[2] He was evacuated to Burnley in his childhood during the Second World War and decided then that he wanted to be the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lancashire town.

Returning to the town as an adult, he worked in the Mullards Factory, where he swiftly gained a reputation as an effective shop steward and was also an agent for the then MP for Burnley, Dan Jones.

[3]: 298 He was an official frontbench spokesperson for Labour at the beginning of the 1990s on rural affairs and then on environment and housing.

He stood down from this role in January 2016, citing his belief that the party needed a younger and more active chair.

[15] He was also the driving force behind the establishment of the social enterprise Emmaus Burnley, for which he received a special medal in June 2021.