Leeds MPs
BATTLE, John Dominic (born 1951) Labour. After initially training for the priesthood, he decided to devote himself to a life in politics and in 1980 he became a Leeds city councillor.
In 1983 he stood in the general election for Leeds North West but came third, as Labour plunged to a humiliating defeat nationally. For the next few years he acted as the national coordinator for Church Action on Poverty. In the general election of 1987 he stood this time for Leeds West and unseated Michael Meadowcroft, the sitting Liberal, in what the Yorkshire Evening Post described as a ‘sensational victory’. Appointed a Labour whip in 1988 he resigned the post in 1991 over the First Gulf War. In 1992 he became the Labour spokesman for Housing followed, in 1994, for Science and Technology and then Energy. After Labour’s victory in 1997 he became Minister at the Department of Trade and Industry but then moved the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He was a staunch supporter of Irish Nationalism in Northern Ireland. He became a member of the Privy Council in 2002 and the Prime Minister’s envoy to all faith communities in 2010. He retired from Parliament that year. For further reading see http://www.politics.co.uk.