'I have loved representing these people': Outgoing veteran MP reveals highlights from 40-year career
After a four-decade political career which saw him travel the world and sit around the cabinet table for historic moments, John Spellar counts helping constituents beat faceless bureaucracies his biggest successes.
The veteran Labour MP for Warley announced yesterday he will not be seeking re-election this summer but still hopes to "play a part in the Labour movement".
First elected to Parliament in 1982 for Northfield, a position which lasted a year, Mr Spellar found his political home in Warley, then Warley West, in 1992. He bows out at this year's General Election as his constituency is chopped, changed and renamed Smethwick.
Under Tony Blair the former union man was entrusted with jobs in the Ministries of Defence, Transport and Northern Ireland. And in 2017 he represented the UK in NATO.
However, speaking hours after he announced on X, formerly Twitter, that he was standing down, the 76-year-old revealed his favourite moments were winning victories for his constituents.
He told the Express & Star: "I have loved representing the people of my constituency, they are great people. And my biggest successes have been helping those constituents who needed help fighting against private and public sector bureaucracies and getting a breakthrough for them.
