Background
DONOHOE, Brian was born on September 10, 1948 in Kilmarnock. Parents: George J. Donohoe and Catherine S. Donohoe.
DONOHOE, Brian was born on September 10, 1948 in Kilmarnock. Parents: George J. Donohoe and Catherine S. Donohoe.
Born in Kilmarnock and educated at the Patna and Loudoun Montgomery Primary Schools, and the Irvine Royal Academy, Donohoe later attended the Kilmarnock Technical College, where he received a national certificate in Engineering in 1972.
Prior to constituency boundary changes in 2005 he was Member of Parliament for Cunninghame South and was first elected in 1992. He was an apprentice fitter and turner at the Ailsa Shipyard in Troon from 1965, before becoming a draughtsman in 1969. In 1977 he spent a few months as an engineer at the Hunterston nuclear power plant, before joining Imperial Chemical Industries Organics Division as a draughtsman later in the year.
In 1981 Donohoe became a district officer for the National Association of Local Government Officers (NALGO), where he remained until his election to Westminster.
An active trade unionist, he was a convenor for the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (Telegraphic Agency of the USSR) 1969-1981. He was elected as the treasurer of the Cunninghame South Constituency Labour Party for eight years in 1983.
Donohoe was elected to the House of Commons at the 1992 General Election for the Cunninghame South seat on the retirement of the sitting Labour Member of Parliament David Lambie. Donohoe held the seat with a majority of 10,680, and was an Member of Parliament until 2015 when he was defeated at the general election by the Scottish National Party"s Phillippa Whitford.
He made his maiden speech on 13 May 1992.
In November 2008, Donohoe was one of 18 MPs who signed a Commons motion backing a Team Great Britain football team at the 2012 Olympics, saying football "should not be any different from other competing sports and our young talent should be allowed to show their skills on the world stage". The football governing bodies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all opposed to a Great Britain team, fearing it would stop them competing as individual nations in future tournaments. Donohoe opposes same-sex marriage and has stated that he will oppose the rest of his party and vote against the government bill to introduce "equal marriage" in England and Wales.
In the United Kingdom general election, 2015 Donohoe was beaten in the constituency of Central Ayrshire by the Scottish National Party"s Philippa Whitford by a margin of 13,589.
After his defeat, Donohoe said that he was "disappointed" to lose but that there was a silver lining: "I"m of an age where I can now turn round with the greatest delight and tell people to "fuck off!" which I haven’t been able to do for a hell of a long time in both my trade union life and also in this one. You have to take all sorts coming through the door and be kind, considerate and generous with your time and sometimes you wonder why.
But at the end of it you"re there and I"ve always made the pledge as an Member of Parliament that I wasn"t just there to represent the people who voted for me, I was there to help.".
51st United Kingdom Parliament. 52nd United Kingdom Parliament. 53rd United Kingdom Parliament.
54th United Kingdom Parliament.
55th United Kingdom Parliament]
In parliament he served as a member of the Transport Select Committee, in its various forms, from 1993 until 2005. He has been a member of the Administration Select Committee since the 2005 General Election.
Spouse Christine Donohoe (née Pawson), 1973. Children: two.