James Dempsey (Scottish politician)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

James Dempsey (6 February 1917 – 12 May 1982) was a Scottish Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament for Coatbridge and Airdrie from 1959 until his death.

Early life and career
- He grew up in Mossend and studied at Holy Family School, the Co-operative College in Loughborough, and the National Council of Labour Colleges.
- He worked as a clerk for a haulage firm and was a councillor on Lanarkshire County Council from 1945.
- He later worked as a lecturer on political economy and wrote about local government.

Parliament and beliefs
- Elected MP in 1959; his first speech on 28 October 1959 addressed unemployment.
- His last parliamentary appearance was on 18 January 1982, asking about Christmas payments for pensioners.
- A devout Catholic, he opposed the Abortion Act 1967.
- Facing health problems, he announced he would not contest the 1983 general election, but died of a heart attack at his home in Bellshill on 12 May 1982.

Aftermath
- In the by-election that followed, Labour held the seat with Tom Clarke.

Family
- His brother John Dempsey was a footballer for several clubs and later a scout, notably for Celtic during their 1967 European Cup win under Jock Stein.
- James and his wife, Jane, had six children; their son Brian became a businessman and a former director of Celtic F.C.