Dennis Skinner: Difference between revisions

Dennis Skinner
Dennis Skinner; MP
	Skinner in 2011
Chairman of the Labour Party
	In office; 13 June 1988 – 27 October 1989
Leader	Neil Kinnock
Preceded by	Neil Kinnock
Succeeded by	Jo Richardson
Member of Parliament; for Bolsover
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 18 June 1970
Preceded by	Harold Neal
Majority	5,288 (11.4%)
Personal details
Born	Dennis Edward Skinner; 11 February 1932 (age 92)
Website	www.parliament.uk/.../commons/mr-dennis-skinner/325

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Revision as of 00:27, 16 June 2018

Dennis Edward Skinner (born 11 February 1932) is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolsover since 1970. Skinner became the longest continuously serving Labour MP on 16 December 2017. He was Chairman of the Labour Party for one year from 1988–89 and served as a member of Labour's National Executive Committee, with brief breaks, for thirty years.

Parliamentary career

In 1956, Skinner joined the Labour Party. He was first elected as MP for the safe Labour seat of Bolsover at the 1970 general election and has retained it ever since. He was a strong supporter of the National Union of Mineworkers and their leader Arthur Scargill in the 1984-85 miners' strike.

Skinner has voted for equalisation of the age of consent, civil partnerships, adoption rights for same-sex couples and to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, and for same sex couples to marry, and has a strongly pro-choice stance on abortion.

In 2000, Skinner denounced former ally Ken Livingstone, then serving as a Labour MP. Livingstone had failed to win the party's nomination to be a candidate for Mayor of London, and had then decided to run as an independent candidate instead, urging his supporters to help Green Party candidates get elected. Skinner said that Livingstone had betrayed Labour Party activists in his Brent East constituency, whom he described as having fought for him "like tigers" when his majority had been small: "He tells them he's going to be the Labour candidate, then he lies to them. To me that's as low as you can get". He contrasted Livingstone with the official Labour candidate, Frank Dobson, saying that Dobson was "a bloke and a half... not a prima donna ... not someone with an ego as big as a house". Skinner said Livingstone would "hit the headlines, but you'll never be able to trust him because he's broken his pledge and his loyalty to his party... The personality cult of the ego does not work down a coal mine and it does not work in the Labour Party". Conversely, despite his left-wing views Skinner had a positive relationship with Prime Minister Tony Blair, a leading figure on the right of the party, stemming from advice that Skinner gave Blair regarding public speaking.

In 2003, Skinner was among the quarter of Labour MPs who voted against the Iraq War; he later rebelled against the party line when he voted against government policy to allow terror suspects to be detained without trial for ninety days. In 2007, Skinner and 88 other Labour MPs voted against the Labour government's policy of renewing the Trident Nuclear Missile System.

In 2014, he was voted off Labour's national executive committee.

Skinner was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015. He later supported Corbyn, alongside the majority of Labour MPs, in voting against the extension of RAF airstrikes against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria on Wednesday 2 December 2015.

Skinner voted for Britain to leave the European Union. He favours outright abolition of the House of Lords.

Suspensions

Skinner has been suspended from Parliament on at least ten occasions, usually for "unparliamentary language" when attacking opponents. Notable infractions have included:

Twice in 1984 once for calling David Owen a "pompous sod" (and only agreeing to withdraw "pompous"), and the second time for stating Thatcher would bribe judges.
In 1992, referring to the Minister of Agriculture John Gummer as a "little squirt of a Minister" and a "slimy wart on Margaret Thatcher's nose".
In 1995, accusing the Major government of a "crooked deal" to sell off Britain's coal mines.
In 2005, when referring to the economic record of the Conservatives in the 1980s, making the remark, "The only thing that was growing then were the lines of coke in front of boy George and the rest of the Tories", a reference to allegations originally published in the Sunday Mirror of cocaine use by the Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne (though, in the Commons, Skinner referred to the News of the World).
In 2006, accusing Deputy Speaker Sir Alan Haselhurst of leniency towards remarks made by opposition frontbencher and future Prime Minister Theresa May "because she's a Tory".
In 2016, for referring to Prime Minister David Cameron as "Dodgy Dave" in relation to Cameron's tax affairs.

