| The Right Honourable Michael Foot |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| In office 4 November 1980 – 2 October 1983 |
|
| Preceded by | James Callaghan |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Neil Kinnock |
|
|
|
| In office 5 April 1976 – 4 November 1980 |
|
| Preceded by | Edward Short |
| Succeeded by | Denis Healey |
|
|
|
| In office 8 April 1976 – 4 May 1979 |
|
| Prime Minister | James Callaghan |
| Preceded by | Edward Short |
| Succeeded by | Christopher Soames (Lord President) Norman St John-Stevas (Leader) |
|
|
|
| In office 5 March 1974 – 8 April 1976 |
|
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | William Whitelaw |
| Succeeded by | Albert Booth |
|
|
|
| Born | 23 July 1913 Plymouth, Devon, England |
| Political party | Labour |
Michael Mackintosh Foot (born 23 July 1913) is a British politician and writer. The Right Honourable (abbreviated as The Rt Hon) is an Honorific prefix that is traditionally applied to certain The Leader of the Opposition (sometimes known as the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons) in the United Kingdom is the politician who leads Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) Leonard James Callaghan Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005 was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 Neil Gordon Kinnock Baron Kinnock PC (born 28 March 1942 is a British Politician. The Deputy Leader of the Labour Party is the second most senior politician in the British Labour Party, which has been in government in the United Kingdom since Events 456 - St Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Edward Watson Short Baron Glenamara, CH, PC (born 17 December 1912) is a former Labour Member of Parliament Denis Winston Healey Baron Healey, CH, MBE, PC (born 30 August 1917 is a British Life peer and Labour politician The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons The Lord President of the Council is the fourth of the Great Officers of State of the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord High Treasurer and above Events 217 - Roman Emperor Caracalla is Assassinated (and succeeded by his Praetorian Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1256 - The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) Leonard James Callaghan Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005 was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 Edward Watson Short Baron Glenamara, CH, PC (born 17 December 1912) is a former Labour Member of Parliament Arthur Christopher John Soames Baron Soames, GCMG, GCVO, CH, CBE, PC ( October 12, 1920 &ndash September Norman Anthony Francis St John-Stevas Baron St John of Fawsley, PC, FRSL (born 18 May 1929 is a British Conservative politician author constitutional The Secretary of State for Employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. Events 217 - Roman Emperor Caracalla is Assassinated (and succeeded by his Praetorian Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. James Harold Wilson Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, PC (11 March 1916 &ndash 24 May 1995 was one of the most prominent British politicians William Stephen Ian Whitelaw 1st Viscount Whitelaw, KT, CH, MC, PC, DL (28 June 1918 &ndash 1 July 1999 commonly known as Albert Edward Booth (born 28 May 1928 is a British Labour Party politician Events 1632 - Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe France. Year 1913 ( MCMXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Plymouth ( is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England about south west of London. Devon is a large county in the South West of England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the Events 1632 - Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe France. Year 1913 ( MCMXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common British people, or Britons, are the native inhabitants of Great Britain and their descendants or citizens of the United Kingdom, of the He was leader of the Labour Party from 1980 to 1983. The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar)
Contents |
Family
Foot's father, Isaac Foot, was a solicitor and founder of the Plymouth law firm, Foot and Bowden. Isaac Foot ( 23 February 1880 - 13 December 1960) was a British politician and solicitor A "solicitor" is a term used in many Common law jurisdictions for a lawyer who offers legal services outside of the courts Isaac Foot was an active member of the Liberal Party and was Liberal Member of Parliament for Bodmin in Cornwall 1922–1924 and 1929–1935 and a Lord Mayor of Plymouth. Isaac Foot ( 23 February 1880 - 13 December 1960) was a British politician and solicitor The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s and a third party A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. Bodmin was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall from 1295 until 1983 Cornwall ( Kernow ˈkɛɹnɔʊ is the most southwesterly county of England, on the Peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city with special recognition [1]
