Day 133: Cummings

[Silent Hunter]

John Cummings, Lab, Easington.

[merseysider]

A former coal miner who's been a backbencher for most of the 20 years since he was first elected, apart from a short spell as an opposition whip.

He's retiring at the next election which will inevitably trigger a fierce battle for what is arguably the safest Labour seat in the UK. At the last local elections in Easington Labour had won almost two-thirds of the seats before a single vote had been cast, due to the shortage of opposition candidates.