Phil Sawford

Labour MP Kettering

Date of birth

26 June 1950

Political profile

Phil Sawford was one of Labour's surprise victors in 1997; he unseated cabinet minister Roger Freeman and won with one of the slenderest majorities in the Commons, which he slightly increased in 2001.

He was helped by his extremely strong local credentials; he had been raised in the town, and had been leader of the local council for eight years up until his election to Parliament.

A former steel worker, he studied at Oxford after being made redundant and became a retraining consultant himself.

He retains an extremely strong interest in employment issues, and is an advocate of greater protection of the workforce.

He has also called for greater protection of British industry by the government.

Mr Sawford is on the left of the Labour Party, and a member of the Campaign Group; he is also one of the few avowed republicans in the Commons.

Despite this, he also has a strong residual loyalty to the party leadership, and seems to agonise over his occasional rebellions, such as over linking pensions to earnings.

Contact

Commons office: 020 7219 6213

Constituency office: 01536 411900