Jimmy Wray | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Glasgow Baillieston Glasgow Provan (1987–1997) | |
| In office 11 June 1987 – 11 April 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Hugh Brown |
| Succeeded by | Constituency Abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | James Aloysius Joseph Patrick Gabriel Wray 28 April 1935 Govan, Glasgow, Scotland, UK |
| Died | 25 May 2013 (aged 78) Mearnskirk Home Hospital, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
James Aloysius Joseph Patrick Gabriel Wray[1] (28 April 1935 – 25 May 2013)[2] was a Scottish politician and Labour Member of Parliament for Glasgow Baillieston and Glasgow Provan.[3]
Born and raised in the Gorbals,[4] he was one of eight children born in an economically disadvantaged Roman Catholic family.[5] A boxer in his younger days, he was elected as a councillor to the then Glasgow Town Council in 1964 for Kelvinside, and moved over to the larger Strathclyde Regional Council in 1975 for Gorbals. He successfully blocked implementation of fluoridation in court by arguing it violated the 1946 Water Act and the 1968 Medicine Act.[when?][1]
Wray became a rag and bone man, a coalman and a lorry driver, owning a fleet of lorries and a coal business, and became a property developer. By the time he became an MP, Wray was a wealthy man.[5] He was on the left-wing of the Labour Party, and joined the Campaign Group. His political stances were Eurosceptic, an advocate of Irish republicanism regarding Northern Ireland,[6] and opposed to abortion and the abolition of Section 28.[7] His views on Northern Ireland led him to be tagged "I.R. Wray" by Private Eye.[6] In 2002, he attacked the Scottish Parliament, labelling its members "odds and sods".[8]
Wray stood down as an MP, aged 70, at the 2005 general election following a stroke in December 2003.[5]
- ^ a b Aaron Goldstein "Jimmy Wray, R.I.P." Archived 12 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine, The American Spectator, 25 May 2013.
- ^ "Jimmy Wray, former Labour MP, dies at 78", telegraph.co.uk, 25 May 2013
- ^ "'Jack-the-lad' MP", BBC News, 3 March 2000.
- ^ Fiona McKay "Estranged wife pays tribute to 'lion of a man' Jimmy Wray", The Herald, 27 May 2013
- ^ a b c Brian Beacom "Jimmy Wray", The Herald, 27 May 2013.
- ^ a b Robert Waller and Byron Criddle The Almanac of British Politics, London and New York: Routledge, 1999 (6th ed.), p. 312.
- ^ Rory Reynolds, "Former Glasgow MP Jimmy Wray dies at 78", Scotland on Sunday, 26 May 2013
- ^ "MP lays into Scots Labour colleagues", BBC News, 22 March 2002