Michael Foot is the younger brother of the late Sir Dingle Foot MP, and also of the Liberal politician Lord Foot (previously John Foot), and of the late Lord Caradon (previously Hugh Foot), a Governor of Cyprus and a former representative of the United Kingdom at the United Nations from 1964-1970, whose late son was the campaigning journalist Paul Foot. Sir Dingle Mackintosh Foot, QC, PC, ( 24 August 1905 &ndash 18 June 1978) was a British lawyer and politician born in The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s and a third party John Mackintosh Foot Baron Foot ( 1909 - 11 October 1999) was a Liberal politician and Life Peer. Hugh Mackintosh Foot Baron Caradon, GCMG KCVO OBE PC ( 8 October 1907 – 5 September 1990) was Cyprus (Κύπρος transliterated: Kýpros,; Kıbrıs officially the Republic of Cyprus (Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Paul Mackintosh Foot ( 8 November 1937 in Palestine &ndash 18 July 2004 at Stansted Airport) was a British investigative
Early life
Michael Foot was born in Plymouth, Devon, and educated at Plymouth College Preparatory School and Leighton Park School in Reading. Plymouth ( is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England about south west of London. Devon is a large county in the South West of England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name Plymouth College ( PMC) is a Co-educational independent school in Plymouth, Devon, England for day and boarding pupils Leighton Park School is an independent Coeducational Quaker Secondary school for both boarding and day pupils in Reading (ˈrɛdɪŋ as Redding) is a town in England, located at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, midway between He then went on to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Wadham College, Oxford. Philosophy Politics and Economics or Politics Philosophy and Economics (often abbreviated to PPE) is a popular Interdisciplinary degree which Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road Foot was president of the Oxford Union. Status and membership The Oxford Union is an Unincorporated association, holding its property in trust in favour of its objectives and members and governed He also took part in the ESU USA Tour (the debating tour of the USA run by the English-Speaking Union. The English-Speaking Union is an international educational charity founded by journalist Evelyn Wrench in 1918 On graduating in 1934, he took a job as a shipping clerk in Liverpool. Liverpool ( is a City and Metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary Foot was profoundly influenced by the poverty and unemployment that he witnessed in Liverpool, on a different scale from anything he had seen in Plymouth. A Liberal up to this time, Foot was converted to Socialism by Oxford University Labour Club president David Lewis and others: ". Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution Oxford University Labour Club ( OULC) was founded in 1919 to provide a voice for Labour Party values and for Socialism at Oxford University, David Lewis (born Losz) CC, (June 23 or October 1909 -May 23 1981 was a Russian-born Canadian labour lawyer and social democratic politician . . I knew him [at Oxford] when I was a Liberal [and Lewis] played a part in converting me to socialism. " [2] Foot joined the Labour Party and first stood for parliament at the age of 22 in the 1935 general election when he contested Monmouth. The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the Results |} Total votes cast 20991488 All parties shown Conservatives include Ulster Unionists Seats won by the Independent Labour Party (ILP are For constituencies which may be confused with this constituency see Monmouth constituency Monmouth is a County constituency of the During this election Foot criticised the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, for seeking rearmament. Stanley Baldwin 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC (3 August 1867 &ndash 14 December 1947 was a British Conservative politician statesman and major In his election address Foot contended that "THE ARMAMENTS RACE IN EUROPE MUST BE STOPPED NOW". [3] Foot also supported unilateral disarmament, after multilateral disarmament talks at Geneva had broken down in 1933. [4]
