David Chaytor’s name is now synonymous with the MP expenses scandal.
Yet before the revelation that he had claimed more than £18,000 he was not entitled to, the former Labour MP had enjoyed a long career in education and spent 13 years representing the people of his home town, Bury.
Mr Chaytor, 61, was born in the Greater Manchester town and stayed loyal to his roots, eventually returning to the community as MP for Bury North, taking an active part in local life.
After his school days, spent at East Ward Primary School and the Bury grammar School, he graduated from the University of London in 1970.
Following stints at Huddersfield Polytechnic and the University of Bradford he qualified as a teacher at the University of Leeds in 1976.
He returned to the University of London to finish his Masters in philosophy in 1979 and did further postgraduate work at the University of Bradford.
Mr Chaytor worked as a college lecturer before being appointed senior staff tutor at the Manchester College of Arts and Technology in 1983.
Seven years later, he was promoted to become head of continuing education, a job he kept until his election to parliament in 1997.
From 1982, he also served on Calderdale Borough Council as a councillor for Todmorden, Lancashire, where he still owns a house.
His eventual election to parliament as MP for Bury North came as something of a relief after two failed attempts as Labour candidate in the 1987 and 1992 general elections.
Once in Westminster, Mr Chaytor quickly carved a niche for himself as an expert in education policy, drawing on his background and experience in the field.
He picked specific, well defined issues on which to campaign, such as a right to paid educational leave for all workers, sitting on the Children, Schools and Families Committee as well as on the Environmental Audit Committee.
His interest in environmental issues translated into support for a campaign to reduce carbon emissions. He also lead parliamentary calls for a boycott of Esso but was broadly loyal to Labour and towed the party line.
Mr Chaytor is married to Sheena and they have three children.
Their daughter Sarah is an Oxford graduate who now works for the Russell Group of leading universities.
She too, was dragged into the scandal when it emerged that Mr Chaytor had claimed almost £5,000 to pay her under an assumed name. She worked at his office between 2003 and 2005 as a part-time researcher and later as a caseworker.
Mr Chaytor is a founding member of Forever Bury, a Bury FC supporters club. He is fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and president of both Brooksbottom Cricket Club and Bury Horticultural Society.
A keen cyclist, he enjoys long walks, tree planting, dry stone walling and restoring old buildings. His choice of music ranges from opera to Bob Dylan.
When the expenses furore broke, Mr Chaytor agreed to repay the money but was suspended by the Parliamentary Labour Party pending an internal investigation and did not stand for re-election this year.
He apologised for what he described as an "unforgivable error".
