Rt Hon Terry Rooney MP
Member of Parliament for Bradford North and
Parliamentary Private Secretary to Keith Hill MP,
Minister for Housing and Planning, Terry Rooney,
studied a Dip HE, followed by a BEd at Bradford
College in the 1980s.
“In 1980 I enrolled on the Dip HE/BEd course
which was based at McMillan on Trinity Road.
In the second year one of the modules was
held on a Monday afternoon at Joseph Nutter
House, which is between Great Horton Road
and Canterbury estate with access down an
unlit path. The finish time was 4-30 to 5-00pm
which was fine until the clocks altered when
darkness fell long before lectures finished. You
might say ‘so what’ but this was at the height
of the Bradford Ripper murders and female
students in particular were extremely worried for
their safety.
Appeals to course organisers and College
management for a change of venue fell on
deaf ears so I started a campaign using all the
student action tactics in vogue at the time,
including the obligatory occupation of the
Principal’s office! Eventually our views were
accepted and new arrangements made. It is
easy 26 years on to forget the pervasive terror
people felt about the Ripper’s activities but they
were real and entirely justified.
Following this campaign I was approached
by many students to run for Students’ Union
President but sadly I was beaten by Tony
Tudor, a very popular barman at the old Alex
bar, who was also on a course at the College.
I did become Student Welfare Officer which
influenced my future career choices and in part
led to me becoming a Member of Parliament.
As with so many Bradfordians, the College
has had an enormous and positive influence
on my life and I will always be grateful for the
experience.”
Terry was elected to Bradford Council in 1983
and became Chair of the Labour Group in
1988. He was made Deputy Leader of the
Council in 1990 and in November that year he
won the Bradford North seat in a by-election.
Since entering Parliament Terry has served
on a number of committees concerned with
benefits, pensions and housing issues. He was
Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael
Meacher MP when he was Secretary of State
for the Environment. He currently acts as PPS to
Keith Hill MP, Minister for Housing and Planning.
Photograph supplied by the Rt Hon Terry Rooney MP