He became a journalist, working briefly on the New Statesman before joining the left-wing weekly Tribune when it was set up in early 1937 to support the Unity Campaign, an attempt to secure an anti-fascist United Front between Labour and the parties to its left. The New Statesman is a British Left-wing political Magazine published weekly in London. Tribune is a Democratic socialist weekly currently a magazine though in the past more often a newspaper published in London. Anti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideologies organizations governments and people The campaign's members were Stafford Cripps's (Labour-affiliated) Socialist League, the Independent Labour Party and the Communist Party of Great Britain (CP). Sir Richard Stafford Cripps ( 24 April 1889 &ndash 21 April 1952) was a British Labour politician and Chancellor The Socialist League was a socialist organisation in the United Kingdom. See Independent Labor Party for the Political party in Burundi, Independent Labour Group for the Irish party and Labour candidates The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB was the largest Communist party in the United Kingdom, though it never became a mass party like the Communist parties of Foot resigned in 1938 after the paper's first editor, William Mellor, was fired for refusing to adopt a new CP policy of backing a Popular Front, including non-socialist parties, against fascism and appeasement. William Mellor (1888&ndash1942 was a Left-wing British journalist A popular front is a broad Coalition of different political groupings often made up of leftists and centrists who are united by opposition to another group Fascism is a totalitarian nationalist and corporatist ideology
Journalist
On the recommendation of Aneurin Bevan, Foot was soon hired by Lord Beaverbrook to work as a writer on his Evening Standard. Aneurin Bevan, usually known as Nye Bevan ( 15 November 1897 &ndash 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour William Maxwell "Max" Aitken 1st Baron Beaverbrook Bt The London Evening Standard is an English Tabloid regional local newspaper published and sold in London and surrounding areas of southeast (Bevan is supposed to have told Beaverbrook on the phone: "I've got a young bloody knight-errant here. They sacked his boss, so he resigned. Have a look at him. ") At the outbreak of the second world war, Foot volunteered for military service, but was rejected due to his chronic asthma. In 1940, under the pen-name "Cato" he and two other Beaverbrook journalists (Frank Owen, editor of the Standard, and Peter Howard of the Daily Express) published Guilty Men, a Left Book Club book attacking the appeasement policy of the Chamberlain government that became a run-away best-seller. Humphrey Frank Owen (27 September 1905 &ndash 23 January 1979 was a British journalist and Liberal Member of Parliament. Peter Dunsmore Howard (1908-1965 was a British Journalist, Playwright, captain of the England national rugby union team and the head of the spiritual Guilty Men was a Polemic Book published in the summer of 1940 in the United Kingdom, which attacked the leading politicians of the 1930s The Left Book Club, founded in 1936, was a key left-wing institution of the late 1930s and 1940s in the United Kingdom Arthur Neville Chamberlain (18 March 1869 &ndash 9 November 1940 was a British Conservative Politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Beaverbrook made Foot editor of the Evening Standard in 1942 at the age of 28. The London Evening Standard is an English Tabloid regional local newspaper published and sold in London and surrounding areas of southeast Foot left in 1945 to join the Daily Herald, then jointly owned by the TUC and Odhams Press and effectively an official Labour Party paper, as a columnist, and to fight Plymouth Devonport in the 1945 general election. The Daily Herald was a British Newspaper, published in London from 1912 to 1964 (although it was weekly during the First World War The Trades Union Congress (TUC is a national trade union centre, a federation of Trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade Odhams Press was a British publishing firm Originally a Newspaper group in the 1890s it took the name Odham's Press Ltd Plymouth Devonport is a Borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Results |} Total votes cast 24073025 All parties shown Conservative total includes Ulster Unionists Reason for Labour victory He won the seat for Labour for the first time, holding it until his surprise defeat by Dame Joan Vickers at the 1955 general election. Joan Helen Vickers Baroness Vickers, DBE ( 3 June 1907 – 23 May 1994) was a British National Liberal and Results |} Total votes cast 26759729 All parties shown Conservatives include National Liberal Party and Ulster Unionists Votes He rejoined Tribune as editor from 1948 to 1952, and was again the paper's editor from 1955 to 1960. Tribune is a Democratic socialist weekly currently a magazine though in the past more often a newspaper published in London. Until 1957, he was the most prominent ally of Aneurin Bevan, who had taken Cripps's place as leader of the Labour left, though Foot and Bevan fell out after Bevan renounced unilateral nuclear disarmament at the 1957 Labour Party conference. Aneurin Bevan, usually known as Nye Bevan ( 15 November 1897 &ndash 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Nuclear disarmament is the proposed dismantling of Nuclear weapons.
