Ronnie Campbell

Ronald Campbell (born 14 August 1943) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Blyth Valley since the 1987 general election.

Early life
Campbell was born in Tynemouth, and grew up with seven siblings. He attended Blyth Ridley County High School, a secondary modern, and left school at 14 to become a coal miner. Before entering parliament he was a district councillor on Blyth Valley Borough Council from 1969 and a lay official of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). He was a miner from 1958–86. Campbell led picket lines in the 1984–85 miners' strike and was arrested twice.

Parliamentary career
Campbell was first elected as an MP for Blyth Valley at the 1987 general election with a majority of 853 votes, and has often voted against the government on issues such as the Iraq War. He is an outspoken socialist. When the government nationalised Northern Rock in 2008, Campbell declared it "the People's Bank" and opened an account.

In May 2009, during the high-profile MPs expenses scandal, Campbell agreed to return over £6,000 he had claimed for furnishings in his London home.

In 2013, Campbell was one of 22 Labour MPs to vote against same-sex marriage, out of 255.

Upon re-election in May 2015, Campbell announced that he would stand down at the next general election, although this did not materialise.

Campbell was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015 and one of a handful of Labour MPs to publicly support leaving the European Union.

Campbell was one of 13 MPs to vote against triggering the 2017 general election. Having previously said he would stand down at the next election, he changed his mind stating: "It was my intention to stand down at the next general election, however due to circumstances following the announcement of the snap election I have decided to stand again for Blyth Valley.".

Personal life
He married Deirdre McHale in 1967, who serves on Northumberland County Council. They have five sons, including a set of twins, and one daughter. Whilst serving as an MP he had a reunion with a half-brother he had not known due to the latter's adoption.

In September 2016 Campbell underwent chemotherapy after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. He returned to Parliament on 30 November 2016 and was welcomed back during Prime Minister's Questions.

News items

 * Northumberland County Council with £11m in Lehman Brothers in October 2008
 * Hairdresser in Cumbria with the same name gets his emails in November 2003
 * His son in the Royal Marines in March 2003
 * Cleared of assault in May 2002
 * Shoplifter given £10,000 trial over 92p tin of spaghetti bolognese in May 2002
 * Suspended from the Commons in March 1998