Doug Naysmith | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of Parliament forBristol North West | |
| In office 1 May 1997 – 12 April 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Michael Stern |
| Succeeded by | Charlotte Leslie |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Douglas Naysmith (1941-04-01)1 April 1941 Musselburgh,East Lothian, Scotland |
| Died | 2 July 2023(2023-07-02) (aged 82) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour Co-operative |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh,Yale University |
John Douglas Naysmith (1 April 1941 – 2 July 2023) was a BritishLabour Co-operative politician who was theMember of Parliament (MP) forBristol North West from1997 until standing down at the2010 general election.
Doug Naysmith was born inMusselburgh, Scotland, and attended the local Burgh School before attending the independentGeorge Heriot's School inEdinburgh. He went on to study at theUniversity of Edinburgh where he was awarded aBachelor of Science degree inZoology before going on to complete aDoctorate inImmunology. He went on to research atYale University inNew Haven, Connecticut, United States.[1]
From 1970 he worked as a research immunologist atBeecham Research Laboratory until 1972 when he became a Research Fellow at theUniversity of Bristol, he remained at Bristol until his election toParliament, becoming a Fellow in 1976 and a lecturer in the Pathology Department in 1981.[1]
Naysmith unsuccessfully contested the seat ofBristol at the1979 European Parliament election. He was elected toBristol City Council in 1981 and remained a Council member until he stood down in 1998. He also served as the Chairman of thePort of Bristol Authority from 1986 until 1991. He first stood for Parliament at the1987 General Election forCirencester and Tewkesbury, where he was defeated by the thenSecretary of State for the EnvironmentNicholas Ridley. He contested Bristol North West at the1992 General Election when he lost out by a margin of just 45 votes to the sittingConservative MP,Michael Stern.[1]
Naysmith was elected to Parliament at the1997 General Election defeating Stern by a substantial 11,382 votes.[1] However, on 25 January 2007, he announced his intention to stand down at the2010 general election due to his advancing age.[2]
During his time in Parliament, Naysmith was largely loyal to the government. Though he abstained in the Parliamentary vote authorizing British military involvement in theIraq War in 2003 and voted against the introduction of Foundation Hospitals, he joined with the government in voting for the introduction of top-up fees, helpingPrime Minister Blair secure an extremely narrow 5 vote majority (316-311). In 2004 he voted for an outright ban onfox hunting in England and Wales, which passed the House of Commons by a substantial margin.[3]
Naysmith took an active interest in health issues, was joint Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party Health Committee and was a member of many all party groups related to health matters. He was a long-standing member of theSocialist Health Association. Naysmith was a member of two select committees: Health and Regulatory Reform, and he campaigned successfully to persuade the Government to propose the comprehensive smoking ban which came into force in July 2007. Other political interests include ports and shipping, science, higher education andCo-operative development. He was Chair of theParliamentary and Scientific Committee and secretary of theParliamentary Universities Group. He was also President of mental health charityThe Dementia Care Trust.
Although Naysmith stood down from Parliament at the2010 general election, he stood as a candidate for the Labour party in theBristol City Council local elections, winning theAvonmouth seat from theConservatives. The number of votes cast for him and his Conservative opponent was the same and the result was decided by the returning officer drawing Naysmith's name from a ballot box. He stood down in 2013.[4][5]
Naysmith died on 2 July 2023, at the age of 82.[6]