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 [[Category:Labour Members of Parliament]]
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+<div class="column" style="margin 1em; float: left;">
+<div style= "margin: 1em;width:22em; border:3px solid #ddd;">
 {{Infobox MP
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 | caption = Skinner in 2011
 | alt =
-| office = [[National Executive Committee|Chairman of the Labour Party]]
+| office = Chairman of the Labour Party
-| leader = [[Neil Kinnock]]
+| leader = Neil Kinnock
-| predecessor = [[Neil Kinnock]]
+| predecessor = Neil Kinnock
-| successor = [[Jo Richardson]]
+| successor = Jo Richardson
 | term_start = 13 June 1988
 | term_end = 27 October 1989
-| office1 = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br>for [[Bolsover (UK Parliament constituency)|Bolsover]]
+| office1 = Member of Parliament<br>for [[Bolsover]]
 | parliament =
 | majority1 = 5,288 (11.4%)
-| predecessor1 = [[Harold Neal]]
+| predecessor1 = Harold Neal
 | successor1 =
 | term_start1 = 18 June 1970
 | term_end1 =
 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1932|02|11}}
-| birth_place = [[Clay Cross]], [[Derbyshire]], England
+| birth_place =
 | death_date =
 | death_place =
-| nationality = British
+| nationality =
+| spouse =
-| spouse = {{marriage|Mary Parker|1960|1989|reason=separated}}
-| partner = Lois Blasenheim
+| partner =
-| party = [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
+| party =
-| children = 3
+| children =
-| alma_mater = [[Ruskin College]]
+| alma_mater =
-| profession = [[Coal mining|Miner]], [[politician]]
+| profession =
+|website =   www.parliament.uk/.../commons/mr-dennis-skinner/325
 }}
+</div>
-'''Dennis Edward Skinner''' (born 11 February 1932) is a British politician of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] serving as the [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Bolsover (UK Parliament constituency)|Bolsover]] since [[United Kingdom general election, 1970|1970]]. Skinner became the longest continuously serving Labour MP on 16 December 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/942082928837890050|title=Jeremy Corbyn MP Official Twitter|website=Twitter|language=en|access-date=19 December 2017}}</ref> He was Chairman of the Labour Party for one year from 1988–89 and served as a member of Labour's [[National Executive Committee]], with brief breaks, for thirty years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/mr-dennis-skinner/325|title=Mr Dennis Skinner MP|website=UK Parliament|language=en|access-date=5 April 2017}}</ref>
+</div>
-He is known for his left-wing views<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/local/dennis-skinner-the-beast-of-bolsover-five-of-his-best-quotes-1-6968531|title=Profile:Dennis Skinner,The Beast of Bolsover, 5 of his Best Quotes|accessdate=15 December 2014|location=London|work=The Star|first=Michael|last=Broomhead|date=24 November 2014}}</ref> and is considered by some to have an [[acerbic wit]].<ref>[http://www.theweek.co.uk/62692/dennis-skinner-quotes-the-beast-of-bolsover-in-full-flow "Dennis Skinner quotes: the Beast of Bolsover in full flow"], ''The Week'', 25 February 2015.  Retrieved 12 April 2017.</ref> He is a member of the [[Socialist Campaign Group]] of Labour MPs.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5412667/Dennis-Skinner-claimed-for-accountants-fees-on-MPs-expenses.html|title=Dennis Skinner: claimed for accountants' fees on MPs' expenses|last=Editor|first=By Chris Hastings, Public Affairs|work=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=4 April 2017|language=en}}</ref>
+'''Dennis Edward Skinner''' (born 11 February 1932) is the Member of Parliament (MP) for [[Bolsover]] since 1970. Skinner became the longest continuously serving Labour MP on 16 December 2017. He was Chairman of the Labour Party for one year from 1988–89 and served as a member of Labour's National Executive Committee, with brief breaks, for thirty years.
-==Early life and career==
-Born in [[Clay Cross]], [[Derbyshire]], Skinner is the third of nine children. His father Edward Skinner was a [[coal miner]] who was sacked after the [[1926 United Kingdom general strike|1926 general strike]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/mar/20/profiles.parliament9|title=Profile: Dennis Skinner|accessdate=9 June 2010|location=London|work=The Guardian|first=Andrew|last=Roth|date=26 March 2001}}</ref> and his mother Lucy was a cleaner.<ref name="theguardian">{{cite news |last=Adams|first=Tim|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/30/dennis-skinner-never-done-cross-party-stuff-nature-of-the-beast-documentary|title=Dennis Skinner: ‘I’ve never done any cross-party stuff. I can’t even contemplate it’|work= |location= |publisher=''[[The Observer]]''|date=30 July 2017|accessdate=30 July 2017}}</ref>
-In 1942, at the age of 10, Skinner won a scholarship to attend [[Tupton Hall School|Tupton Hall Grammar School]]<ref name="theguardian"/> after passing the [[eleven-plus]] a year early. In 1949, he went on to work as a coal miner<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/profile-the-beast-that-roars-from-the-pits-dennis-skinner-mp-incorruptible-class-act-1563086.html|title=Profile: The beast that roars from the pits: Dennis Skinner MP, incorruptible class act|publisher=The Independent|date=12 December 1992|accessdate=29 April 2010|location=London}}</ref><ref name=skinnerguardianinterview>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/02/labour-mp-dennis-skinner-at-83-interview|title=Labour’s Dennis Skinner at 83: ‘Father of the House? You must be joking’|first=Stephen|last=Moss|date=2 May 2015|publisher=|via=The Guardian}}</ref> at Parkhouse colliery until its closure in 1962. He then worked at Glapwell colliery near Chesterfield.<ref name="theguardian"/>
