About
Nigel Griffiths was one of our most experienced and active MPs.
He was the first-ever Labour MP for South Edinburgh, the first MP to live in the Constituency, and the first to open and run a fully staffed office in South Edinburgh.
Nigel was Deputy Leader of the House of Commons until 2007, and before that has held a number of important government positions, including Minister for Construction, Minister for Competition and Consumer Affairs, Minister for Coal Health Compensation, Minister for Small Businesses and Minister for Enterprise.
During his 23-year career as an MP, Mr Griffiths carried out a variety of back-bench and ministerial roles. He was a whip in opposition between 1987 and 1989, and opposition spokesman for trade and industry between 1989 and 1997.
He rose to his most recent ministerial position in 2005 and held it for two years before leading a back-bench rebellion against the government over its plans to replace its existing nuclear weapons.
Earlier in his career, he was criticised for failing to declare that he owned a property that acted as his constituency office in Edinburgh’s Minto Street. In 2002, the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner found Mr Griffiths guilty of wrongly reclaiming £40,000 of rent for the office. He used the money to boost a charitable trust fund that provided help for his disabled sister.
In 2008 the news of the world reported that he cheated on his wife inside the House of Commons. The politician, a long-time friend of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, had been deputy leader of the House of Commons before resigning.