Dennis Skinner

**Dennis Edward Skinner** (born 11 February 1932) is a British Labour politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolsover between 1970 and 2019.

## Personal life

Skinner was born in Clay Cross, Derbyshire. He studied at Ruskin College. He married Mary Parker in 1960, however the two separated in 1989. They had three children.

## Political career

Skinner was known for his left-wing views. He was a part of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs. He was a member of Labour's National Executive Committee for thirty years and was the chairman of the Committee in 1988–89.

Because of his aggressive words used and behaviour, Skinner became known as the "Beast of Bolsover". Skinner said that he earned the nickname for his behaviour in a tribute debate in the Commons following the death of former Conservative Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden in 1977: "They were making speeches about the wonder of Anthony Eden, so I got up and talked about miners and people seriously injured and dead in the pits and the £200 given to the widow. There was booing and then all the Tories left, and the papers had a go, some serious ones".

He was one of the longest serving members of the House of Commons and the longest continuously serving Labour MP. He was a supporter of Brexit.

In 2020, Skinner was named Honorary President of the Socialist Campaign Group.

### Suspensions

Skinner was suspended from parliament at least ten times for calling MPs inappropriate names. Some of the times he was suspended was:
- In 1981, after accusing speaker of the House of Commons George Thomas of attending an event to raise funds for the Conservative Party.
- Twice in 1984, once for calling David Owen a "pompous sod", and the second time for saying that Margaret Thatcher would "bribe judges".
- In 1992, after referring to Minister John Gummer as "a little squirt of a Minister" and "a slimy wart on Margaret Thatcher's nose".
- In 1995, after accusing the Major government of a "crooked deal" to sell off Britain's coal mines.
- In 2005, after saying of Conservatives in the 1980s "The only thing that was growing then were the lines of coke in front of 'Boy George' and the rest of the Tories".
- In 2016, after referring to Prime Minister David Cameron as "dodgy Dave" to imply that Cameron had been dishonest or misleading about his financial affairs.

## Other websites

- This much I know, Skinner runs down some matters of importance to him, hosted by _The Guardian_
- Giving George Osborne a line of wit in December 2005
- Junction 29A in December 2004
- Heart bypass in March 2003

## Infobox (mp)

- **name**: Dennis Skinner
- **birth name**: Dennis Edward Skinner
- **image**: Dennis Skinner MP Parliament (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: Skinner in 2011
- **alt**: Dennis Skinner
- **office**: National Executive Committee#List of Chairs of the Party, Chairman of the Labour Party
- **leader**: Neil Kinnock
- **predecessor**: Neil Kinnock
- **successor**: Jo Richardson
- **term start**: 13 June 1988
- **term end**: 27 October 1989
- **office1**: Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament
for Bolsover (UK Parliament constituency), Bolsover
- **predecessor1**: Harold Neal
- **successor1**: Mark Fletcher (politician), Mark Fletcher
- **term start1**: 18 June 1970
- **term end1**: 6 November 2019
- **birth place**: Clay Cross, Derbyshire, England
- **nationality**: British
- **partner**: Lois Blasenheim
- **party**: Labour Party (UK), Labour
- **children**: 3
- **alma mater**: Ruskin College
- **profession**: Coal mining, Miner, politician