Dennis Skinner

The Right Honourable Dennis Skinner MP
Dennis Skinner outside Parliament, October 2011
Chairman of the Labour Party
In office 13 June 1988 – 27 October 1989
Leader	Neil Kinnock
Preceded by	Neil Kinnock
Succeeded by	Jo Richardson
Member of Parliament for Bolsover
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 June 1970
Preceded by	Harold Neal
Majority	11,182 (25.4%)
Personal details
Born	Dennis Edward Skinner (1932-02-11) 11 February 1932 (age 81) Clay Cross, Derbyshire, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Mary Parker
Alma mater	Ruskin College

Dennis Edward Skinner (born 11 February 1932) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolsover since 1970, the Chairman of the Labour Party from 1988 to 1989, and has sat on the National Executive Committee numerous times since 1978.

Born in Clay Cross, Derbyshire, Skinner is the third of nine children of coal miner Edward Skinner, who was sacked after the 1926 general strike.^[1] Skinner himself worked as a miner for over 20 years, during which he became an NUM leader and Clay Cross Labour Party councillor. He is known for his left-wing views, acid tongue and for never missing a Commons session.

He is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs.

Early life [edit]

Skinner was educated at Tupton Hall Grammar School (now Tupton Hall School) after passing the Eleven-plus a year early.^[2] He worked in the mines from 1949 to 1970, at Parkhouse Colliery in Clay Cross until it closed in 1962, then at Glapwell Colliery near Chesterfield. He joined the Labour Party in 1956.

Union and political career [edit]

Skinner was a member of the Derbyshire County Council from 1964 to 1970, and a Clay Cross councillor from 1960 to 1970. He was leader of the Derbyshire area of the National Union of Mineworkers between 1966 and 1970. He attended Ruskin College in his 30s, after attending a preparatory course run by the NUM at the University of Sheffield.

Skinner was elected MP for the Labour safe-seat of Bolsover in the 1970 general election. He has held the seat ever since. On taking his seat, he undertook publicly to stand down from Parliament at the age of 65 (therefore in 1997), just as he would have retired as a miner. He said this was so he would not be 'taking another man's job'.^{[citation needed]} Nevertheless he has since stood and been re-elected in four General Elections. He was a strong supporter of the National Union of Mineworkers and its then leader Arthur Scargill in the 1984-85 miners' strike. Skinner remains loyal to the policies on which he originally was elected into office, reflected by his membership of the Socialist Campaign Group.

Skinner takes a liberal stance regarding social issues. He voted in favour of equalisation of the age of consent, civil partnerships, adoption rights for same-sex couples, and to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.^[3] Furthermore, throughout his career he has maintained a strongly pro-choice stance on abortion. On several occasions he has enabled the defeat of moves to reduce the number of weeks at which termination of a pregnancy can be legally performed in Britain by "talking out the measure" (filibustering), as on 20 January 1989, when he held up proceedings by trying to move a writ for a by-election in the constituency of Richmond.^[4] He had previously used this filibuster technique on 7 June 1985, when preventing a bill by Enoch Powell, which would have banned stem cell research, from being debated. He held up proceedings by moving a writ for a by-election in Brecon and Radnor.^[5][6] Skinner regards his defeat of Powell's bill as his proudest political achievement.^[7]

In 2003, he was one of a large number of Labour MPs who voted against the Iraq War; he later rebelled against the party line when he voted against government policy to allow terror suspects to be detained without trial for 90 days. In March 2007, Skinner and 88 other Labour MPs voted against government policy to renew the Trident Nuclear Missile System.

He is known for his republican sentiments.

He supported David Miliband in the 2010 Labour leadership election, which was later won by David's brother, Ed Miliband.^[8]

Suspensions [edit]

Skinner has been suspended from Parliament on at least ten occasions, usually for "unparliamentary language" when attacking opponents. Infractions have included:

• In 1992, referring to the Minister of Agriculture John Gummer as "slimy" and a "wart".
• In 1995, accusing the government of a "crooked deal" to sell off Britain's coal mines.
• On 8 December 2005, when referring to the economic record of the Conservatives in the 1980s, making the remark, "The only thing that was growing then were the lines of coke in front of boy George and the rest of the Tories", a reference to allegations originally published in the Sunday Mirror of cocaine use by the Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne (though, in the Commons, Skinner referred to the News of the World).^[9]
• On 20 April 2006, accusing Deputy Speaker Sir Alan Haselhurst of leniency towards remarks made by opposition frontbencher Theresa May "because she's a Tory".^[10][11]

Queen's Speech jokes [edit]

Skinner has traditionally cracked jokes, usually about the Royal Family, during the annual Queen's Speech ceremony. He does this upon the arrival of Black Rod (the symbol of royal authority in the House of Lords) to summon MPs to hear the Queen's speech in the Lords' chamber. The best known, according to the New Statesman and other sources, are listed as follows:^[12]