Member of Parliament
Before the cold war began in the late 1940s, Foot favoured a 'third way' foreign policy for Europe (he was joint author with Richard Crossman and Ian Mikardo of the pamphlet Keep Left in 1947), but in the wake of the communist seizure of power in Hungary and Czechoslovakia he and Tribune took a strongly anti-communist position, eventually embracing NATO. Richard Howard Stafford Crossman, known as Dick Crossman, ( 15 December 1907 &ndash 5 April 1974 was a British Labour Party Ian Mikardo ( 9 July 1908 &ndash 6 May 1993) commonly known as Mik, was a British Labour and Co-operative Keep Left was a pamphlet published in the United Kingdom in 1947 by the New Statesman, written by Michael Foot, Richard Crossman and Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The North Atlantic Treaty
Foot was however a critic of the west's handling of the Korean war, an opponent of West German rearmament in the early 1950s and a founder member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korean and South Korean regimes with major hostilities lasting from June 25 1950 until the Wiederbewaffnung (rearmament refers to the United States plan to help build up Germany after World War II Under his editorship, Tribune opposed both the British government's Suez adventure and the Soviet crushing of the Hungarian revolution in 1956. Suez (السويس) is a Seaport town (population ca 497000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez, near the southern Foot returned to parliament in 1960 at a by-election for Ebbw Vale in Monmouthshire, left vacant by Bevan's death. For the Ebbw Vale in Australia see Ebbw Vale Queensland. Ebbw Vale (Glyn Ebwy is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ancient county See also Monmouthshire (historic The ancient county of Monmouthshire was formed from the Welsh Marches by the Laws in Wales
He had the Labour whip withdrawn in March 1961 after rebelling against the Labour leadership over air force estimates. He only returned to the Parliamentary Labour Group in 1963 when Harold Wilson replaced Hugh Gaitskell as Labour leader. Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell ( 9 April 1906 &ndash 18 January 1963) was a British politician leader of the Labour Party from 1955
Harold Wilson – the subject of an enthusiastic campaign biography by Foot published by Robert Maxwell's Pergamon Press in 1964 – offered Foot a place in his first government, but Foot turned it down. James Harold Wilson Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, PC (11 March 1916 &ndash 24 May 1995 was one of the most prominent British politicians Ian Robert Maxwell MC ( June 10, 1923 – November 5, 1991) was a Czechoslovakian born British Media proprietor Instead he became the leader of Labour's left opposition from the back benches, dazzling the Commons with his command of rhetoric. He opposed the government's moves to restrict immigration, join the Common Market and reform the trade unions, was against the Vietnam war and Rhodesia's unilateral declaration of independence, and denounced the Soviet suppression of "socialism with a human face" in Czechoslovakia in 1968. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia Rhodesia was the name adopted when the formerly British colony of Southern Rhodesia declared itself independent ( Unilateral Declaration of Independence Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He also famously allied with the Tory right-winger Enoch Powell to scupper the government's plan to abolish the voting rights of hereditary peers and create a House of Lords comprising only life peers – a "seraglio of eunuchs" as Foot put it. Brigadier John Enoch Powell, MBE ( June 16 1912 &ndash February 8 1998) was a British Politician,
In 1967, Foot challenged James Callaghan but failed to win the post of Treasurer of the Labour Party. Leonard James Callaghan Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005 was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 The Treasurer of the Labour Party is a position on the National Executive Committee of the British Labour Party.
In government
After 1970 Labour moved to the left and Wilson came to an accommodation with Foot. In April 1972, he stood for the Deputy Leadership of the party, along with Edward Short and Anthony Crosland, who was eliminated in the first ballot. The Deputy Leader of the Labour Party is the second most senior politician in the British Labour Party, which has been in government in the United Kingdom since Edward Watson Short Baron Glenamara, CH, PC (born 17 December 1912) is a former Labour Member of Parliament Charles Anthony Raven Crosland (29 August 1918 - 19 February 1977 was a member of the Labour Party and an important socialist theorist Short defeated Foot in the second ballot though.
