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James Patrick Dowd (born 5 March 1951) is a British Labour Party politician, who has been a member of parliament (MP) since 1992, first for Lewisham West and since 2010 for Lewisham West and Penge.
Early life
Jim Dowd grew up in Lewisham, London, with an Irish father and German mother. He was educated at the Dalmain Infant and Junior Schools in Forest Hill; the Sedgehill Comprehensive School, Catford, and the London Nautical School, Lambeth. He began his career in telephone engineering as an apprentice in 1967 with the General Post Office (GPO). After his apprenticeship in 1972, he became a manager at a Heron petrol station for a year before joining Plessey as a telecommunications engineer in 1973, where he remained until his election to Parliament.
Dowd was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Lewisham in 1974, becoming deputy leader in 1984 for two years. He was twice deputy mayor in 1987 and 1990, and was the Mayor of Lewisham in 1992. He stepped down from the council in 1994.
Parliamentary career
Dowd first stood for Parliament at the 1983 general election for the seat of Beckenham, finishing in third place behind the long-standing Conservative MP Philip Goodhart by 17,330 votes. At the 1987 general election he contested the marginal seat of Lewisham West, but was defeated by John Maples by 3,772 votes.
Five years later though, at the 1992 general election, Dowd again contested Lewisham West, and defeated Maples by 1,809 votes. He made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 10 June 1992.
Jim Dowd was appointed as an opposition whip in 1994, before becoming the spokesman on Northern Ireland in 1995. Following the election of the Labour government at the 1997 General Election he was given a place in the Blair government as a whip. He was unexpectedly sacked after the 2001 general election, since when he has been a member of the Health Select Committee and maintained a voting record strongly in line with government policies. In June 2012, Dowd joined the Science and Technology Select Committee.
In 2005 he was involved in a heated confrontation in Parliament with fellow Labour MP Bob Marshall-Andrews over the Terrorism Bill. He is a vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Intellectual Property Group
Intellectual Property Bill
On 20 January 2014, Dowd made a speech in the House of Commons during a debate on the Intellectual Property Bill, stating that he had asked for Worcester Sauce whilst eating a meal at the Hare and Billet pub in Blackheath and that he was provided with Henderson's Relish. Dowd used Henderson's as an example of "parasitic packaging", implying in the debate that it was attempting to pass itself off as Lea and Perrins.
Henderson's Relish is well known within Sheffield and parts of Yorkshire and has been manufactured there for over 100 years. Dowd upset supporters of the sauce; the Sheffield Central member of parliament, Paul Blomfield, offered to bring a bottle to Parliament and invite Dowd for a meal with him using it – an invitation accepted by Dowd.
Simon Freeman – the managing director of Henderson's – jokingly stated that he would order "an internal investigation to find out how it got out of Yorkshire"; a local newspaper, the Sheffield Star, launched a Twitter campaign with the hashtag #Hendogate to defend Henderson's, attracting support locally. Dowd later stated his "amazement" at the backlash his comments had caused, which he said included threats of violence. The assistant manager of the Hare and Billet – Adam Beaston – claimed that Dowd branded Henderson's a "blatant copy" of Lea and Perrins at the time but that he warned the MP that such a view would be "blasphemy in Sheffield".
Personal life
Dowd lists his interests as music, theatre and reading, and enjoys travelling in Cornwall. His partner Janet Anderson is the former Labour MP for Rossendale and Darwen.