Lawrie Quinn

Labour MP Scarborough and Whitby

Date of birth

25 December 1956

Political profile

One of Labour's unexpected winners of 1997, Lawrie Quinn held his seat in 2001 after spending four years focusing strongly on his constituency and the needs of the surrounding region.

As a member of the parliamentary Labour party's Seaside Group, he takes a strong interest in fishing quotas and also in rural issues and farming incomes.

His main interest, however, is in the rail industry on which he speaks with expertise, having spent his career as an engineer and project manager for British Rail and Railtrack.

He is on Labour's modernising wing and is a Fabian and a supporter of electoral reform.

He is interested in social justice and introduced a bill calling for the establishment of an Age Equality Commission.

He is generally loyal to the government, though he was one of the first Labour backbenchers to express doubts over American proposals for National Missile Defence.

Despite a relatively low profile in the Commons, he became parliamentary private secretary to Douglas Alexander following the 2001 election.

Contact

Constituency office 01723 507000