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Robert Laxton (born 7 September 1944) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby North from 1997 until standing down at the 2010 general election.

Early life and education

Laxton attended the Woodlands Secondary Modern School (became the Woodlands Community School) on Blenheim Drive in Allestree. He also attended the Derby College of Art and Technology.

Career

Laxton was a telecommunications engineer for the General Post Office from 1961. Whilst in this employment, he was a union representative and branch official for the Post Office Engineering Union, which became the National Communications Union in 1985, and finally the Communication Workers Union in 1995.

Prior to becoming an MP, he was leader of Derby City Council from 1986 to 1988 and again from 1994 to 1997. He was first elected to the city council in 1979.

Parliamentary career

During the 2001 Parliament he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Alan Johnson, an old friend from his days as a union official who was Higher Education Minister and then Secretary of State for Work and Pensions before resigning from this role in 2005 to become a British representative on the Council of Europe.

He was chair of the Waterways All-Party Parliamentary Group.

On 19 October 2009, Laxton announced his intention to stand down at the next general election.

References

1. "Bob Laxton standing down after next election". Derby Telegraph. 19 October 2009. Archived from the original on 3 December 2012.

External links

• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Bob Laxton MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Bob Laxton MP
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Bob Laxton

News items

• Boycotting the Labour conference in 2005

• 1944 births
• Living people
• Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
• UK MPs 1997–2001
• UK MPs 2001–2005
• UK MPs 2005–2010
• Alumni of the University of Derby
• Politicians from Derby
• Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire
• Councillors in Derby
• British Telecom people