David Crausby was born in Bury and was educated at the Derby Grammar School and at Bury Technical College.

He worked as an engineer in both Bury and Bolton and held the position of convenor for the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union.

He was elected a councillor in 1979 to the then Bury district council and served until 1992 where he was the chair of housing.

He first contested Bolton North East for the Labour Party in 1992, where he lost by only 185 votes.

He would stay with the seat and become the MP at the 1997 election with a majority of 12,669.

During his time as MP he has worked to gain university status for the town, campaigned successfully for leasehold reform, helped secure a commitment from the government to rail electrification in Bolton, voted against the Iraq war, lead a campaign for tougher regulation over the sale of fireworks and much more.

He was a member of the defence select committee from 2001-2010, where he served as Vice Chair and is chair of the North West regional committee. He has recently joined the Speaker's Panel of Chairs.

His key political interests are defence, housing, trade and industry.

He lives in Bolton is married and has two children and four grandchildren. He is a keen supporter of Bolton Wanderers and enjoys the cinema, walking and genealogy.