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A Short Biography :-
Born 3.11.1935 in West Hartlepool, County Durham, Frank was educated at Corby School in Sunderland, De La Salle College in Manchester and Leeds Institute of Education. Amongst British M.P.s, he is often noted as having done an unusual selection of jobs, including: gravedigger, Butlins Redcoat (holiday camp entertainer) and special needs teacher. Just before his election in 1983, he was a construction project manager for Capper Neil International (paying more than an M.P.’s salary).
Having originally joined the Labour Party (League of Youth) in Hartlepool in 1950, Frank transferred to the then Sedgefield constituency in 1963 when he moved to Billingham (a town of 35,000 now within the Borough of Stockton). In 1981 he was elected Chairperson of the Teesside Stockton Constituency Labour Party. After the defection of the sitting Labour M.P. for Teesside Stockton, Bill Rodgers, to the new Social Democratic Party in 1981, the local Labour Party chose Frank to fight the seat which was greatly revised by the Boundary Commission to become Stockton North.
In the 1983 General Election, Frank had a majority over the Conservative candidate of only 1,870 in a tight, three-cornered contest. He increased his majority to 8,801 in 1987 and 10,474 in 1992. The next Boundary Commission changes barely altered Stockton North for the 1997 General Election, in which Frank obtained 67% of the popular vote and a majority of 21,357. He has faced mandatory reselection prior to each general Election.
Although he lost his place,on the House Of Commons Defence Select Committee in 1997 after just one parliament, he is an active member of two bodies which require frequent international attention, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the North Atlantic Assembly, which he joined in 1988. He has been Vice President of the N.A.A., Vice Chair of the Defence and Security Committee and Special Rapporteur on the reform of the Russian armed forces. These positions reflect more than two decades of interest in international matters, including membership of the Westminster Defence Study Group and being a Labour (Opposition) Defence Whip.
Domestically, Frank is regarded as Old Labour, a label he finds comfortable, though the issues on which he has taken a personal stand, from the rehabilitation of sexual offenders to the medical effects of electromagnetic fields, mean that he cannot be fitted easily into any facile Left-Right continuum. In 1996 and 1997 he dared to oppose the overwhelming majority of his party over the Firearms Amendments Acts.
Married in 1959, Frank is divorced from wife Patricia, who remains in the former family home in Billingham. They have four children: Christine, Maxine, Nicola and Andrew
Frank has seven grandchildren: Lyanne, Gemma, Clare and Tom (Christine), Vanessa and Megan (Maxine), Daniel (Andrew) and Eavie (Nicola) and one great grandchild Bella May (Lyanne). His partner, Mrs Somgsanguane Baldinger, is a Laotian lady.
If you would like greater
depth, length and detail, a fuller biography is here.
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