Barry Sheerman was first elected to Parliament as the Labour Party MP for Huddersfield East from 1979-83, and then for Huddersfield since the 1983 general election. In 2019 he was reelected with a majority of 4,937.
The Huddersfield constituency of West Yorkshire is found in the eastern Pennines and is centred predominately around the large town of Huddersfield. A former textiles hub in the industrial revolution, Huddersfield is famous as the birthplace of Rugby League, and the local Huddersfield Giants play in the super league. The town’s railway station is a Grade 1 listed building. Huddersfield University is found within this constituency. The birthplace of the former Labour Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, Huddersfield is a safe Labour seat which has been held by the party consistently since it was created under the current boundaries in 1983.
Sheerman was born in 1940 and is one of Parliament’s oldest MPs. He is now in his eighties, and has served at Westminster for well over four decades. In late 2021, he announced that he planned to step down from the Commons at the next election.
From 1983-88, Sheerman was the Labour spokesperson on education and employment; for Home Affairs (as Shadow Deputy Home Secretary) from 1988-92; and for Disabled People’s Rights from 1992-4.
He was previously a long standing Chairman of the House of Commons Education and Skills Select Committee in the early part of the Twenty First Century.
Sheerman went to Hampton Grammar School and then Kingston Technical College. He was educated at the London School of Economics and at the University of London. He became a lecturer at the University of Wales, Swansea in 1966 and remained there until his election to parliament in 1979. He was formerly the lecturer to the Conservative, Nigel Evans MP, during Evans’ time at the University.
Sheerman supported Sir Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour leadership election. He had previously backed Owen Smith in his 2016 challenge to Jeremy Corbyn.
Sheerman himself had called for Gordon Brown to resign when he was Prime Minister, back in December 2009, describing him as ‘unloved’ by voters.
Barry Sheerman is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Carbon Monoxide; Design and Innovation; Management; Miscarriages of Justice; Skills, Careers and Employment; and Sustainable Resources. He is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Accounting for Growth; Film and Broader Screen; Global Education; Manufacturing; the River Thames; Transport Safety; and the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development.
Sheerman is Chair of Trustees for the Parliamentary Advisory Committee for Transport Safety (PACTS).
Sheerman is married with four children.
Email: sheermanb@parliament.uk
Personal Website: http://www.barrysheerman.org.uk/
Twitter: @BSheermanMP
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Barry-Sheerman/
