Rob Marris

Robert Howard Marris (born 8 April 1955) is a British Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South West. He first held the seat from 2001 until his defeat in 2010. He regained at the seat at the 2015 general election, but stepped down at the 2017 general election.

The son of Dr. Charles Marris and Margaret Marris JP, he was born in Wolverhampton and partially educated at Warstones Primary School, before attending Birchfield Preparatory School and St. Edward's School in Oxford.

He then moved to Canada and spent some time as a lumberjack, before obtaining a double first in History and Sociology from the University of British Columbia. He then completed a master's degree, working as a truck driver whilst finishing his thesis.

Having decided he wanted a career in law in the UK and not being eligible for a UK grant, he spent 3 years driving trolleybuses, followed by a period as a forest fire fighter during which time he joined Greenpeace, newly founded in Vancouver, becoming world member no. 204.^{[citation needed]} He was also a member of the New Democratic Party, Canada's counterpart to the Labour Party as members of the Socialist International.

He served his articles of clerkship in Wolverhampton and went to work for Thompsons Solicitors, the trade union law firm, until he was elected to the House of Commons.

First elected at the 2001 general election, on 8 July 2007, he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Shaun Woodward, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

In July 2008, Marris received the "Backbencher of the Year" award from The House, the magazine of the House of Commons. Marris spoke in a "well above average" number of parliamentary debates and had a "well above average" voting record.

Marris emerged well from the May 2009 political scandal of MPs expenses disclosures being listed as a "saint", with minimal claims for second home. However, he was defeated in the 2010 general election by Paul Uppal of the Conservative Party.