-In 1964, at the age of 32, he became the youngest-ever president of the Derbyshire region of the [[National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)|National Union of Mineworkers]]. After working for 20 years as a miner,<ref name=burtonmail>{{cite web|url=http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/dennis-skinner-beast-bolsover-roaring/story-25886599-detail/story.html|title=Dennis Skinner, the 'Beast of Bolsover', is still roaring|date=19 January 2015|publisher=|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150805123814/http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/Dennis-Skinner-Beast-Bolsover-roaring/story-25886599-detail/story.html|archivedate=5 August 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref> he became a member of [[Derbyshire County Council]]<ref name="burtonmail"/> and a Clay Cross councillor in the 1960s.<ref name=skinnerguardianinterview/>
-In 1967, he attended [[Ruskin College]], Oxford, after completing a course run by the National Union of Mineworkers at the [[University of Sheffield]].<ref name="theguardian"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/07/thanks-ruskin-college|title=Thanks to Ruskin|date=7 July 2014|work=The Guardian|access-date=5 April 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
 ==Parliamentary career==
-In 1956, Skinner joined the Labour Party.<ref name="theguardian"/> He was first elected as MP for the safe Labour seat of [[Bolsover (UK Parliament constituency)|Bolsover]] at the [[United Kingdom general election, 1970|1970 general election]] and has retained it ever since. He was a strong supporter of the [[National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)|National Union of Mineworkers]] and their leader [[Arthur Scargill]] in the [[UK miners' strike (1984–85)|1984-85 miners' strike]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}
+In 1956, Skinner joined the Labour Party. He was first elected as MP for the safe Labour seat of Bolsover at the 1970 general election and has retained it ever since. He was a strong supporter of the National Union of Mineworkers and their leader Arthur Scargill in the 1984-85 miners' strike.
-Skinner has voted for equalisation of the age of consent, civil partnerships, adoption rights for same-sex couples and to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, and for same sex couples to marry,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpid=1430&dmp=826|title=Dennis Skinner MP, Bolsover voted strongly for the policy Homosexuality - Equal rights|accessdate=4 October 2008|publisher=publicwhip.org.uk}}</ref>  and has a strongly [[pro-choice]] stance on [[abortion]]. On 20 January 1989, he [[filibustering|talked out]] a move to reduce the number of weeks at which termination of a pregnancy can be legally performed in Britain by moving a writ for the [[Richmond (Yorks) by-election, 1989|Richmond by-election]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm198889/cmhansrd/1989-01-20/Debate-1.html|title=House of Commons Friday 20&nbsp;January&nbsp;1989 The House met at half-past Nine o'clock|accessdate=4 October 2008|publisher=www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930033547/http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm198889/cmhansrd/1989-01-20/Debate-1.html|archivedate=30 September 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> On 7 June 1985, he talked out a bill by [[Enoch Powell]] which would have banned [[stem cell research]] by moving a writ for [[Brecon and Radnor by-election, 1985|a by-election in Brecon and Radnor]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2008/may/22/michaelwhitespoliticalblog165|location=London|work=The Guardian|first=Michael|last=White|title=Stem cells: When the Beast of Bolsover snookered Enoch Powell|date=22 May 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1985/jun/07/new-writ-brecon-and-radnor#column_546|title=New Writ (Brecon and Radnor)|work=millbanksystems.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/jun/17/dennis-skinner-formed-pits-war|location=London|work=The Guardian|first=Decca|last=Aitkenhead|title=Dennis Skinner: 'I was formed in the pits and the war'|date=17 June 2012}}</ref> Skinner later described this as his proudest political moment.<ref name=guardian />
