Bill Rammell
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Constituency | Harlow |
Served | 1997 — present |
Majority | 97 (0.2%) |
Political Party | Labour |
Portfolio | Minister of State for Higher Education |
William Ernest "Bill" Rammell (born 10 October 1959) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He has been Labour member of Parliament for Harlow since 1997.
He was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office until the 2005 general election, when he was appointed to the Department for Education and Skills as Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education.
Before entering Parliament, Bill Rammell was the general manager of the University of London Union and King's College, London Students' Union, Head of Youth Services for Basildon Council and worked for the National Union of Students and British Rail. He was a member of Harlow District Council from 1985 to 1997. He was President of the Students' Union of University College, Cardiff in 1982/83.
In the 2005 election, he had the 3rd smallest majority of any Labour MP, at just 97 votes. The result was so close that the final declaration had to be delayed 2 days after voting, in order to give exhausted counting officials time to rest.