Tony Cunningham

Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = Tony Cunningham
honorific-suffix =

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office = Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
term_start = 5 October 2008
term_end =
predecessor = Alan Campbell
successor =
primeminister = Gordon Brown
constituency_MP2 = Workington
parliament2 =
majority2 = 6,895 (17.4%)
predecessor2 = Dale Campbell-Savours
successor2 = Incumbent
term_start2 = 7 June 2001
term_end2 =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1952|09|16|df=yes
birth_place = Workington
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse = Anne Margaret Gilmore
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = University of Liverpool, Manchester Metropolitan University
occupation =
profession =
religion =


website =
footnotes =

Thomas Anthony Cunningham, known as Tony Cunningham, (born September 16, 1952) British Labour politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Workington and is a Government Whip otherwise known as a 'Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury'.

Early life

Tony Cunningham was born in Workington and educated at the Workington Grammar School (which became [http://www.stainburn.cumbria.sch.uk Stainburn School] in 1984) on Stainburn Road before attending the University of Liverpool where he received a BA degree in History and Politics in 1975, and the Didsbury College of Education, Manchester where he qualified as a teacher with a Postgraduate Certificate in Education in 1976. He began his teaching career at the Alsager [http://www.alsagerschool.co.uk Comprehensive School] on "Hassall Road" in 1976 until 1980 when he taught at the Mikunguni Trade School in Zanzibar. He returned to Britain in 1983 to teach history at the [http://www.netherhall.cumbria.sch.uk Netherhall School] on Netherhall Road in Maryport and he remained in post until his election to the European Parliament. For the duration of his teaching career he was a member of the National Union of Teachers, serving as a local secretary 1985-1994, and has been a member of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union since 1993. He was elected a councillor to the Allerdale District Council in 1987, and became the leader of the council in 1992, he stepped down from both the leadership and the council in 1994. He was the Mayor of Workington in 1990.

Parliamentary career

In 1994 he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for Cumbria and North Lancashire. On leaving Strasbourg and Brussels in 1999 he became the Chief Executive of Human Rights NGO where he remained until his election to Westminster. Tony Cunningham was elected at the 2001 General Election for the safe Labour seat of Workington on the retirement with a peerage of Dale Campbell-Savours. He was elected with a majority of 10,850 and has remained the MP there since. He made his maiden speech on July 13, 2001. [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo010713/debtext/10713-11.htm#10713-11_spnew0]

In parliament, he was a member of the European Scrutiny Select Committee from 2001 until he was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Elliot Morley. He was promoted to serve in the Tony Blair government after the 2005 General Election and was an Assistant Whip. Following Gordon Brown's October 2008 reshuffle, Cunningham was promoted from Assistant Whip to a Government Whip also known as a 'Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury'.

Personal life

He has been married to Anne Margaret Gilmore since 1984 and they have a stepson, a stepdaughter, a son (born December 2004), and a daughter Angela (born January 1993). Since 1994, he has been a patron of both Voluntary Service Overseas and the Mines Advisory Group. The constituency of Workington contains some of the Lake District and includes Keswick and the lakes of Buttermere and Crummock Water as well as the steelworks of Workington and the old docks of Maryport. It also houses Cockermouth, the birth place of the romantic poet William Wordsworth. Tony Cunningham is very sport minded, he is a qualified rugby union coach and referee, and has played cricket and football, as well as rugby (both league and union) competitively. He plays for the parliamentary football team, and he speaks some Swahili.

External links

* [http://www.tonycunningham.org.uk Tony Cunningham] official site
* [http://www.labour.org.uk/maps/locinfo.phtml?ctid=2212 The Labour Party - Tony Cunningham MP] official profile
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-6516,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Tony Cunningham MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/tony_cunningham/workington TheyWorkForYou.com - Tony Cunningham MP]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/647.stm BBC Politics page]

News items

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/4110493.stm Son born premature in December 2004]