Roy Hattersley, former Labour deputy leader, dies at 93
Roy Hattersley, the Sheffield-born politician who served as Labour's deputy leader for nine years, has died aged 93. He held the Birmingham Sparkbrook seat in Parliament for more than three decades and served as a cabinet minister in the 1970s.
thesouthafrican.comRoy Hattersley, who served as deputy leader of the Labour Party under Neil Kinnock, has died at the age of 93. The Sheffield-born politician entered Parliament in 1964 as the MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook, a seat he held for more than three decades. He served as a cabinet minister under James Callaghan in the 1970s and became the party's deputy leader in opposition for nine years after its defeat to Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives in 1983.
Political career Lord Hattersley entered the cabinet as secretary of state for prices and consumer protection in 1976. After Labour moved into opposition three years later, he opposed the party's shift to the left. As deputy leader, he encouraged the party to embrace multilateral disarmament, the market economy and the European Union.
He was made a life peer as Baron Hattersley of Sparkbrook after leaving the Commons in 1997.
Starmer said Lord Hattersley "was a giant of the Labour movement". "Through decades of service, including as deputy leader and a minister, he never lost his belief in a more equal Britain," Sir Keir said. Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said Lord Hattersley had spent a "life devoted to politics, public duty and writing".
New Labour strategist Alistair Campbell described him as "Labour through and through" and "a loyal and hard working deputy to Neil at a vital time in Labour history".
