David Anderson

David Anderson says: My early years were spent in Sunderland. My father was a coal miner who had moved in and out of work for a number of years. When I was 10 we moved to a very small village in South West Wales, where my father returned to mining

Over the next few years we moved 3 times and ended up in South Yorkshire. I left school at 15 and started work as an apprentice fitter with the National Coal Board. Within 2 years the family had moved back to the North East and I settled in Hetton-le-Hole, where I married Eva in 1973.

I worked as a fitter on coal faces at Eppleton Colliery, but, probably, the biggest change to my life started when I became active in my trade union, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), first as youth rep and then as branch delegate.

I attended a 5 week course in 1983 at the Higher Trade Union School in Moscow. On my return the dispute over pit closures was just starting.

I was heavily involved in trying to win the fight to prevent devastation of the mining industry, but the forces of darkness prevailed. We underestimated the determination of the government of the day, who were prepared to destroy an entire industry, and, ultimately, make this country reliant on energy supplies from some of the most unstable regions on earth in order to emasculate organised labour in the UK.

Following the dispute my mine closed and we were transferred to another colliery. Three years later I was made redundant and started work as a social care worker in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Within a year I was involved in another dispute as the Council tried to outsource elderly care. This led to me being seconded as a trade union officer within the City Council.

I stayed in that role until March 2005, but also progressed into regional positions, including being Regional Chairman and then to being a member of the NEC of UNISON, the public service union. In 2000 I was elected to the General Council of the TUC and in 2003 I became National President of UNISON.

Throughout these years I had close involvement in the Labour Party, including a short spell as a local councillor and a number of years on Labour's Policy Forum.

In 2004 I was selected as the Labour Candidate for Blaydon and in May 2005 I had the great privilege of being elected as MP for this great constituency.

Many people ask why I wanted to be an MP and, ultimately, it goes back to my disgust with the attacks on working people and their organisations.

Cuts in public services wholly biased anti-trade union legislation and disastrous economic and social policies led to misery for millions. I am committed to doing all in my power to ensuring that we never go back to those dark days, and working as an MP is a huge part of that commitment.