Hometown boy
Ian Austin grew up in Dudley and served on Dudley council between 1991 and 1995. He became MP for Dudley North in 2005. Before entering Parliament he worked in government as political adviser to Gordon Brown. Before that he worked for the Labour party in communications, publishing and journalism.
What is your first political memory?
In the early 1970s, John Gilbert, who was then the MP for Dudley, visited our house to talk about the community relations council which my dad was setting up. It was a moment of great excitement in the Austin household.
Who is your greatest political hero?
Nye Bevan, for establishing the NHS, which has grown into the greatest British institution of all. It symbolises more than anything else the great values the British people hold in common, something to which we all contribute and from which we all benefit, in which the strong care for the weak and the rich look after the poor.
Who is your greatest political villain?
Having grown up in the 1980s, it would have to be Margaret Thatcher, who presided over the destruction of the Black Country’s traditional industries, cuts in public services and increasing poverty. We were told mass unemployment was inevitable, that there was no such thing as society, and that you couldn’t have a strong economy without rising inequality. I didn’t believe that so I joined Labour.
If you were granted one political wish, what would it be?
Providing decent housing for all.
When you were a child, what did you want to be?
Probably like most boys, I wanted to be a professional footballer or a rock star. I am not sure whether it is more embarrassing to admit that, when even I had realised that I wasn’t at all talented at either music or football. After I had become more interested in politics, I wanted to be the MP for my hometown – an ambition I have achieved.
Do you have any free time and what do you do in it?
Spending time with my family. I watch football with my son or watch my son play football. I love cycling and reading, although since becoming an MP I haven’t managed to do nearly as much of either as I would like.
What is the best thing about being a new MP?
The best things are the opportunity to raise the profile of causes you care about nationally, and the chance to stand up and fight for the people of my hometown who have usually exhausted every other avenue and turn to their MP in the last, desperate attempt to solve their problems. The very best thing is when you manage to solve them.
What would be your desert island disc and book?
The LBJ Trilogy by Robert Caro, which I have always fancied reading but never found the time. The music would probably be the new compilation by the Jam, the band that provided the soundtrack to my generation’s youth.
If you were able to spend an hour with one dead, historical figure, who would it be and what would you ask them?
I think it would be Frank Foley who came from Stourbridge in Dudley. He was a secret service agent who posed as a passport officer in Berlin, issuing fake documents to around 10,000 Jews, saving them from almost certain death in the Nazi concentration camps. I’d want to ask him where he found the courage to risk his life to save so many others, and do the right thing when the easier, safer course would have been just to walk away. I’d want to talk to him because remembering the evils of racism and fascism from the past compels us to fight bigotry and hatred today.