-In 2000, Skinner denounced former ally [[Ken Livingstone]], then serving as a Labour MP. Livingstone had failed to win the party's nomination to be a candidate for [[Mayor of London]], and had then decided to run as an independent candidate instead, urging his supporters to help [[Green Party of England and Wales|Green Party]] candidates get elected. Skinner said that Livingstone had betrayed Labour Party activists in his [[Brent East (UK Parliament constituency)|Brent East]] constituency, whom he described as having fought for him "like tigers" when his majority had been small: "He tells them he's going to be the Labour candidate, then he lies to them. To me that's as low as you can get". He contrasted Livingstone with the official Labour candidate, [[Frank Dobson]], saying that Dobson was "a bloke and a half... not a prima donna ... not someone with an ego as big as a house". Skinner said Livingstone would "hit the headlines, but you'll never be able to trust him because he's broken his pledge and his loyalty to his party... The personality cult of the ego does not work down a coal mine and it does not work in the Labour Party".<ref>{{cite web|last=White|first=Michael|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2000/apr/20/londonmayor.uk|title=Old leftwing ally Skinner turns on Livingstone|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=20 April 2000|accessdate=9 October 2015}}</ref> Conversely, despite his left-wing views Skinner had a positive relationship with Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]], a leading figure on the right of the party, stemming from advice that Skinner gave Blair regarding public speaking.<ref name=guardian />
-In 2003, Skinner was among the quarter of Labour MPs who voted against the [[Iraq War]]; he later rebelled against the party line when he voted against government policy to allow terror suspects to be detained without trial for ninety days. In 2007, Skinner and 88 other Labour MPs voted against the Labour government's policy of renewing the [[British Trident system|Trident Nuclear Missile System]].<ref name=bbc88>{{cite web|title=Trident vote: Labour rebels|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6452315.stm|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|accessdate=27 April 2014|date=14 March 2007}}</ref>
+Skinner has voted for equalisation of the age of consent, civil partnerships, adoption rights for same-sex couples and to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, and for same sex couples to marry, and has a strongly pro-choice stance on abortion.
-Skinner supported [[David Miliband]] in the [[Labour Party (UK) leadership election, 2010|2010 Labour leadership election]], which was won by his brother [[Ed Miliband]], with a very small margin.<ref>{{cite news|title=David Miliband's Labour leadership bid wins backing of Dennis Skinner|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/sep/10/david-miliband-backing-dennis-skinner|accessdate=17 October 2011|work=The Guardian|agency=via Press Association|date=10 September 2010}}</ref> In March 2011, he was one of 15 MPs<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12816279 |title=BBC News - The full list of how MPs voted on Libya action |publisher=bbc.co.uk |date=22 March 2011 |accessdate=28 June 2016}}</ref> who voted against [[Operation Ellamy|British participation in NATO's Libya intervention]].
+In 2000, Skinner denounced former ally Ken Livingstone, then serving as a Labour MP. Livingstone had failed to win the party's nomination to be a candidate for Mayor of London, and had then decided to run as an independent candidate instead, urging his supporters to help Green Party candidates get elected. Skinner said that Livingstone had betrayed Labour Party activists in his Brent East constituency, whom he described as having fought for him "like tigers" when his majority had been small: "He tells them he's going to be the Labour candidate, then he lies to them. To me that's as low as you can get". He contrasted Livingstone with the official Labour candidate, Frank Dobson, saying that Dobson was "a bloke and a half... not a prima donna ... not someone with an ego as big as a house". Skinner said Livingstone would "hit the headlines, but you'll never be able to trust him because he's broken his pledge and his loyalty to his party... The personality cult of the ego does not work down a coal mine and it does not work in the Labour Party". Conversely, despite his left-wing views Skinner had a positive relationship with Prime Minister Tony Blair, a leading figure on the right of the party, stemming from advice that Skinner gave Blair regarding public speaking.
-[[File:Dennis Skinner, 2016 Labour Party Conference.jpg|upright|thumb|Skinner at the 2016 [[Labour Party (UK) Conference|Labour Party Conference]]]]
-In 2014, he was voted off Labour's national executive committee.<ref name="theguardian"/> In the same year, he stated that he has never sent an email, and does not have a Twitter account.<ref>{{Citation|last=ChatPolitics|title=Dennis Skinner on Santa Claus, his fake 'Twitters' account, God, and UKIP vs the Greens|date=28 November 2014|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rzHKABhsJ8|accessdate=15 May 2016}}</ref>
+In 2003, Skinner was among the quarter of Labour MPs who voted against the Iraq War; he later rebelled against the party line when he voted against government policy to allow terror suspects to be detained without trial for ninety days. In 2007, Skinner and 88 other Labour MPs voted against the Labour government's policy of renewing the Trident Nuclear Missile System.
-Skinner was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate [[Jeremy Corbyn]] as a candidate in the [[Labour Party (UK) leadership election, 2015|Labour leadership election of 2015]].<ref name=Corb_nom>{{cite news|title=Who nominated who for the 2015 Labour leadership election?|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/06/who-nominated-who-2015-labour-leadership-election|work=New Statesman|date=15 June 2015|accessdate=26 November 2015}}</ref> He later supported Corbyn, alongside the majority of Labour MPs, in voting against the extension of RAF airstrikes against [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] in [[Syria]] on Wednesday 2 December 2015.<ref>{{cite news|last=Stone|first=Jon|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/how-mps-voted-on-bombing-isis-in-syria-full-list-a6758371.html|title= How MPs voted on bombing ISIS in Syria - full list|work=[[The Independent]]|date= 3 December 2015|access-date= 3 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34987921|title= Syria strikes: Find out how your MP voted|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date= 3 December 2015|access-date= 3 December 2015}}</ref>
