Labour Member of Parliament
Rob Flello took which position between May 2016 and May 2017?
Rob Flello Robert Charles Douglas Flello ( born 14 January 1966 ) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who was Labour Member of Parliament ( MP ) for Stoke-on-Trent South from 2005 to 2017 . He lost his seat at the 2017 general election to Conservative Party candidate Jack Brereton . Early life . Flello was born in Bournville , Birmingham . He attended Bournville Junior and Infant schools before going to Kings Norton Boys School . At age 18 he went to University of Wales , Bangor to read Chemistry . He graduated in 1987 with a B.Sc ( Hons ) . Career . After graduating , Flello worked for a short time at Cadbury in Bournville before joining the Inland Revenue . In 1989 he left to join Price Waterhouse accountants as a personal tax advisor . In 1995 he moved to Arthur Andersen . In 1999 , he co-founded Platts Flello Limited , tax and financial advisors . In late 2003 he left to work as the CEO of Malachi Community Trust until December 2004 . Political career . Flello was elected as a councillor to the Longbridge ward of Birmingham City Council in 2002 , stepping down in 2004 . He is a former chairman of the Birmingham Northfield Constituency Labour Party . He served as a governor at the Newman College in Bartley Green , and was Chair of Governors for both Colmers Farm infants and junior schools . He was also a governor at The Meadows primary school . He served as a regional organiser for the Labour Party in 2004 until his election to Westminster . Parliament . Flello was elected to the House of Commons at the 2005 general election for Stoke-on-Trent South following the retirement of George Stevenson . Flello held the seat with a majority of 8,681 and made his maiden speech on 19 May 2005 . In parliament he was a member of the Science and Technology Select Committee . While Labour were in government he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary first to the Lord Chancellor , Charles Falconer , Baron Falconer of Thoroton , then to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government , Hazel Blears , and finally after 2009 to the Secretary of State for Defence , Bob Ainsworth . In June 2016 , Labour Party activists in Stoke-on-Trent South proposed a motion of no confidence in Flello after he called on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to do the decent thing and resign . He had supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership election . In 2019 he defected to the Lib Dems and was selected as their parliamentary candidate for his old seat . 36 hours after his selection , however , the Lib Dems deselected Flello , citing how greatly his values diverge from ours . It is believed that they objected to his socially conservative views on abortion and same-sex marriage . Social views . Flello is a convert to Catholicism and stated in 2014 I could no more leave my faith at the door of the House of Commons than I could my name or my gender or my arms and legs . He was a member of the anti-abortion All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group . Flello also opposes same-sex marriage and was one of the few Labour MPs to vote against the Marriage ( Same Sex Couples ) Act 2013 , citing his religious views . Controversies . In 2007 Flello was accused of filibustering a fellow Labour backbenchers private members bill . The bill , introduced by neighbouring Staffordshire MP Paul Farrelly , aimed to give temporary and agency workers similar employment rights to permanent staff . It was backed by the Unite trade union . The incident provoked an angry response in the Daily Mirror . In 2017 , Flello blamed shocking congestion in London on the loss of tarmac from building cycle lanes , which received a critical response from bike charity the London Cycling Campaign and cycling website road.cc , both pointing out that tarmac had been repurposed to another form of transport and that the increased number of journeys overall in Central London were what was causing congestion , not the segregated cycle tracks that are on less than 1% of London roads .