• In 1980, he and other Labour MP's blocked the entrance of Black Rod who was attempting to summon the Commons for the prorogation of Parliament. The cause being the Conservative government announcing increased rents for council houses, which the Labour Party wanted more information on.
• In 1987, he said "Tell her to sell up!", a reference to the tightening of belts in the United Kingdom.
• In 1988, he had the house laughing when he observed "Hey up, Here comes Puss In Boots!"
• In 1989, he mockingly stated "It's a good outfit!" to Black Rod.
• In 1990, he quipped "It tolls for thee Maggie", a reference to Margaret Thatcher's impending departure.
• In 1991, on arrival of Black Rod quipping "I bet he drinks Carling Black Label"; a reference to an advertising campaign at the time.^[13]
• In 1992, he said to Black Rod "Tell her to pay her taxes"; at the time, this was an important political issue.
• In 1993, he said "back to basics with Black Rod", a reference to the "Back to Basics" campaign by the then Conservative government of John Major.
• In 1996, he shouted "New Labour, New Black Rod", a reference to Labour's election campaign slogan "New Labour, New Britain".^[14]
• In 1997, he said to Black Rod "Do you want to borrow a Queen's Speech?".^[15]
• In 2000, he shouted out "Tell her to read the Guardian!" - the Guardian newspaper was campaigning at the time to repeal various laws relating to the monarchy.
• In 2001, he said to new Black Rod Michael Willcocks "You're nowt but a midget!!" to much laughter in the chamber.
• In 2003, he suggested that the Speaker "bar the doors" after Black Rod had arrived, a practice that is used to block late-arriving MPs from casting their votes after the division bells have been sounded. After the command he also said "Did she lock the door behind her!" to laughter from other MPs. The tongue-in-cheek suggestion by Skinner was scoffed at by Speaker Michael Martin.
• In 2005, he asked Black Rod "Has she brought Camilla with her?"
• In 2006, Skinner responded to Black Rod's invitation with "Have you got Helen Mirren on standby?", in reference to the portrayal by Helen Mirren of Elizabeth II in the 2006 film, The Queen. The BBC political commentator Huw Edwards called the quip "cheap but funny".
• In 2007, he asked "Who shot the harriers?" referring to a recent event in Sandringham, where two protected hen harriers had been shot near a royal property. Prince Harry and a friend had been questioned by police over the incident.
• In 2008, he asked, "Any Tory moles at the Palace?", referring to the recent arrest of Conservative MP Damian Green in connection with an investigation about him receiving confidential information from a civil servant at the Home Office who was formerly a Conservative Party candidate. To which Black Rod quipped, "I shall miss you, Dennis", receiving laughter from other MPs. The 2008 State Opening of Parliament was Michael Willcocks' last as Black Rod.^[16]
• In 2009, in Freddie Viggers' only State Opening as Black Rod, Skinner stated "Royal Expenses are on the way", a reference to the parliamentary expenses scandal.^[17]
• In 2010, he stated "No royal commissions this week" in reference to the recent newspaper story in the News of the World which revealed that the former Duchess of York had taken cash payments for introducing businessmen to the Duke of York. Interestingly this time, whether through error or purpose, he made his one-liner in the middle of Yeoman Usher Ted Lloyd-Jukes' (who was filling in for an ill Black Rod) speech. To which the Yeoman Usher replied at the end, "Thank you, Dennis".
• In May 2012 (delayed from previous Autumn), during David Leakey's first State Opening as Black Rod, Skinner shouted "Jubilee Year, Double-Dip Recession, What a start!" This was referring to the Queen's Jubilee year and that the United Kingdom had just entered into a second recession. This quip was responded to by a mixture of laughter and some shouts of "Shame" and "Absolute Disgrace"^[18][19]
• In May 2013, he joked: 'Royal Mail for sale, Queen's head privatised.' This caused a great deal of laughter within the House of Commons and was in reference to the coalition government's proposed privatisation of Royal Mail, going against Margaret Thatcher's promise that she was "not prepared to have the Queen's head privatised"^[20]

Commons attendance [edit]

He often tells of turning up for work at his colliery after he had been elected as an MP, refusing to see this as his new occupation. This is the reason Skinner gives for refusing to miss any sitting in the House of Commons, saying that "if you missed a shift at the pit, you would get the sack". He also refuses to adopt the pairing system in which he can agree a mutual abstention with a Conservative MP, saying he won't cover for them whilst they "go swanning off to Ascot or to their boardrooms". In the 2004–2005 sitting of the House he claimed the least expenses for an MP who served the full year.^[21] He has never been a member of an All-Party Parliamentary Group; does not eat alongside parliamentary colleagues in the Commons dining room; does not take trips or holidays 'paid for' by others; never drinks in the Commons Bar; and stays in the House of Commons during the Queen's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament, as he advocates outright abolition of the House of Lords.

He usually sits on the first seat of the front bench below the gangway in the Commons (known as the "Awkward Squad Bench" because it is where rebel Labour Party MPs have traditionally sat) in a distinctive tweed jacket (whilst most other MPs wear suits) and signature red tie. He gained the sobriquet "the Beast of Bolsover" for falling foul of the procedures of Parliament, many of which are in his view archaic and contemptible. He was once described by the "Bagehot" opinion column in The Economist as a "hard-left oddball".^[22]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Biography at Stuart Thomson
• Contact details at This Is Derbyshire
• Video: My first job - Dennis Skinner MP, hosted by YouTube on the IOSH's official channel
• This much I know, Skinner runs down some matters of importance to him, hosted by The Guardian

Articles

• Giving George Osborne a line of wit in December 2005
• Junction 29A in December 2004
• Heart bypass in March 2003