Parliamentary Career
He was MP for Nottingham North from 1983 to 1987. This was a long-standing Labour Party seat, and he won it unexpectedly - with a majority of some 362 - in the 1983 landslide victory following the Falklands War. Unsurprisingly the seat reverted to Labour in 1987, when he was defeated by the Labour Party's Graham Allen. He re-entered Parliament in 1992 when he won Croydon South, and has held the seat since.
Amid speculation that Ottaway would retire from Parliament in 2015, it was rumoured that Boris Johnson, Government Special Adviser Shaun Bailey, or neighbouring MP, Gavin Barwell, will stand for the Conservative Party selection in Croydon South. In October 2012, Ottaway confirmed that he would not stand again in 2015.
Read more about this topic: Richard Ottaway
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“I seemed intent on making it as difficult for myself as possible to pursue my “male” career goal. I not only procrastinated endlessly, submitting my medical school application at the very last minute, but continued to crave a conventional female role even as I moved ahead with my “male” pursuits.”
—Margaret S. Mahler (1897–1985)