Martin Salter
| Martin Salter | |
|---|---|
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Member of Parliament for Reading West |
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In office 2 May 1997 – 12 April 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Tony Durant |
| Succeeded by | Alok Sharma |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
19 April 1954 Hampton, London, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
Martin John Salter (born 19 April 1954) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Reading West from 1997 to 2010.
Born to Ray and Naomi Salter in Hampton, Middlesex, Martin received a grammar school education before attending the University of Sussex, though he left before gaining a degree, saying 'academic life was not for him – "I wanted to do politics, not study it"'. Both his parents were active trade unionists, and grandfather George Baker was sent to Wormwood Scrubs prison for his opposition to the First World War. He cites his politics teacher from the age of 14 for developing his political interest, when he took him to the Politics Society in Kingston to hear Tony Benn speak, saying that his teacher 'spotted something in me, a real interest'.
Starting in 1975, Salter began employment in the construction and transport industries, holding various jobs from a labourer to a cargo handler. During this time, he was an active member in the Transport and General Workers' Union and the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians, and served as a shop steward tasked with 'negotiating working conditions and wages'. He moved to Reading in 1980, and in 1982 he switched his employment focus by being hired by Reading Borough Council to organise community-based playschemes for children, followed by a move in 1984 to become the co-ordinator of Reading Centre for the Unemployed. Dropping that role in 1987, Salter would thereafter work for Co-op Home Services until 1996, first becoming the development officer then the regional manager.
Joining the Labour Party when he was 17, Salter became the secretary of his local residents' association in 1980, a post he held until 1984. The council, then under Conservative control, had cut the holiday playscheme budget, and Salter campaigned to undo the changes, the success of which he cites as the reason for his decision to stand for the council. He won election in Park ward in May 1984. Two years later, Labour gained control of the council and Salter was appointed chair of the leisure committee, and a year later became Deputy Leader of the Council, in which role he says he helped 'plan the successful development of the town centre and steered Labour to unprecedented local electoral success'. He first stood as a candidate for Parliament at the 1987 general election in Reading East. Alleging some of his opponents were carpetbaggers, Salter ran under the motto of 'Martin Salter Lives Here', and he came a close third to the SDP (Alliance) candidate .
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