When Labour returned to office in March 1974 under Harold Wilson, Foot became Secretary of State for Employment, in which role he played the major part in the government's efforts to keep the trade unions on side. Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. He was also responsible for the Health and Safety at Work Act. The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 ( Initialisms HSWA HASWA or HASAWA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom Foot was one of the mainstays of the "no" campaign in the 1975 referendum on British membership of the European Economic Community. The United Kingdom referendum of 1975 was a post-legislative Referendum held on 5 June 1975 in the whole of the United Kingdom over whether there was support for it The European Community (EC is one of the Three pillars of the European Union (EU created under the Maastricht Treaty (1992 When Wilson retired in 1976, Foot contested the party leadership, leading in the first ballot, but was ultimately defeated by James Callaghan. The Labour Party leadership election of 1976 occurred when former leader Harold Wilson resigned as Party Leader and Prime Minister. Leonard James Callaghan Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005 was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 Later that year he was elected deputy leader and served as Leader of the House of Commons, which gave him the unenviable task of trying to maintain the survival of the Callaghan government as its majority evaporated. The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons
Labour Leadership
Following Labour's 1979 general election defeat by Margaret Thatcher, Foot was elected Labour leader in 1980, beating the right's candidate Denis Healey in the second round of the leadership election (the last leadership contest to involve only Labour MPs). Background Callaghan had succeeded Harold Wilson as Labour Prime Minister after the latter's surprise resignation in April 1976 Margaret Hilda Thatcher Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925 Denis Winston Healey Baron Healey, CH, MBE, PC (born 30 August 1917 is a British Life peer and Labour politician Foot presented himself as a compromise candidate capable, unlike Healey, of uniting the party, which at the time was riven by the grassroots left-wing insurgency centred on Tony Benn. Anthony "Tony" Neil Wedgwood Benn (born 3 April 1925 formerly 2nd Viscount Stansgate, is a British Socialist Politician. The Bennites demanded revenge for the betrayals, as they saw them, of the Callaghan government, and pushed the case for replacement of MPs who had acquiesced in them by left-wingers who would support the causes of unilateral nuclear disarmament, withdrawal from the Common Market and widespread nationalisation. (Benn did not stand for the leadership: apart from Foot and Healey, the other candidates – both eliminated in the first round – were John Silkin, like Foot a Tribunite, and Peter Shore, an anti-European right-winger. John Ernest Silkin, ( 18 March 1923 &ndash 26 April 1987) was an English Politician and Solicitor. Tribune is a Democratic socialist weekly currently a magazine though in the past more often a newspaper published in London. Peter David Shore Baron Shore of Stepney PC ( 20 May, 1924 &ndash 24 September, 2001) was a British Labour )
When he became leader, Foot was already 67 and frail – and almost immediately after his election as leader was faced with a massive crisis: the creation in early 1981 of a breakaway party by four senior Labour right-wingers, Roy Jenkins, Shirley Williams, David Owen and William Rodgers (the so-called "Gang of Four"), the Social Democratic Party. Roy Harris Jenkins Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM PC ( 11 November 1920 &ndash 5 January 2003) was a British Shirley Williams Baroness Williams of Crosby PC (born 27 July 1930) is a British Politician and academic David Anthony Llewellyn Owen Baron Owen of Plymouth, CH PC FKC (born 2 July 1938) is a British Politician, This is about the UK Social Democratic Party which existed between 1981 and 1988 The SDP won the support of large sections of the media, and for more than a year its opinion poll ratings suggested that it could at least overtake Labour and possibly win a general election.
With the Labour left still strong – in 1981 Benn decided to challenge Healey for the deputy leadership of the party, a contest Healey won by the narrowest of margins – Foot struggled to make an impact and was widely criticised for it, though his performances in the Commons, most notably on the Falklands crisis of 1982, won him widespread respect from other parliamentarians. The Falklands War (Guerra de las Malvinas/Guerra del Atlántico Sur also called the Falklands Conflict/Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the (He was however criticised by some on the left who felt that he should not have supported the Thatcher government's immediate resort to military action in defence of 2,000 Falkland islanders' wish to remain British subjects. The Ministry Cabinets listed chronologically These are the cabinets under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (from May 1979 to November 1990 ) The right-wing newspapers nevertheless lambasted him consistently for what they saw as his bohemian eccentricity, attacking him for wearing what they described as a "donkey jacket" at the wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day. A Donkey jacket is a short buttoned Coat, typically made of unlined black or dark blue Woollen material originally worn as a work jacket in the United Kingdom A cenotaph is a tomb or a Monument erected in honour of a person or group of persons whose remains are elsewhere Remembrance Day also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day (the event it commemorates or Veterans Day is a day to commemorate the
Through late 1982 and early 1983, there was constant speculation that Labour MPs would replace Foot with Healey as leader – speculation that increased after Labour lost the 1983 Bermondsey by-election, in which the gay rights activist Peter Tatchell was its candidate – but, critically, Labour held on in a subsequent by-election in Darlington and Foot remained leader for the 1983 general election. A by-election was held in the Bermondsey constituency in South London, on 24 February 1983, after the resignation of Labour Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is an Australian born British Human rights activist who gained international celebrity Results The Conservatives won with a majority of 144 seats|} Total votes cast 30661309
Resignation
The 1983 Labour manifesto, strongly socialist in tone, advocated unilateral nuclear disarmament, higher personal taxation and a return to a more interventionist industrial policy. Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution The manifesto also pledged that a Labour government would abolish the House of Lords and leave the EEC. Among the Labour MPs newly-elected in 1983 in support of this manifesto were Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair (born 6 May 1953 is a British Politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to WikipediaManual of Style (biographies#Academic titles --> James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951 is Foot's Labour Party lost to the Conservatives in a landslide. Foot resigned and was succeeded by Neil Kinnock as leader. Neil Gordon Kinnock Baron Kinnock PC (born 28 March 1942 is a British Politician. Gerald Kaufman, once Harold Wilson's press officer and during the 1980s a key player on the Labour right, described the 1983 Labour manifesto as "the longest suicide note in history". Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman (born 21 June 1930 is a British Labour Member of Parliament who was a government minister during the 1970s James Harold Wilson Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, PC (11 March 1916 &ndash 24 May 1995 was one of the most prominent British politicians " The longest suicide note in history " is an Epithet originally used by Gerald Kaufman to describe the Labour Party 's left-wing 1983 election
Backbenches and Retirement
Foot took a back seat in Labour politics after 1983 and retired from the House of Commons in 1992 but remained politically active. From 1987 to 1992, he was the oldest sitting British MP (preceding former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath). Sir Edward Richard George Heath, KG, MBE (9 July 1916 &ndash 17 July 2005 often known as Ted Heath, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom He defended Salman Rushdie, the novelist who was subject to a fatwah by Ayatollah Khomeini, and took a strongly pro-interventionist position against Slobodan Milošević over Croatia and Bosnia. Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie Kt (born 19 June 1947 is an Indian - British novelist and essayist Seyyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini ( Persian:, pronounced muːsæviː-je xomejniː}}( September 24, 1902 – June 3 1989
In 1995, an article in The Sunday Times, under the headline "KGB: Michael Foot was our agent", alleged that the Soviet intelligence services regarded Foot as an 'agent of influence', named as 'Agent Boot'. The Sunday Times is a Sunday Broadsheet Newspaper distributed in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. KGB ( Transliteration of "КГБ" is the Russian abbreviation of Committee for State Security ( Komityet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosty Foot denied he had been any such thing, successfully sued The Sunday Times and handed over a large part of his damages to Tribune. The article was based on the paper's serialisation of KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky's memoirs. Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky ( Russian: Олег Антонович Гордиевский CMG (born 10 October 1938 in Moscow
Foot has remained a high-profile member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament to this day. He is the author of several books, including highly regarded biographies of Aneurin Bevan and H. G. Wells. Aneurin Bevan, usually known as Nye Bevan ( 15 November 1897 &ndash 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 &ndash 13 August 1946 He was an outspoken socialist and a pacifist, his later works becoming increasingly political Indeed, he is a distinguished Vice-president of the H. G. Wells Society. The HG Wells Society, founded in 1960, is an international association composed of people interested in the life work and thought of the British writer and thinker Herbert Many of his friends have said publicly that they regret that he ever gave up literature for politics.
