James Plaskitt

James Andrew Plaskitt (born 23 June 1954) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He is the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington Spa.

Born in Grimsby, Plaskitt was educated at the Pilgrim School in Bedford and went up to University College, Oxford to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He graduated in 1976 and subsequently took a master's degree in Politics before taking up a lectureship at University College. He moved to Brunel University for four years and then to Christ Church, Oxford.

His political career began in 1985 when he was elected to Oxfordshire County Council. He was leader of the Labour group from 1990 to 1996. Plaskitt joined Oxford Analytica as a business consultant , and later became its consultancy director. In the 1992 general election he contested Witney for Labour, losing by a substantial margin to Conservative former Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd. As Labour were swept to power in the 1997 general election landslide, Plaskitt was elected MP for the previously Conservative constituency of Warwick and Leamington Spa, beating the incumbent Dudley Smith into second place. He has served on the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee since 1999, and in the 2001 general election was re-elected with an increased margin, although turnout was lower. A 5.6 per cent swing to the Conservatives would unseat Plaskitt at the next election.

As well as his position on the Treasury Committee, he is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Design and Innovation, Disability, and Modernisation of the House of Commons. He is also a member of the Labour Party Departmental Committees for the Treasury, the Department for Work and Pensions, and Legal and Constitutional Affairs. In the House of Commons Register of Members' Interests he lists a non-executive directorship with De Brus Marketing Ltd., Leamington Spa, specifically mentioning "education and training support".

Plaskitt has been a loyal Labour backbencher, voting with the government on all major contentious issues such as the War in Iraq, university tuition fees and foundation hospitals. He has taken a particular interest in matters concerning assisted suicide and euthanasia, of which he is a supporter, rebelling against the government in a Commons vote on this issue. He ranks among the top 90 MPs for attendance, and has attended 83 per cent of votes. He does not often speak in Commons debates.

Performance in general elections

9 April 1992: Witney (turnout 81.9%)

1 May 1997: Warwick and Leamington Spa (turnout 75.7%)

7 June 2001: Warwick and Leamington Spa (turnout 65.8%)

External links

• Official website
• Commons voting record