Martin O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of Clackmannan

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable

| name = The Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan

| honorific-suffix =

| image = Official portrait of Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan crop 2.jpg

| caption = Official portrait, 2018

| office = Chair of the Trade and Industry Select Committee

| term_start = 27 November 1995

| term_end = 11 April 2005

| predecessor = Richard Caborn

| successor = Peter Luff

| office2 = Shadow Secretary of State for Defence

| leader2 = Neil Kinnock

| term_start2 = 14 June 1988

| term_end2 = 18 July 1992

| predecessor2 = Denzil Davies

| successor2 = David Clark

| office3 = Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal

| term_start3 = 14 June 2005

| term_end3 = 26 August 2020
Life peerage

| parliament4 = United Kingdom

| constituency_MP4 = Ochil

| prior_term4 = {{cslist|Clackmannan (1983–1997)|Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire {{nowrap|(1979–1983)}}}}

| term_start4 = 3 May 1979

| term_end4 = 11 April 2005

| majority4 =

| predecessor4 = George Reid

| successor4 = Constituency abolished

| birth_name = Martin John O'Neill

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1945|1|6|df=yes}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|8|26|1945|1|6|df=yes}}

| death_place =

| nationality = British

| party = Labour

| spouse = {{marriage|Elaine Marjorie Samuel|1973}}

| children = 2

| education = Trinity Academy, Edinburgh

| alma_mater = Heriot-Watt University

| occupation =

| profession =

| signature =

| website =

| title = Baron of Clackmannan

}}

Martin John O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of Clackmannan (6 January 1945 – 26 August 2020) was a Scottish Labour politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 until 2005 and as a member of the House of Lords from 2005 until his death.

Early life and career

He was educated at Trinity Academy, Edinburgh, at the time a selective state school, and then Heriot-Watt University, where he attained a BA in economics. After leaving university, he worked as an insurance clerk and then became active in the Scottish Union of Students, including serving as its president from 1970 until 1971.{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/candidates/candidates/4/44203.stm|title=BBC NEWS {{!}} VOTE 2001 {{!}} CANDIDATES|website=news.bbc.co.uk|access-date=2019-08-17|archive-date=3 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403141431/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/candidates/candidates/4/44203.stm|url-status=live}}

He married his wife Elaine Marjorie Samuel on 21 July 1973, with them going on to raise two sons together.

Parliamentary career

After unsuccessfully contesting Edinburgh North in October 1974, he was a Labour Member of Parliament between 1979 and 2005, representing the Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire, Clackmannan and Ochil seats successively. He was shadow defence secretary and later was Chairman of the Trade and Industry select committee.

House of Lords

On 13 May 2005 it was announced that he would be created a life peer,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/may/13/lords.uk|title=Labour becomes biggest party in Lords|last=Tempest|first=Matthew|author2=agencies|date=13 May 2005|work=guardian.co.uk|accessdate=25 May 2009|archive-date=17 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317005154/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/may/13/lords.uk|url-status=live}} and on 14 June 2005 was created Baron O'Neill of Clackmannan, of Clackmannan in Clackmannanshire.{{London Gazette|issue=57677 |page=7919 | date=17 June 2005}}

Outside politics

O'Neill served as Chairman of the Strategic Forum for Construction and the Nuclear Industry Association.{{Cite web|url=https://humanism.org.uk/about/our-people/patrons/lord-oneill-of-clackmannan/|title=Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan|website=Humanists UK|language=en|access-date=2019-08-17|archive-date=17 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817221337/https://humanism.org.uk/about/our-people/patrons/lord-oneill-of-clackmannan/|url-status=live}}

He was a lifelong supporter of Hibernian F.C. and was a director of the club for a few years.

O'Neill was also a patron of Humanists UK,{{Cite web|url=https://humanism.org.uk/about/our-people/patrons/|title=Patrons|website=Humanists UK|language=en|access-date=2019-08-17|archive-date=5 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005083241/https://humanism.org.uk/about/our-people/patrons/|url-status=live}} and was one of the fifty signatories to a letter published in The Guardian in 2010, which called for Pope Benedict XVI not to be given a state visit to the UK, and accused the Catholic Church of increasing the spread of AIDS and promoting segregated education.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/15/harsh-judgments-on-pope-religion|title=Letters: Harsh judgments on the pope and religion|author=Guardian Staff|date=2010-09-14|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-08-17|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=9 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109064334/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/15/harsh-judgments-on-pope-religion|url-status=live}}

He received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 2011{{Cite web|url=http://www.hw.ac.uk/news/archive/2011/heriot-watt-honorary-graduates-november-2011.htm|title=Heriot-Watt University Honorary Graduates, November 2011|website=Heriot-Watt University|language=en-GB|access-date=2016-03-29|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305060629/http://www.hw.ac.uk/news/archive/2011/heriot-watt-honorary-graduates-november-2011.htm|url-status=live}} and was an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.{{Cite web|url=https://www.secularism.org.uk/honoraryassociates.html|title=National Secular Society Honorary Associates|access-date=5 June 2019|archive-date=2 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802160042/https://www.secularism.org.uk/honoraryassociates.html/|url-status=live}} National Secular Society. Retrieved 5 June 2019

Death

O'Neill died in August 2020 at the age of 75.{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/09/02/lord-oneill-clackmannan-shadow-minister-freed-labour-nuclear/ |title=Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan, shadow minister who freed Labour from nuclear disarmament – obituary |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=London |date=2 September 2020 |url-access=registration |access-date=2 September 2020 |archive-date=3 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903152401/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/09/02/lord-oneill-clackmannan-shadow-minister-freed-labour-nuclear/ |url-status=live }}