I am a former Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield and Shadow Transport Minister. I now chair Healthwatch, the statutory health and social care watchdog in Birmingham and Solihull. I also chair the West Midlands Board of the Remembering Srebrenica charity.
I also hold senior positions in other parts of the NGO sector, with specialist knowledge on Israel and Palestine, and I work as a consultant in public affairs.
As an MP, I chaired the West Midlands Regional Select Committee. also serving eight years on the International Development Select Committee and four years on the Trade and Industry Select Committee.
As Shadow Minister between 2013 and 2017, I led for Labour on road transport, aviation and maritime. I also coordinated parliamentary engagement with the automotive industry for over 20 years and I chaired the Britain–Palestine All-Party Parliamentary Group for 18 years.
As a constituency MP, I worked to develop strategies for the modernisation of the industrial base of the West Midlands. I always saw my role of MP as one of a community advocate in a constituency going through profound social and economic change.
You can read more about my parliamentary career here.
Today I am a Trustee of Citizens Advice Birmingham. My work on Middle Eastern issues includes serving as a Trustee of the Balfour Project charity, which works for equality and justice in Israel and Palestine. I am also a Vice Chair of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East, and a former Chair of Medical Aid for Palestinians.
I also work as a Senior Counsel at Grayling global communications agency and I am an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI).
Although I have lived in Birmingham since 1981, I was born in Liverpool, I spent my childhood on Merseyside before moving to the South Manchester area. I studied Politics at the University of York where I was also President of the Students Union from 1976 to 1977. I went on to complete an MA in Industrial Relations at the University of Warwick.
Throughout, the 1980s, I worked as a trade union official for NALGO, which was a predecessor of the public services union, UNISON, and in the mid to late 1980s I led the Midlands campaign against the privatisation of the water industry.
I live with my partner and two stepsons in South Birmingham.
My hobbies and interests include motorsport (I used to race in the 1980s and 1990s), travel, cinema and food.
My LinkedIn profile can be found here.
