Richard Caborn

Labour MP Sheffield Central

Date of birth

6 October 1943

Political profile

Richard Caborn was, for an unfortunate week soon after the 2001 election, the most high profile junior minister in the government.

Appointed minister for sport, he accepted the invitation to take part in a brief radio quiz on his sporting knowledge and failed to answer a single question correctly.

He had previously served, without incident, in the now-defunct DETR and the DTI.

A member of the Commons since 1983, he also served a single term as an MEP from 1979, during which time he donated most of his income to the Sheffield Labour Party.

Previously firmly on the left of the party, he is said to have been a model for Harry Perkins in Chris Mullin's "A very British coup".

He remains closer to John Prescott than to Blair or Brown, but has taken on the managerial jargon that is quintessential New Labour.

Prior to Labour's victory in 1997, he served as chairman of the Commons trade and industry select committee, a post he used to argue the case for the survival of Britain's mining industry.

Contact

Constituency office 0114 273 7947