Clive Betts took which position between Dec 2010 and Jan 2015?
Clive Betts Clive James Charles Betts ( born 13 January 1950 ) is a British Labour Party politician and former economist , who was the Member of Parliament ( MP ) for Sheffield Attercliffe from 1992 to 2010 , and is the current MP for the successor seat of Sheffield South East . Early life . Betts was born on 13 January 1950 in Sheffield . He was state educated at the Longley School in Sheffield , King Edward VII School , Sheffield and Pembroke College , Cambridge , where he received a BA in Economics and Politics . He joined the Labour Party in 1969 and joined the Trades Union Congress in 1971 as an economist . In 1973 he was appointed as an economist with Derbyshire County Council , and moved to the South Yorkshire County Council in 1974 where he was an Economist until 1986 . In 1986 he was appointed as an economist with Rotherham Borough Council . Sheffield City Council . Betts stood unsuccessfully as the Labour Party candidate in the Burngreave Ward in the 1975 city council election . He was subsequently elected in the Firth Park ward in the 1976 city council election and re-elected in 1980 , 1984 and 1988 . As a Sheffield City Councillor he was Chair of the Housing Committee for six years , Deputy Leader and Chair of the Finance Committee for one year and the Chief Whip of the Labour Group for three years . He was also formerly the Group Secretary . Betts became Deputy Leader of Sheffield City Council under David Blunkett in 1986 . He succeeded Blunkett as Leader of the Council in 1987 following the latters election as MP for Sheffield Brightside . As Leader of the Council Betts presided over Councils controversial decision to fund the 1991 World Student Games . Parliamentary career . In October 1974 he unsuccessfully stood for election to the House of Commons as the Labour Party candidate in the safe Conservative seat of Sheffield Hallam , being defeated by the incumbent John Osborn . At the subsequent general election he unsuccessfully fought the safe Conservative seat of Louth , being defeated by the incumbent Michael Brotherton . He was selected to contest the safe Labour seat of Sheffield Attercliffe following the retirement of the veteran Labour MP Patrick Duffy . At the 1992 general election , Betts was elected with a large majority , and made his maiden speech on 6 May 1992 . Government career . Betts was made an opposition whip under Tony Blair in 1996 , and after the 1997 general election , he entered the government as an Assistant Whip . He was promoted in 1998 to full Whip , with the title of Lord Commissioner to the Treasury , he was dropped from the government after the 2001 general election . Select Committee membership . Since 10 June 2010 he has been Chairman of the Communities and Local Government Committee , and on 19 June 2015 was returned unopposed as its chairman . Elsewhere , Betts serves on the Finance Committee , Panel of Chairs , National Policy Statements Sub-Committee and Liaison Committee . He has served on the Treasury & Civil Service Committee , Treasury Committee , Committee of Selection , Transport , Local Government & The Regions Committee , Urban Affairs Sub-Committee , Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Select Committee , Committee on Reform of the House of Commons , Liaison Committee and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Select committee . Suspension . In 2003 , Betts was suspended from the House of Commons for seven days for irregularities involving the employment and visa of Jose Gasparo , a Brazilian student with previous experience as a male escort . The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on 10 July 2010 that Betts partner and parliamentary assistant , James Thomas , had tried to edit this fact from Betts English Wikipedia page in an attempt to cover it up . Betts was found guilty of breaching the MPs code of conduct , with the Standards and Privileges Committee stating that he had acted extremely foolishly and had risked damaging public confidence in the integrity of Parliament . Particular concerns involved Betts failure to disclose Gasparos background to Parliamentary authorities and the fact that Betts had knowingly photocopied an altered document on Gasparos behalf . Betts gave an unreserved apology in a personal statement to MPs when the report was published . Expenses . In 2003 , Betts was subject to criticism for his accommodation expenses after he had previously campaigned for an increase in MPs entitlements on the ground of hardship . It was reported by The Times that Betts had flipped his designated second home to Yorkshire before buying a country estate there , before flipping it back to London and taking out a larger mortgage on his flat there . Betts denied wrongdoing , arguing the Yorkshire property had been two dilapidated listed buildings and that when he became a whip he had to declare his main residence as his London flat . In 2004 , he was criticised by the British Medical Association for going to Portugal with 15 fellow MPs on an all-expenses trip paid for by the fast food chain McDonalds . Betts responded that if MPs had a puritanical attitude about food then people would ignore what they said . He faced further criticism in 2010 after it was reported that he was one of eight MPs who were renting out a second home in London whilst claiming for the cost of renting a third home in the city at taxpayers expense . Although legal , critics argued the loophole was allowing MPs to increase their income after the rules on parliamentary expenses were tightened . Betts employs his partner as his Senior Parliamentary Assistant on a salary up to £45,000 . He was listed in articles in The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian which criticised the practice of MPs employing family members , on the lines that it promotes nepotism . Although MPs who were first elected in 2017 have been banned from employing family members , the restriction is not retrospective – meaning that Betts employment of his partner is lawful . Policies and Views . EU Referendum . Betts backed remain in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum . Labour Leadership Challenge . He supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour Party ( UK ) leadership election . Personal life . Betts lives in a farmhouse on the Derbyshire border with his partner James Thomas , who is also employed as his parliamentary assistant . He plays cricket , supports Sheffield Wednesday F.C. , and in the past has played squash , football and used to be a regular Sheffield Marathon runner . External links . - Clive Betts MP official site - Papers of Clive Betts , MP , Sheffield ( reference MP8 ) held at Sheffield City Archives CalmView : Record