The organisation will begin regulating military aviation activities from next April, Bob Ainsworth said in a Commons statement on 16 December 2009.

BBC: Air authority set up after Nimrod crash

In Birmingham, Labour's Gisela Stuart is a declared candidate and the former Defence Secretary, Bob Ainsworth, is being tipped to run for Mayor of Coventry.

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Announcing the release of the injury figures last month, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said the MoD was committed to being "open about casualties suffered" by British forces.

BBC: Rise in UK Afghan troop injuries

But former Labour defence secretary Bob Ainsworth said the 2010 decision "was taken in the face of clear advice" and the facts had not changed in the way Mr Hammond claimed.

BBC: Government in ?100m U-turn over F35-B fighter planes

Carrying the defence brief in opposition, he bonded with his Labour opposite number, Bob Ainsworth, over their shared struggle to persuade their party leaders to take the military's low morale and underfunding more seriously.

ECONOMIST: The defence secretary

At question time on 13 December 2010, Labour former defence secretary Bob Ainsworth asked why David Cameron had suggested soldiers could start to be withdrawn in 2011 during his recent visit to the country.

BBC: Ministers urged to curb statements on Afghan withdrawal

Eric Joyce - who quit as an aide to former Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth last year in a row over strategy in Afghanistan - is also standing, as is Caroline Flint, who resigned as Europe minister last year and accused Gordon Brown of treating women like "window dressing".

BBC: Shadow cabinet elections: 49 MPs enter ballot