Ian C. Lucas

Ian Colin Lucas (born 18 September 1960) has been the Member of Parliament for (MP) Wrexham since 2001. He was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Business and Regulatory Reform in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills from 2009 until Labour's defeat at the 2010 General Election.

Political career
In 1986 he joined the Labour Party, and became chairman of the Wrexham branch. He was on Gresford Community Council in Wrexham from 1987–91. He contested the traditionally conservative seat of North Shropshire in the 1997 general election, but was narrowly defeated. He has served as a school governor, and on a local hospital board.

He was later selected to stand for the UK Parliament in Wrexham, and won the seat in 2001.

In Parliament he has served as a member of the Environmental Audit Select Committee and the Transport Select Committee. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Bill Rammell MP, Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education. He has also taken an interest in sustainable energy, devolution of powers in Wales, and links with Germany.

He resigned as PPS on 6 September 2006, due to the refusal by Tony Blair to name a date for stepping down as Prime Minister. Fellow Welsh Labour MPs Wayne David and Mark Tami also resigned on the same day. Lucas is a member of both the Labour Friends of Israel and the Labour Friends of Palestine.

Lucas was promoted by Gordon Brown in the reshuffle of October 2008, to the role of assistant government whip. He then entered Government as a minister for the first time in the June 2009 reshuffle, becoming Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Business and Regulatory Reform in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and held that post until the Labour government left office in May 2010.

He was the Shadow Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Business and Regulatory Reform in the opposition frontbench under Edward Miliband, and was the shadow minister for the Middle East and Africa.