ashington. The couple have two sons, Ian Junior, born 1988 and Liam, born 1993. Liam is a town councillor for the college ward of Ashington and has been an activist in the Labour Party since his early teens.{{cite web|url=http://www.ashingtontowncouncil.gov.uk/liam-lavery|title=Liam Lavery – College Ward – Councillors|publisher=Ashington Town Council|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202175832/http://www.ashingtontowncouncil.gov.uk/liam-lavery|archive-date=2 February 2015|url-status=dead|access-date=10 February 2015}}

Lavery is a trustee of CISWO in the North East area, Northumberland Aged Mineworkers' Homes Association, Woodhorn Colliery Museum and Buzz Learning Disability; he is a patron of Headway for South East Northumberland and Wansbeck Disability Forum. He is also chair and trustee of Pitmen Painters, which reached international acclaim following the release of the West End play of the same name, and which follows a story about the formation of the Northumberland-based organisation.