Mike Gapes Independent MP
Mike was first elected as Member of Parliament for Ilford South in April 1992 and has been re-elected at every General Election since.
Before his election to Parliament, Mike worked at Labour Party headquarters for 15 years, including serving from 1988 to 1992 as International Secretary of the party. He was also a Policy Research Officer and the National Student Organiser. Mike has also worked in the NHS, in adult education, and as a Voluntary Service Overseas teacher in Swaziland, Southern Africa.
Mike is a patron of Redbridge Carers Support Service; and a Friend of Valentines Mansion and the Ilford Hospital Chapel.
in Parliament:
He was Parliamentary Private Secretary (a ministerial aide) in the Northern Ireland Office from 1997 to 1999, during the negotiations on the Good Friday Agreement; and a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Home Office from 2001 to 2002.
Mike served as Chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee from July 2005 to April 2010, and remains a member of the Committee. He had previously served as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee from 1992 to 1997, and the Defence Committee from 1999-2001 and 2003 to 2005.
He is a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and is a former Vice-Chair and Treasurer of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). He is the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Crossrail. Mike is a season ticket holder at West Ham United.
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