Background
Bill Etherington was born in Sunderland, County Durham and was educated at the Redby Infant and Junior Schools on Fulwell Road, Monkwearmouth Grammar School (five years above Hilary Armstrong) and latterly at Durham University.
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Bill Etherington
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University of Durham.
Career
He was an apprentice fitter at the Austin and Pickersgill Shipyard in Sunderland for five years from 1957. He became a fitter for Beal & Company in Sunderland in 1962, before joining the National Coal Board in 1963 and for the following twenty years worked as a fitter at the Dawdon Colliery in County Durham. He was first elected in the 1992 General Election for Sunderland North, replacing fellow left-winger, Bob Clay.
Etherington held the seat comfortably with a majority of 17,004 votes, and was re-elected with strong majorities subsequently.
He made his maiden speech on 11 May 1992. In the 1992 general election, he polled 60.7% of the vote, with his Conservative opponent winning 26.9% of the vote.
In the 1997 election, he took 68.2% against Conservative Andrew Selous, who ranked in second place with just 16.7% of the vote. He also confidently beat his Conservative opponents in the 2001 (627% against 179%) and 2005 general elections (544% against 198%).
While debating the reform of the House of Lords in March 2007, Etherington also called for the abolition of the British Monarchy.
Firefighters attacked in 2002.
Politics
He is a left-winger, a member of the Socialist Campaign Group and rebelled against Tony Blair"s government.
Membership
51st United Kingdom Parliament. 52nd United Kingdom Parliament. 53rd United Kingdom Parliament.
54th United Kingdom Parliament]
He has been a member of the National Union of Mineworkers since 1963, and from 1983 until his election was a full-time trade union official with them, and was a full-time official during the United Kingdom miners" strike (1984-1985).
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Born
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Nationality
United Kingdom -
Political Party
Labour Party