Ian Lavery Ian Lavery Ian Lavery (born 6 January 1963) is a British Labour Party politician and former trade union leader from Northumberland who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wansbeck since the 2010 general election. Born and raised in Ashington, Lavery began work in the construction industry after leaving school before becoming a mining apprentice. Noted for being the sole apprentice to refuse to work during the miners' strike of 1984-1985, he gradually rose up the ranks of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and was chosen to succeed Arthur Scargill as NUM President in 2002. Once elected to
Kevin Barron Maltby. He spent the next 23 years working in the coal industry. In 1982, he became president of the Rotherham Trades Union Congress. He was a member of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), who later expelled him for speaking out against Arthur Scargill. Once, on picketing duty outside Maltby colliery, he was struck on the arm by a police baton. He successfully sued South Yorkshire Police for this. He was a political ally of Arthur Scargill. In 1983 Peter Hardy, Labour MP for Rother Valley, decided to switch constituencies to fight the equally safe neighbouring new seat of Wentworth.