Michael Welsh (Labour politician)

Michael Collins Welsh (23 November 1926 – 20 January 2012)[1] was a coal miner[2] and Labour Party politician from South Yorkshire in England. He sat in the House of Commons from 1979 to 1992.

For the former Member of the European Parliament and Lancashire County Councillor, see Michael Welsh (Conservative politician).
Michael Welsh
Member of Parliament
for Don Valley
In office
3 May 1979 – 9 June 1983
Preceded byRichard Kelley
Succeeded byMartin Redmond
Member of Parliament
for Doncaster North
In office
9 June 1983 – 9 April 1992
Preceded byConstituency Created
Succeeded byKevin Hughes
Personal details
Born(1926-11-23)23 November 1926
Doncaster
Died20 January 2012(2012-01-20) (aged 85)
Carcroft, Doncaster
NationalityBritish
Political partyLabour

Welsh was educated at elementary schools, at the University of Sheffield and at Ruskin College in Oxford.[2] He was a local councillor from 1962,[2] and was elected at the 1979 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Labour safe seat of Don Valley,[3][4] sponsored by National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).[2] In 1981, when the NUM in Yorkshire began to demand that its five sponsored MPs should support the unions' policies, Welsh was reported by The Times as the only one who was sufficiently left-wing to retain the union's support.[5] In the 1981 Labour Party deputy leadership election in 1981, Welsh voted for the left-wing candidate Tony Benn in both ballots.[6]

During the Falklands War in May 1982, Welsh was one of 69 MPs who signed an Early Day Motion calling for an immediate halt to hostilities.[7]

After boundary changes he was returned at the 1983 general election as MP for the new Doncaster North constituency.[1][8] He was nominated in November that year to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee,[9] and in July 1985 he was one of four Labour MPs on the committee who rejected the committee's finding that there were military grounds for the sinking during the Falklands War of the Argentinian warship General Belgrano.[10] The four MPs (Welsh, Dennis Canavan, Ian Mikardo and Nigel Spearing) published a minority report which accused the government of obstructing the committee by "suppression of evidence and giving of false evidence" and called for a further enquiry.[10]

He was re-elected in 1987,[11] and retired from Parliament at the 1992 general election.[1]

Welsh died at his home in Carcroft, Doncaster in January 2012 aged 85.[12]

References
  1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 2)
  2. The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1983 (2nd ed.). London: Times Books. 1984 [1983]. p. 95. ISBN 0-7230-0257-6.
  3. "UK General Election results May 1979". Richard Kimber's political science resources. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  4. "No. 47838". The London Gazette. 10 May 1979. p. 6057.
  5. Kershaw, Ronald (9 April 1982). "Labour rift in Yorkshire Scargill 'hit list' aims to keep out the moderates". The Times. p. 4.
  6. Clark, George (1 October 1981). "The 35 MPs who ensured victory for Healey". The Times. p. 4.
  7. Clark, George (6 May 1982). "69 Labour MPs call for truce". The Times. p. 2.
  8. "No. 49394". The London Gazette. 21 June 1983. p. 8205.
  9. Bevins, Anthony (18 November 1983). "Nominations for Commons select committees". The Times. p. 16.
  10. Clark, George (25 July 1985). "Cover up over hasty, unjustifiable act". The Times. p. 5.
  11. "No. 50974". The London Gazette. 23 June 1987. p. 8003.
  12. independent.co.uk (Mick Welsh: Miner and politician who fought for greater safety in Britain's pits)
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Richard Kelley		 Member of Parliament for Don Valley
1979–1983		 Succeeded by
Martin Redmond
New constituency Member of Parliament for Doncaster North
1983–1992		 Succeeded by
Kevin Hughes

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