Bill O'Brien | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Normanton | |
In office 9 June 1983 –11 April 2005 | |
Preceded by | Albert Roberts |
Succeeded by | Ed Balls |
Personal details | |
Born | Pontefract | 25 January 1929
Nationality | British |
Political party | Labour |
Spouse | Jean Scofield |
Alma mater | University of Leeds |
Sir William O'Brien (born 25 January 1929) is a former Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. [1] [2]
Born in the historic market town of Pontefract,West Riding of Yorkshire,O'Brien was previously a miner from 1946 to 1983 and local councillor on Wakefield Council from 1973 to 1983. [3] He stood unsuccessfully for the post of Secretary for the Yorkshire region of the National Union of Mineworkers in 1973,losing to Owen Briscoe from the Yorkshire Left group. [4] He was considered the moderate candidate from the moderate Glasshoughton colliery,whereas Briscoe was a militant from Armthorpe Colliery. [4]
He gained a BEd degree from the University of Leeds in 1978.
O'Brien entered the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Normanton at the 1983 general election,and re-elected at four further general elections until he retired at the 2005 general election. He served as both an Opposition Spokesman on Environment (1987–92) and Opposition Spokesman on Northern Ireland (1992–94). [3]
He was named a Knight Bachelor in the 2010 Dissolution Honours. [5]
He married Jean Scofield,and the couple had three daughters. [3]
The Prince of Wales Colliery [6]
Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire,England,east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire,it is one of the towns in the City of Wakefield District and had a population of 30,881 at the 2011 Census. Pontefract's motto is Post mortem patris pro filio,Latin for "After the death of the father,support the son",a reference to the town's Royalist sympathies in the English Civil War.
Sir Kevin John Barron is a British Labour Party politician and former coal industry worker. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rother Valley from 1983 until 2019.
Wakefield,commonly known as the City of Wakefield,is a local government district with the status of a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire,England. Wakefield,the largest settlement,is the administrative centre of the district. The population of the City of Wakefield at the 2011 Census was 325,837. The district includes the Five Towns of Castleford,Featherstone,Knottingley,Normanton and Pontefract. Other towns include Hemsworth,Horbury,Ossett,South Elmsall and South Kirkby. The city and district are governed by Wakefield Council from the County Hall.
East Yorkshire is a county constituency for the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years by the first-past-the-post electoral system. The constituency has been represented by Greg Knight of the Conservative Party since the 2001 general election.
Normanton,Pontefract and Castleford is a constituency in West Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Yvette Cooper of the Labour Party since its 2010 creation. Cooper has served under the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown alongside her husband Ed Balls,and served as Shadow Home Secretary under the leadership of Ed Miliband. Having served as chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee,she is once again the Shadow Home Secretary.
Pontefract Collieries Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Pontefract,West Yorkshire,England. The team currently plays in the Northern Premier League Division One East. The club is affiliated to the West Riding County Football Association and Castleford &District Football Association. Founded in 1958 and nicknamed 'The Colls',they have traditional local rivalries with neighbours Glasshoughton Welfare,Hemsworth Miners Welfare and Selby Town. More recently,a rivalry has developed with Ossett United,including a promotion play-off at the end of the 2018–19 season.
Geoffrey Lofthouse,Baron Lofthouse of Pontefract,JP,popularly known in his former constituency as Geoff Lofthouse,was a British Labour politician,MP and life peer.
The 1919 Pontefract by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Pontefract in Yorkshire on 6 September 1919.
The 1990–91 Northern Counties East Football League season was the 9th in the history of Northern Counties East Football League,a football competition in England. Division Two was disbanded at the end of the season. Most of the Division Two clubs were promoted to Division One.
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The 1983–84 Northern Counties East Football League season was the second in the history of Northern Counties East Football League,a football competition in England.
The 1986–87 Northern Counties East Football League season was the 5th in the history of Northern Counties East Football League,a football competition in England. The league consisted of three divisions after Division Three was disbanded at the end of the previous season. Most of Division Three clubs were promoted to Division Two.
Owen Briscoe was a British trade unionist.
The 2016–17 Northern Counties East Football League season was the 35th in the history of Northern Counties East Football League,a football competition in England.
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The 1981–82 Yorkshire Football League season was the 56th and last season in the history of the Yorkshire Football League,a football competition in England.
Isaac Burns,often known as Ike Burns,was a British trade unionist and political activist.
The Prince of Wales Colliery was a coal mine that operated for over 130 years in Pontefract,West Yorkshire,England. It was permanently closed in 2002 after geological problems were found to make accessing remaining coal reserves unprofitable,and most of the site was later converted for housing.