+In 2014, he was voted off Labour's national executive committee.
-Skinner voted for [[Brexit|Britain to leave the European Union]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/06/beast-bolsover-backs-brexit/|title=Beast of Bolsover backs Brexit {{!}} Coffee House|date=9 June 2016|work=Coffee House|access-date=4 April 2017|language=en-US}}</ref> He favours outright abolition of the House of Lords.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk_politics/2001/open_politics/lords/abolition.stm|title=BBC News {{!}} In Depth {{!}} UK Politics {{!}} Open Politics|website=news.bbc.co.uk|access-date=4 April 2017}}</ref>
+Skinner was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate [[Jeremy Corbyn]] as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015. He later supported Corbyn, alongside the majority of Labour MPs, in voting against the extension of RAF airstrikes against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria on Wednesday 2 December 2015.
-Following the death of Sir [[Gerald Kaufman]], Dennis Skinner became the oldest serving MP, but did not become [[Father of the House]] despite being elected to parliament on the same day as Kaufman and Conservative MP [[Kenneth Clarke]] in 1970. This is due to the way seniority is calculated; when two or more MPs were elected on the same day, the one who was sworn in first is considered to be the more senior. Skinner stated in 2015 that he would not accept the honorific title.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/02/labour-mp-dennis-skinner-at-83-interview|title=Labour’s Dennis Skinner at 83: ‘Father of the House? You must be joking’|last=Moss|first=Stephen|date=2 May 2015|work=The Guardian|access-date=3 April 2017|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
+Skinner voted for Britain to leave the European Union. He favours outright abolition of the House of Lords.
-===Suspensions===
-Skinner has been [[Suspension from the UK parliament|suspended from Parliament]] on at least ten occasions, usually for "[[unparliamentary language]]" when attacking opponents. Notable infractions have included:
-* Twice in 1984 once for calling [[David Owen]] a "pompous sod" (and only agreeing to withdraw "pompous"),<ref name="Silvera">{{Cite news|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/dennis-skinner-five-times-rebellious-labour-mp-kicked-out-parliament-again-1554384|title=Dennis Skinner's record of rebellion: Veteran Labour MP kicked out of parliament yet again|last=Silvera|first=Ian|date=12 April 2016|work=International Business Times UK|access-date=3 April 2017}}</ref> and the second time for stating Thatcher would bribe judges.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/jun/09/heckle-house-commons|title=When is it a heckle too far for the House of Commons?|last=White|first=Michael|date=9 June 2010|work=The Guardian|access-date=3 April 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
-* In 1992, referring to the [[Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food|Minister of Agriculture]] [[John Gummer]] as a "little squirt of a Minister" and a "slimy wart on Margaret Thatcher's nose".<ref name="Silvera"/>
-* In 1995, accusing the [[John Major|Major]] government of a "crooked deal" to sell off Britain's coal mines.<ref name="Silvera"/>
-* In 2005, when referring to the economic record of the Conservatives in the 1980s, making the remark, "The only thing that was growing then were the lines of coke in front of boy George and the rest of the Tories", a reference to allegations originally published in the ''[[Sunday Mirror]]'' of cocaine use by the [[Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer|Shadow Chancellor]], [[George Osborne]] (though, in the Commons, Skinner referred to the ''[[News of the World]]'').
-* In 2006, accusing Deputy Speaker [[Alan Haselhurst|Sir Alan Haselhurst]] of leniency towards remarks made by opposition frontbencher and future Prime Minister [[Theresa May]] "because she's a Tory".<ref>[http://politics.guardian.co.uk/commons/story/0,,1757594,00.html "Skinner thrown out of the Commons - again"], ''The Guardian'', 20 April 2006.</ref>
-*In 2016, for referring to Prime Minister [[David Cameron]] as "Dodgy Dave" in relation to [[David Cameron#Inheritance and family wealth|Cameron's tax affairs]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36017171|title=Dennis Skinner kicked out of Commons for Cameron jibe|publisher=BBC News|date=11 April 2016}}</ref>
+==Suspensions==
-===Queen's Speech quips===
-Known for his [[Republicanism in the United Kingdom|republican]] sentiments, Skinner has regularly heckled during the annual [[State Opening of Parliament|Queen's Speech ceremony]]. He does this upon the arrival of [[Black Rod]] (the symbol of royal authority in the [[House of Lords]]) to summon MPs to hear the Queen's speech in the Lords' chamber. The best known, according to the ''[[New Statesman]]'' and other sources, are listed as follows:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2010/05/black-rod-skinner-queen-beast|title=Dennis Skinner’s best Queen’s Speech jokes|publisher=New Statesman|accessdate=30 April 2012}}</ref>
