Ian Swales

Ian Cameron Swales[2] (born 5 April 1953[3]) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Redcar in England. Swales took Redcar from Labour incumbent Vera Baird for the Liberal Democrats in the 2010 general election, with a 21.8% swing.[4] Swales added over 10,000 votes to his 2005 general election total. This was the biggest swing against any Labour candidate in the election and also the biggest gain by any Liberal Democrat.[5] He stood down at the 2015 general election.[6]

Ian Swales
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
In office 28 January 2015 – 11 May 2015
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Tessa Munt
Succeeded by	John Glen
Member of Parliament for Redcar
In office 6 May 2010 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by	Vera Baird
Succeeded by	Anna Turley
Majority	5,214 (12.4%)
Personal details
Born	5 April 1953 Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England[1]
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Democrats
Spouse(s)	Pat Swales
Children	3
Alma mater	UMIST

Early life

Ian Swales is the son of Harry Swales and Elizabeth Adamson Doig. Through his Scottish mother he is a 1st cousin (1R) of Peter Doig, Labour MP for Dundee West 1963/1979. He was born in Leeds and grew up in Harrogate. His mother died when he was 8 years old. Educated at Woodlands junior school he became Head Boy and then won a County Council funded scholarship to Ashville College, Harrogate.[7] Following a chemical engineering degree at University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, where he met his wife, Pat, a Durham miner's daughter, he joined Yorkshire Electricity and qualified as an accountant in 1977. He moved to Teesside in 1978 to join ICI and settled in Redcar. From 1983 to 1986 he worked for ICI in Brussels.

Political career

Swales joined the SDP when it was founded in 1981 and was a member of the first Cleveland County Committee for the SDP. He contested the 2005 general election in the Redcar Constituency and moved the Liberal Democrats from third to second place with a positive swing against both the Labour and Conservative parties.

In 2010, Swales achieved a 21.8% swing against Labour in winning the Redcar seat. He made his maiden speech in Parliament on 7 June 2010.[8]

During his time in Parliament, Swales was an active member of many All Party Parliamentary Groups including Chair of the APPG for the Chemical Industry [9] and Vice-Chair of the APPG for Steel and Energy Intensive Industries. In May 2014 Swales was appointed to the taskforce group for electrification of rail in the north by the Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, MP.

Shortly after the 2010 election, Swales became an active member of the Public Accounts Committee, which sits twice a week and scrutinises all public expenditure. In June 2014 Swales resigned from the Committee citing frontbench commitments.

Swales sat on the Welfare Reform and Finance Bill Committees, and campaigned against tax avoidance.[10] After his prominent role on the Public Accounts Committee, Swales was promoted to Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesman.

In January 2015, Swales was made Parliamentary Private Secretary to Vince Cable, MP, who at the time was Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

In July 2014, Swales announced that he was standing down as an MP at the 2015 general election, for "personal reasons".[6]

After Parliament

Following his retirement from Parliament Swales continued to participate in local industry issues. He advised the management of Redcar steel works and in August 2015 joined the Board, and became Chair, of the Northeast of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC), the body that represents companies in the chemical, pharmaceutical, polymer, renewable energy and materials, steel and biotechnology process industries in North-East England.[11] In 2016 he received an Honorary Fellowship from the Institute of Chemical Engineers (FIChemE) for his contributions to the chemical industry.

Personal life

In his spare time Swales helps local organisations and campaigns on local issues. He was active in Redcar Swimming Club after the closure of the old pool campaigned for a new one. He was on the Committee of Coatham Memorial Hall for many years.[12]

Ian is a Humanist and in 2015 was made an Honorary life member of Humanists UK for his work in Parliament.

Ian and Pat have three children and seven grandchildren, three boys and four girls. Ian's interests include travel, reading, cooking, playing bridge, walking and genealogy.[12]

References

1. "Local Escorts London That's What the App is Perfect". Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
2. Search Results
3. Northern Echo, Ian Swales
4. "Election 2010: Redcar". BBC News. May 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
5. Merrick, Robert (23 September 2010). "Cable comforts Lib Dem faithful". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
6. "Ian Swales is standing down for 'personal reasons'". BBC News. 11 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
7. polling report | Ashville College
8. Maiden Speech in Parliament]
9. APPG Chemical Industry]
10. "Corporate tax avoidance debate". BBC Democracy Live. 8 January 2013.
11. Gibson, Robert (11 August 2015). "Former MP Ian Swales takes over as chairman of industry cluster NEPIC". GazetteLive. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
12. "Ian Swales". Parliamentary Record. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2014.

External links

• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou