Background
Gerrard was born in Farnworth, Lancashire and educated at Manchester Grammar School and Wadham College, Oxford where he was awarded a Bachelor degree in natural science in 1964.
Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom
Gerrard was born in Farnworth, Lancashire and educated at Manchester Grammar School and Wadham College, Oxford where he was awarded a Bachelor degree in natural science in 1964.
He later studied at the Chelsea College of Science and Technology where he received a Master of Education in Education in 1973.
He received a Diploma in Professional Studies in Education (DPSE) from the Polytechnic of the South Bank in 1983. From 1965 he taught at the Queen Elizabeth"s Grammar School for Boys, Barnet, leaving in 1968 to take up the position of lecturer in computing at the Hackney College, where he remained until his election to parliament 24 years later. He was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Waltham Forest in 1973.
He was the leader of the Labour group from 1983, and the leader of the Council from 1986 until he left the council in 1990.
He was selected to contest the Chingford constituency at the 1979 general election but was defeated by the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament Norman Tebbit by 12,383 votes. He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1992 general election for Walthamstow, when he unseated the one-term Tory Hugo Summerson by 3,022 votes.
He received 45.7% of the vote, compared to his Conservative opponent who received 37.2% of the vote. He made his maiden speech on 12 May 1992.
In Parliament he served on the environment select committee from 1995 until he was made a Parliamentary Private Secretary (Parliamentary Private Secretary) to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury Dawn Primarolo following the 1997 General Election.
He resigned as Primarolo"s Parliamentary Private Secretary just a few months later in 1997 over lone-parent benefits cuts introduced by the Secretary of State for Social Security Harriet Harman. He was the chairman of the all-party groups on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and on refugees. He is a director of the Theatre Royal, Stratford East.
Gerrard announced on 23 February 2007 that he would be standing down as an Member of Parliament at the next general election.
He is a left-winger within the Labour Party, and was a member of the Socialist Campaign Group and formerly a member of Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament"s national council.
51st United Kingdom Parliament. 52nd United Kingdom Parliament. 53rd United Kingdom Parliament.
54th United Kingdom Parliament]
He served on several select committees and was a member of the administration committee since the 2005 general election.