Willie Bain Explained

William Bain
Office:Shadow Minister for Scotland
Leader:Ed Miliband
Term Start:8 October 2011
Term End:8 October 2013
Predecessor:Tom Greatrex
Successor:Gordon Banks
Office2:Shadow Minister for Food
Leader2:Harriet Harman (Acting)
Ed Miliband
Term Start2:27 May 2010
Term End2:8 October 2011
Predecessor2:Richard Benyon
Successor2:Fiona O'Donnell
Office3:Member of Parliament
for Glasgow North East
Term Start3:12 November 2009
Term End3:30 March 2015
Predecessor3:Michael Martin
Successor3:Anne McLaughlin
Birth Date:1972 11, df=yes[1]
Birth Place:Springburn, Glasgow, Scotland
Party:Labour
Alma Mater:Strathclyde University
Profession:Policy Advisor

William Thomas Bain (born 29 November 1972) is a Scottish politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow North East from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Labour Party, he was a Shadow DEFRA Minister from 2010 to 2011 and a Shadow Scotland Minister from 2011 to 2013.

Early life and career

Born at Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow, son of William, a lift engineer, and Catherine, a payroll clerk, Willie Bain grew up in the Carron area of Springburn.[2]

Raised in the Roman Catholic faith, Bain attended St Roch's Secondary School and Strathclyde University, graduating with a LLB in 1995. Thereafter, he completed a Diploma in Legal Practice in 1996, and moved into part-time lecturing and research at the University of Strathclyde Law School, working with the Law School's Centre for Parliamentary and Legislative Studies on research projects on devolution.

He completed a LLM by Research in Constitutional Law in 2004 and subsequently became a senior lecturer in Public and European law at London South Bank University between 2004 and 2009.[3] He was secretary of the Glasgow North East Constituency Labour Party and its predecessor constituency, Glasgow Springburn, from 1999 to 2009. Bain is a member of Unite, Progress, the Fabian Society, and Amnesty International.[4]

Parliamentary career

Following the resignation of local MP and Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin, William Bain was selected by the local CLP as the Labour candidate in the 2009 Glasgow North East by-election, subsequently winning the seat.[5]

Under the leadership of Ed Miliband, Bain served as Shadow Minister for Food and was later Shadow Scotland Office Minister, supporting the Shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran.[6]

In 2012, Bain stated that the Scottish Labour MPs have a convention of not supporting motions put down by the Scottish National Party, which became known as the "Bain Principle".[7]

Bain, like most Labour MPs in Scotland, lost his seat in 2015 to the SNP, with Anne McLaughlin winning the seat.

Post-Parliamentary career

After leaving parliament in 2015, he became Head of Fintech & Financial Services at Inline Policy, a political consultancy, before moving to the British Retail Consortium in 2017, where he advised on Brexit and trade policy,[8] and then onto the British Chambers of Commerce as the Head of Trade Policy.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: William Bain MP . . BBC Democracy Live . 25 July 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091115230141/http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/representatives/profiles/80778.stm . 15 November 2009 . live .
  2. Web site: PPC Profile: Willie Bain LabourList. 20 October 2009. LabourList Labour's biggest independent grassroots e-network. 7 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160805081231/http://labourlist.org/2009/10/ppc-profile-willie-bain/. 5 August 2016. live.
  3. http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/php4-cgiwrap/ahslaw/cm/content/phonebook/curriculumvitae.php?id=5206&template=ahs&divtemp=law Mr William BAIN
  4. "Glasgow by-election: Candidates", bbc.co.uk, 4 November 2009.
  5. "Labour wins in Glasgow North East ", BBC News, 13 November 2009.
  6. http://news.scotsman.com/politics/Cabinet-reshuffle-Miliband-promotes-Curran.6849740.jp Cabinet reshuffle: Miliband promotes Curran to Scotland job
  7. Web site: The Bain Principle. Small. Mike. https://web.archive.org/web/20180227034338/http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2012/03/31/the-bain-principle/. 31 March 2012. Bella Caledonia. 27 February 2018.
  8. https://eprretailnews.com/2017/06/30/brc-appoints-william-bain-to-accelerate-its-research-and-further-strengthen-its-voice-on-brexit-452134567890/ BRC Appoints William Bain to accelerate its research and further strengthen its voice on Brexit, EPR Retail News; accessed February 2020.