James Dolan Cunningham (born 4 February 1941) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry South from 1992 to 2019.
Early life
Cunningham was born in Coatbridge, Scotland and educated locally at Columba High School before attending the Trade Union College in Tillicoultry, where he completed a number of Ruskin courses on industrial relations and trade union law. In 1964, he became an engineer for Rolls-Royce in Ansty, joining the Labour Party in 1966 he became a shop steward with the predecessors of the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union in the Rolls-Royce plant from 1968 throughout his service as a councillor and later Deputy Leader and then Leader of Coventry City Council.
Local government
Cunningham began his political career as a Coventry councillor in 1972 and became the Chair of the Council's Consumer Services Committee from 1975 until 1977. He was also the Vice-Chair of the Finance Committee for three terms, 1975 until 1977, 1979 until 1982 and from 1985 until 1988. He also served as the Vice-Chair of the Leisure Committee from 1975 until 1977, serving as the Chair from 1979 until 1982. He next served as the Vice-Chair of the Transport and Highways Committee from 1983 until 1985 when he became the Chief Whip of the Labour Group on the Council from 1985 until 1987 when he became the Deputy Leader of Coventry City Council. The following year, Cunningham was elected leader of the Labour group and therefore the council. Following becoming leader of the council, Cunningham left his job at Rolls-Royce as an engineer and shop steward. Cunningham did not take company shares when Rolls Royce was privatised.
Cunningham was leader of Coventry City Council until his election to Parliament in 1992.
As leader of Coventry City Council, Cunningham travelled extensively to cities in western and eastern Europe, many of which were twinned with Coventry. These visits included trips to Volgograd, Moscow, Caen, Frankfurt, Dresden, Prague and Warsaw. On one visit to Poland in 1990 Cunningham was part of a delegation to Auschwitz.
Parliament
Cunningham was selected to contest the Coventry South East constituency at the 1992 general election following the expulsion of the sitting Labour MP Dave Nellist, a member of the Trotskyist Militant group, who had thus become ineligible to be selected as the Labour candidate. Cunningham emerged as the victor with a majority of 1,311 votes over the Conservative candidate Martine Hyams; Nellist finished third but only by a further 40 votes.
Cunningham made his maiden speech on 12 May 1992 in which he spoke of the social and economic problems of Coventry and criticised the then level of central government resources allocated to the city.
Following reports from the previous year that the Queen was to agree to pay income tax, which Buckingham Palace and the Prime Minister denied, he called for the Queen and other members of the Royal Family to begin paying income tax in his letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1992.
Cunningham was heavily involved in the campaign for justice for former workers of Matrix Churchill In particular Cunningham was critical of the remit and progress of the Scott Report into the Arms-to-Iraq for not consulting the former workers.
Reflecting his previous career Cunningham set up a Parliamentary group for Rolls-Royce bringing together MPs and Trade Unions. Throughout his time in Parliament, Cunningham consistently campaigned for Rolls-Royce workers.
In 1994 Cunningham chaired the Committee on the hybrid Croydon Tramlink Bill, which recommended the project go ahead. Cunningham was a founder member andserved as chair of the APPG on Strokes. In 2002 CUnningham secured an adjournment debate on the subject.
He became a member of the Home Affairs Select committee from 1993 until 1997. He then served on the Trade and Industry Select Committee from 1997 as well as serving upon the House of Commons Panel of Chairs from 1998 leaving both upon the 2001 general election. Cunningham then served on the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee from 2003 until 2005.
In 2004, he led a parliamentary campaign to prevent Jaguar Cars closing its Browns Lane assembly plant. This campaign included organising a meeting between several workers of the plant and the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer as well as Cunningham joining factory workers when they lobbied the Ford managers at the Paris Motor Show.
Cunningham briefly served on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Select Committee in 2005 until the general election.