-{| class="wikitable"
-|-
-! style="width:5%;"|Year!! Quote!! style="width:70%;"|Notes
-|- valign="top"
-|1980||''None''||Skinner and other Labour MPs blocked the entrance of Black Rod who was attempting to summon the Commons for the prorogation of Parliament, the cause being the [[List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1979|Conservative government]] announcing increased rents for council houses, which the Labour Party wanted more information on.
-|- valign="top"
-|1987||"Tell [[Elizabeth II|her]] to sell up!"||A reference to the tightening of belts{{dubious|date=February 2016}} in the United Kingdom.
-|- valign="top"
-|1988||"Ey up, here comes [[Puss In Boots]]!"||To Black Rod, Sir [[John Gingell]].
-|- valign="top"
-|1989||"Oh, it's a good outfit!"||To Black Rod, Sir John Gingell.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/dennis-skinners-best-queens-speech-7993809|title=Dennis Skinner's best Queen's Speech zingers and why there wasn't one last year|last=Glaze|first=Ben|date=18 May 2016|work=mirror|access-date=3 April 2017}}</ref>
-|- valign="top"
-|1990||"I bet he drinks [[Carling Black Label]]." <br /> "[[For Whom the Bell Tolls#Title|It tolls]] for thee, Maggie."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/staggers/2014/06/queens-speech-2015-dennis-skinner-breaks-tradition-stays-silent|title=Queen's Speech 2015: Dennis Skinner breaks tradition and stays silent|website=www.newstatesman.com|language=en|access-date=5 April 2017}}</ref>||Spoken to Black Rod; reference to a popular advertising campaign at the time. Later he made a second comment which was a reference to the impending departure of [[Margaret Thatcher]].<ref>{{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMSCITZB7ws|title=Dennis Skinner- A collection of quips to Blackrod from 1989-2013-State Opening of Parliament|date=16 March 2013|time=2:32}}</ref>
-|- valign="top"
-|1992||"Tell [[Elizabeth II|her]] to pay her tax!"||In reference to the calls for the Queen to pay income tax.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/27/dennis-skinner-queens-speech-quip-fighting-scots-nats|title=Dennis Skinner explains lack of Queen's speech quip: 'I was fighting Scots Nats'|last=Gani|first=Aisha|date=27 May 2015|work=The Guardian|access-date=4 April 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
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-|1993||"Back to basics with Black Rod."||A reference to the [[Back to Basics (campaign)|Back to Basics]] campaign by the then Conservative government of [[John Major]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/27/dennis-skinner-queens-speech-quip-fighting-scots-nats|title=Dennis Skinner explains lack of Queen's speech quip: 'I was fighting Scots Nats'|last=Gani|first=Aisha|date=27 May 2015|work=The Guardian|access-date=5 April 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
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-|1995||"New Labour, New Black Rod!"||A reference to Labour's election campaign slogan, "New Labour, New Britain" and to new Black Rod, Sir [[Edward Jones (British Army officer)|Edward Jones]].<ref name="newstatesman.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2010/05/black-rod-skinner-queen-beast|title=Dennis Skinner’s best Queen’s Speech jokes|website=www.newstatesman.com|language=en|access-date=3 April 2017}}</ref>
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-|1996||"New Labour, New Black Rod!"||The same quip as the previous year.<ref>{{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMSCITZB7ws|title=Dennis Skinner- A collection of quips to Blackrod from 1989-2013-State Opening of Parliament|date=16 March 2013|time=6:35}}</ref>
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-|1997||"Do you want to borrow a Queen's Speech?"||Told to Black Rod.
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-|2000||"Tell her to read ''[[The Guardian]]''!"||''The Guardian'' was campaigning at the time to abolish the monarchy.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/dec/06/monarchy.guardianleaders|title=Magic or not, let in the daylight|last=Leader|date=6 December 2000|work=The Guardian|access-date=3 April 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name="newstatesman.com"/>
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-|2001||"You're nowt but a midget!"||Told to new Black Rod Sir [[Michael Willcocks]] to much laughter in the chamber.
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-|2003||"Bar the doors."<br/>"Did she lock the door behind her?"||Skinner suggested that the Speaker "bar the doors" after Black Rod had arrived, a practice that is used to block late-arriving MPs from casting their votes after the [[division bell]]s have been sounded. After the command he also said, "Did she lock the door behind her?" to laughter from other MPs. The tongue-in-cheek suggestion by Skinner was scoffed at by Speaker [[Michael Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn|Michael Martin]].
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-|2004||"Aye, you've got a job to aspire to."||Spoken to Black Rod.<ref>{{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMSCITZB7ws|title=Dennis Skinner- A collection of quips to Blackrod from 1989-2013-State Opening of Parliament|date=16 March 2013|time=9:19}}</ref>
