Jimmy Wray

Who was Jimmy Wray?

James Aloysius Joseph Patrick Gabriel Wray was a Scottish politician and Labour member of Parliament for Glasgow Baillieston and Glasgow Provan.

Born and raised in the Gorbals he was one of eight children born to a poor Catholic family. A boxer in his younger days, Wray was elected as a councillor to the then Glasgow Town Council in 1964 for Kelvinside, and moved over to the larger Strathclyde Regional Council in 1975 for Gorbals.

By the time he became an MP, Wray was a wealthy man. He was on the left-wing of the Labour Party, and joined the Campaign Group. His political stances were Eurosceptic, an advocate of Irish republicanism regarding Northern Ireland, and opposed to abortion and the abolition of Section 28. His views on Northern Ireland led him to be tagged "I.R. Wray" by Private Eye. In 2002 he attacked the Scottish Parliament, its members being labelled "odds and sods" by Wray who did not work as hard as their colleagues at Westminster.

Wray stood down as an MP at the 2005 general election following a stroke in December 2003.

Wray died on 25 May 2013 in Mearnskirk Home hospital in Renfrewshire after suffering from Bowel Cancer. He had four children, two girls and two boys.