Ian Lavery

Ian Lavery (born 6 January 1963) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wansbeck since 2010. He served as the Chair of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn from 2017 to 2020 and was President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 2002 to 2010. He is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus. Early life and education Ian Lavery was born on 6 January 1963 in Newcastle upon Tyne to parents John Robert Lavery and his wife, Patricia. After leaving East School, Lavery began a Youth Training Scheme before working in the construction industry. Following a recruitment campaign by the National Coal Board, he started work at the Lynemouth colliery in January 1980. In July 1980, Lavery started a mining craft apprenticeship, transferring to Ellington Colliery in 1981 and attended New College Durham, receiving a Higher National Certificate in mining engineering. Union and early political career In 1986, Lavery was elected onto the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) committee at Ellington Colliery as compensation secretary. Later, he was voted on to the Northumberland Executive Committee, and then on to the North East Area Executive Committee. He has said that because of his union activity, he was barred by management from completing his Higher National Diploma qualification: I was the only one in the whole of the North East Area who had completed the HNC who wasn't given that opportunity. I went to see the manager, not that I would have gone by the way, and he said that they didn't think I would be interested. I asked him if he had thought to ask me, and he said no, not really, and he was smiling as he said it. Lavery became more active in the Labour Party and trade union movement. After serving as first cabinet chair of Wansbeck District Council, Lavery was appointed general secretary of the Northumberland area through the NUM. In 1992, Lavery stood for the national executive committee of the NUM. In the subsequent ballot, he was elected in the first round having gained more than 50% of the vote. When Arthur Scargill stood down as NUM president in August 2002, Lavery was elected unopposed to replace him.