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-|2005||"Has she brought [[Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall|Camilla]] with her?"||Of the Queen<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1490210/Uniform-response-from-Lords-sets-the-standard.html|title=Uniform response from Lords sets the standard|first=By Andrew|last=Gimson|publisher=|accessdate=15 March 2018}}</ref> referencing [[Charles, Prince of Wales]]' recent [[Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla Parker Bowles|wedding]].<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/9/newsid_4872000/4872424.stm|title=BBC ON THIS DAY {{!}} 9 {{!}} 2005: Prince Charles marries Camilla|website=news.bbc.co.uk|access-date=5 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="news.bbc.co.uk"/>
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-|2006||"Have you got [[Helen Mirren]] on standby?"||Reference to the portrayal by Mirren of Elizabeth II in the 2006 film, ''[[The Queen (2006 film)|The Queen]]''.<ref name="Gani">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/27/dennis-skinner-queens-speech-quip-fighting-scots-nats|title=Dennis Skinner explains lack of Queen's speech quip: 'I was fighting Scots Nats'|last=Gani|first=Aisha|date=27 May 2015|work=The Guardian|access-date=3 April 2017|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
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-|2007||"Who shot the harriers?"||Referring to a recent event in [[Sandringham, Norfolk|Sandringham]], where two protected [[hen harrier]]s had been shot near a royal property. [[Prince Harry]] and a friend had been questioned by police over the incident.<ref name="newstatesman.com"/>
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-|2008||"Any Tory moles at the Palace?"||Referring to the recent arrest of Conservative MP [[Damian Green]] in connection with an investigation about him receiving confidential information from a civil servant at the [[Home Office]] who was formerly a Conservative Party candidate; to which Black Rod quipped, "I shall miss you, Dennis", receiving laughter from other MPs. The 2008 State Opening of Parliament was Michael Willcocks' last as Black Rod.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.parliament.uk/2008/12/appointment-of-black-rod/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618170744/http://news.parliament.uk/2008/12/appointment-of-black-rod/|dead-url=yes|archive-date=18 June 2009|title=Appointment to the post of Black Rod|publisher=[[Parliament of the United Kingdom]]|date=17 December 2008|accessdate=27 March 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7762692.stm|title=BBC NEWS {{!}} UK {{!}} UK Politics {{!}} Black Rod: 'I shall miss you Dennis'|website=news.bbc.co.uk|language=en-GB|access-date=4 April 2017}}</ref>
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-|2009||"Royal Expenses are on the way."||Reference to the [[United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal|parliamentary expenses scandal]].<ref name="Gani"/>
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-|2010||"No royal commissions this week."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2010/05/black-rod-skinner-queen-beast|title=Dennis Skinner’s best Queen’s Speech jokes|website=www.newstatesman.com|language=en|access-date=5 April 2017}}</ref>||Reference to the recent newspaper story in the ''[[News of the World]]'' which revealed that the [[Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York|former Duchess of York]] had taken cash payments for introducing businessmen to the [[Prince Andrew, Duke of York|Duke of York]]. Interestingly this time, whether through error or purpose, he made his one-liner in the middle of Yeoman Usher Ted Lloyd-Jukes' (who was filling in for an ill Black Rod) speech. To which the Yeoman Usher replied at the end, "Thank you, Dennis".{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}
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-|2012||"[[Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Jubilee Year]], double-dip recession, what a start!"||Referring to the Queen's Jubilee year and claims that the United Kingdom had just entered into a second recession. This quip was responded to by a mixture of laughter and shouts of "Shame" and "Absolute disgrace".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18003545|work=BBC News|title=Skinner's 'recession' heckle angers Tory MPs|date=9 May 2012}}</ref>
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-|2013||"Royal Mail for sale. Queen's head privatised."||This was in reference to the coalition government's proposed privatisation of [[Royal Mail]], going against recently deceased [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s promise that she was "not prepared to have the Queen's head privatised".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/apr/29/royal-mail-sale-thatcher|work=Guardian|title=Royal Mail sale: ministers set to go where Thatcher feared to tread|date=9 May 2013|location=London|first=Rupert|last=Neate}}</ref>
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-|2014||"Coalition's last stand"|| Referring to the last 11 months of the [[Cameron–Clegg coalition|Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition]] (and its final parliamentary session) before the election in May 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/06/04/dennis-skinner-queens-speech-heckle_n_5443570.html|title=Watch Dennis Skinner's Queen's Speech Heckle: 'Coalition's Last Stand'|last=UK|first=The Huffington Post|date=4 June 2014|website=The Huffington Post|access-date=3 April 2017}}</ref>
