A tale of two brothers | | Ronnie Campbell discovers he has a long lost brother |
Inside Out tells the remarkable story of how Ronnie Campbell, MP, was reunited with the brother he didn't know he had. This is the story of two men from very different backgrounds. Ronnie Campbell is Labour MP for Blyth Valley. He spends most of his time travelling between his constituency and attending to his duties in the House of Commons. Eric McGraw lives in Taunton and owns a barbecue restaurant. Until recently the two men had never met and didn't know they shared a family connection. Now Inside Out can tell the incredible story of these two brothers for the first time. Ronnie's story Ronnie Campbell has been the MP for Blyth Valley since the 1987 election.
He grew up in Blyth in a large family with eight brothers and sisters - and a strict father.  | | Ronnie Campbell in his role as MP for Blyth Valley |
Like many North East teenagers Ronnie left school at 14 and went down the pit. He got involved in the miners strikes of 1972 and 1974, and then the big strike in 1984. Ronnie was a union organiser during these strikes. He was also a councillor on the local council. When the pits closed down, he was signing on the dole - and was about to embark on a career as a care worker. But then the local MP resigned and Ronnie was asked to stand. He won the selection by two votes, and won the 1987 election with a narrow majority of 856. Eric's story In contrast Eric McGraw has had a very different career. He runs a restaurant in Taunton and is Editor of the National Prison Newspaper Inside Time. Eric had always known that he was adopted so he started a search to track down his birth mother nearly 30 years ago. Eric was working for the United Nations and needed to get his birth certificate because he found it embarrassing turning up to embassies with his adoption certificate.  | | Searching for his roots - Eric McGraw |
When he got his birth certificate, he found his name used to be Derek Campbell. The certificate had his mother's name and address on it - and showed that he had no father. So Eric went to Blyth to find the street - but the family had moved, and so he went to the housing department and eventually the police station to see if anyone knew of the family. He was lucky because a police officer had played football with the brothers and he gave Eric the address. Eric then arranged through social services to meet Edna Campbell, his mother. She told him that he had been kept within the family for a year, before circumstances had forced her to give him up for adoption. Because of the problems it would cause with Edna's husband (Ronnie's father - now deceased), Eric didn't keep in touch.
However he remembered that Edna had told him that one of her son's was in politics. Out of the blue Thirty years later Eric came across the name Ronnie Campbell who was MP for Blyth.
Eric's job took him into the Houses of Parliament from time to time, and Ronnie had been picked to ask a question in the House twice in one week. It was at this stage that Eric decided to look him up in Dodds' Parliamentary Companion, and he found that Ronnie was the son of Edna and Ronnie Campbell.
He then decided to write to him in his office in Parliament: "It was a difficult letter to write - I was very conscious of alarming him. "I wrote a fairly low key kind of letter. Dear Ronnie - if I may so presume - I wondered if you could say if you're the son of Edna. "I was born Derek Campbell - I met your mum and my mother, I think 30 years ago - terribly sorry to write to you out of the blue."
When Ronnie got the letter in early 2005 he was completely stunned - he had no knowledge of his brother's existence: "He wouldn't have put his full name and address if it had been a spoof - and I thought it's real," he recalls. "But I hadn't any clue basically that I had a brother, and I was stunned for a few days. "I went down to see me mother and she confirmed it was true." Remarkable reunion Ronnie wrote a letter back saying that he would love to meet Eric and they arranged to meet up outside the House of Commons. The long lost brothers recognised each other instantly.
 | | On home turf - the two brothers back in Blyth |
"Standing outside the House of Commons, I was waiting for him coming along - and there's always hundreds of people outside... and I spotted him a hundred yards away - as soon as I seen him, I said that's him!," says Ronnie "I just knew it was him - he just looked the part - I had a good idea how old he was. I think it might have been the walk you know - that style of walk - we have in our family and he has the looks as well.
"We had a good handshake that's for sure - we didn't cuddle and kiss," continues Ronnie. | "Eric's flesh and blood - he's my half brother. I'm delighted, he's delighted - he's the belle of the ball... He's in the clan - he's one of the lads now." | | Ronnie Campbell on his brother Eric |
"We hit it off straight away - got very close together straight away - cos we came down and went on the terrace - and talked about his life and my life and that sort of thing." The two men are now good friends - "brothers in fact," says Ronnie.
Ronnie's delighted to bring brother Eric back into the family, and they get on really well. Eric has now been up to meet the whole family twice and is getting to know his mother Edna. It's been a very interesting experience for both men and their extended families. Eric jokes that, "it's quite a large family - enough to make a few football teams". But despite sharing some of the same genes and having a lot in common, there's one thing that two men don't agree on - politics! Ronnie is a Labour man whilst his brother is a Liberal! Links relating to this story:The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites | 
Inside Out - North East and Cumbria: Monday February 6, 2006
