- Martin Salter
-
Martin Salter Member of Parliament
for Reading WestIn office
1 May 1997 – 6 May 2010Preceded by Tony Durant Succeeded by Alok Sharma Personal details Born 19 April 1954
Hampton, London, UKNationality British Political party Labour Martin John Salter (born 19 April 1954) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Reading West from 1997 to 2010.
Contents
Early life
Salter was born to Ray and Naomi Salter on 19 April 1954[1] and educated at local primary and grammar schools and attended the University of Sussex but did not graduate. Salter worked in various jobs, including working as a lorry driver, scaffolder, builder's labourer, refuse collector and airport cargo handler. Latterly he worked as a coordinator for a centre for the unemployed and for a housing cooperative.
Politics
Prior to his career as a Labour Party Councillor, Salter was an active member of the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU). Similarly, Salter has been active within the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT), holding titles of Shop Steward and Convenor Steward for several years. From 1984 to 1997, Salter was a Labour Councillor on Reading Borough Council representing Park Ward, during which time he chaired the Leisure Committee and served as Deputy Leader. In the 1987 general election he stood unsuccessfully for the Reading East parliamentary constituency. In the 1997 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament for Reading West, a position he retained during the 2001 and 2005 general elections.
Salter was an active constituency MP, with frequent appearances in the local media and at local meetings. He has a high local profile and in the 2001 election secured the second highest swing to Labour in the country. After his re-election in 2005, Salter was one of only six Labour MPs with a majority still higher than the 1997 landslide.
In parliament, Salter served on the Select Committee on Northern Ireland through the period of the Good Friday Agreement. He was also a member of the Modernisation Select Committee between 2001 and 2005, and in 2006 entered the Home Affairs Select Committee. Salter was the Chair of the South East Group of PLP between 1999 and 2003, was the Deputy Convenor of Labour's Parliamentary Campaign Team between 2003 and 2005, and was twice elected by fellow MPs as a member of Labour's Parliamentary Committee between 2005 and 2008.
Salter was a member of the Multiple Sclerosis, Rwanda & Genocide, Football, Angling, Kashmir, Environment, Fibromyalgia, Endometriosis and Gurkha All Party Parliamentary Groups. Salter is also a founding member of Labour Friends of Searchlight, an organisation that seeks to oppose the far-right. He holds membership for several organisations and charities, including Greenpeace, National Trust, Amnesty International, Angling Conservation Association and the Green Lanes Environmental Action Movement. He is Patron of Cystinosis Foundation, Down Syndrome International Swimming Organisation, Berkshire MS Therapy Centre, ABC to Read, Thames Valley Positive Support, and is currently a Trustee of the Thames River Restorative Trust. He is the Vice President of the Reading YMCA Trust.
On 30 November 2005, Salter resigned as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Schools Minister Jacqui Smith over school reform proposals and co-authored the Alternative Education White Paper with a group of centre-left MPs including John Denham, Angela Eagle, John Ruddock and Alan Whitehead. In June 2007, he was appointed as Vice Chair (Environment) of the Labour Party.[2]
On 10 February 2009, Salter announced that he would be standing down from the Commons at the next General Election.[3]
Salter maintains a blog on The Daily Telegraph's website.[4]
Extreme pornography legislation
Salter has promoted legislation proposing to criminalise possession of so-called "extreme pornography".[5] His campaign came about after the conviction at Lewes Crown Court of Graham Coutts, for the murder of Brighton schoolteacher Jane Longhurst. A petition, objecting to "the presence of extreme Internet sites promoting violence against women in the name of sexual gratification", gained 50,000 signatures.
Personal life
He is married to Natalie. He has lived in Reading from 1980. His interests include freshwater angling and supporting Reading F.C., where he is a season ticket holder and Honorary Vice-President of Supporters' Trust At Reading (STAR). He also enjoys reading, walking, and gardening.
References
- ^ http://www.martinsalter.com/index.php/about/biography/
- ^ Labour: Vote Labour on May 1
- ^ "Salter bows out at next election". BBC News. 2009-02-10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/berkshire/7881299.stm.
- ^ "Martin Salter". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/msalter/. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
- ^ Summers, Chris (4 July 2007). "'Extreme' porn proposals spark row". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6237226.stm. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
External links
- Martin Salter MP (Martin Salter's web site)
- Daily Telegraph blog: Martin Salter (Martin Salter's blog)
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Martin Salter
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Martin Salter MP
Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded by
Tony DurantMember of Parliament for Reading West
1997–2010Succeeded by
Alok SharmaCategories:- 1954 births
- Living people
- Alumni of the University of Sussex
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
- Reading MPs
- Labour Party (UK) MPs
- Councillors in Berkshire
- UK MPs 1997–2001
- UK MPs 2001–2005
- UK MPs 2005–2010
- People from Hampton, London
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