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-|2015||''None''|| Skinner later revealed to the press that he was too preoccupied with preventing newly elected SNP members taking his traditional seat on the opposition front bench. He told ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'', "I was engaged in an activity today to ensure that the Scot Nats weren't going to take over that front bench. I was up at just after 6 o'clock and I had to do it yesterday."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/queens-speech/11633240/Dennis-Skinner-SNP-battle-left-me-too-tired-to-heckle-during-Queens-Speech.html|publisher=The Telegraph|title=Dennis Skinner-SNP battle left me too tired to heckle during Queens speech|date=27 May 2015}}</ref>
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-|2016||"Hands off the BBC!"|| Referencing the government's white paper on the BBC.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/dennis-skinner-zings-queens-speech-7995683|publisher=[[Daily Mirror|Mirror]]|title=Dennis Skinner zings the Queen's Speech by shouting 'Hands off the BBC!'|date=18 May 2016|accessdate=18 May 2016}}</ref>
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-|2017||"Yeah, get your skates on, [[Royal Ascot|first race]] is half past two!"|| Referencing the Queen's attendance at Royal Ascot later that day.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2017/06/queen-s-speech-dennis-skinner-s-top-heckles|title=Queen’s Speech: Dennis Skinner's top heckles|work=New Statesman|date=21 June 2017|accessdate=21 June 2017}}</ref>
-|}
+Skinner has been suspended from Parliament on at least ten occasions, usually for "unparliamentary language" when attacking opponents. Notable infractions have included:
-===Commons attendance===
-He usually sits on the first seat of the front bench below the gangway in the Commons (known as the "Awkward Squad Bench" because it is where rebel [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] MPs have traditionally sat) in a tweed jacket (whilst most other MPs wear suits) and signature red tie.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}} He is known as "the Beast of Bolsover":<ref name=burtonmail/> according to Skinner he earned the nickname for his behaviour in a tribute debate in the Commons following the death of former Conservative Prime Minister [[Anthony Eden]] - "They were making speeches about the wonder of Anthony Eden, so I got up and talked about miners and people seriously injured and dead in the pits and the £200 given to the widow... There was booing and then all the Tories left and the papers had a go, some serious ones".<ref name=guardian>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/feb/11/dennis-skinner-birthday-80-interview |title=Dennis Skinner at 80: still awkward after all these years |last=Boffey |first=Daniel |date=11 February 2012 |website=[[theguardian.com]] |access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref>
+* Twice in 1984 once for calling David Owen a "pompous sod" (and only agreeing to withdraw "pompous"), and the second time for stating Thatcher would bribe judges.
-===''Nature of the Beast'' documentary===
+* In 1992, referring to the Minister of Agriculture John Gummer as a "little squirt of a Minister" and a "slimy wart on Margaret Thatcher's nose".
-{{Main|Dennis Skinner: Nature of the Beast}}
+* In 1995, accusing the Major government of a "crooked deal" to sell off Britain's coal mines.
-The first official documentary about Dennis Skinner, ''Nature of the Beast'', was completed in 2017 by production company Shut Out The Light. Three-years in the making, the film had its premiere at the Derby QUAD Cinema on 8 September 2017, before a UK cinema release. The documentary traces Skinner's rise to political icon status and covers his working-class upbringing, his family influences and his hobbies away from "The Palace of Varieties". Skinner's four surviving brothers and several of his Bolsover constituents were interviewed for the documentary.<ref name="theguardian"/>
+* In 2005, when referring to the economic record of the Conservatives in the 1980s, making the remark, "The only thing that was growing then were the lines of coke in front of boy George and the rest of the Tories", a reference to allegations originally published in the Sunday Mirror of cocaine use by the Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne (though, in the Commons, Skinner referred to the News of the World).
+* In 2006, accusing Deputy Speaker Sir Alan Haselhurst of leniency towards remarks made by opposition frontbencher and future Prime Minister Theresa May "because she's a Tory".
+* In 2016, for referring to Prime Minister David Cameron as "Dodgy Dave" in relation to Cameron's tax affairs.

Dennis Skinner MP
Skinner in 2011

Chairman of the Labour Party
In office 13 June 1988 – 27 October 1989
Leader	Neil Kinnock
Preceded by	Neil Kinnock
Succeeded by	Jo Richardson
Member of Parliament for Bolsover
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 June 1970
Preceded by	Harold Neal
Majority	5,288 (11.4%)

Personal details
Born	Dennis Edward Skinner (1932-02-11) 11 February 1932 (age 92)
Website	www.parliament.uk/.../commons/mr-dennis-skinner/325