Foot is an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association. The National Secular Society is a British campaigning organisation which promotes Secularism, the separation of Church and State to make society fair for everyone The British Humanist Association is an organisation of the United Kingdom which promotes Humanism.
Though Foot is considered by many a failure as Labour leader, his biographer Mervyn Jones makes the case that no one else could have held Labour together at the time. Mervyn Jones (born 1942 was Governor of the Turks and Caicos from January 2000 to November 2002 Foot is remembered with affection in Westminster as a great parliamentarian. He was widely liked, and admired for his integrity and generosity of spirit, by both his colleagues and opponents.
Personal life
Foot was married to the film-maker, author and feminist historian Jill Craigie from 1949 until her death in 1999. A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a Film. An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created Feminism is a discourse that involves various movements theories, and Philosophies which are concerned with the issue of Gender difference, advocate See also History An historian is an individual who studies and writes about History, and is regarded as an Authority on it Jill Craigie ( 7 March 1914, Fulham, London - 13 December 1999, Camden London) was an English
In 2007, it was revealed that he had had an extramarital affair in the early 1970s which had put a considerable strain on his marriage, not least because he spent a substantial amount of money paying the woman's bills. Craigie's suspicion was said to have been raised when Foot, not known for his sartorial elegance, began taking inordinate care over his appearance. [5]
In 2003 Foot turned 90. He has been a passionate supporter of Plymouth Argyle F.C. since childhood, and served for several years as a director of the club. For details of the current season see Plymouth Argyle FC season 2008-09 Plymouth Argyle Football Club, commonly known as Argyle For his 90th birthday present, the club registered him as a player and gave him the shirt number, 90. This made him the oldest registered player in the history of football. He had stated that he would not 'conk out' until he has seen his team play in the Premiership.
As of 23 July 2006, his 93rd birthday, Michael Foot became the longest lived leader of a British political party, beating Lord Callaghan's record of 92 years, 364 days. Events 1632 - Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe France. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Leonard James Callaghan Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005 was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979
Foot had always rejected honours from the Queen and the government, including a knighthood and a peerage on more than one occasion.
Notes
- ^ Foot, John [1998]. "Isaac Foot", in Duncan Brack: Dictionary of Liberal Biography, Malcolm Baines, Katie Hall, Graham Lippiatt, Tony Little, Mark Pack, Geoffrey Sell, Jen Tankard, 1st ed. , Artillery Row, London: Politico's Publishing, pp. 109-112. ISBN 1902301099.
- ^ Smith, Cameron (1989). Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) Unfinished Journey: The Lewis Family. Toronto: Summerhill Press, pp. Toronto (təˈrɒntoʊ colloquially pronounced or) is the largest city in Canada and is the provincial capital of Ontario 161-162. ISBN 0-929091-04-3. Foot in an interview with the author in 1985
- ^ Mervyn Jones, Michael Foot (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1994), p. 43.
- ^ Ibid, p. 30.
- ^ Michael Foot had a young black mistress - Times Online
Bibliography
- "Cato". Guilty Men. Left Book Club. 1940.
- "Brendan and Beverley" (as "Cassius"). Victor Gollancz. 1940.
- Foot, Michael: The Pen and the Sword. MacGibbon and Kee. 1957. ISBN 0-261-61989-6
- Foot, Michael: Aneurin Bevan. MacGibbon and Kee. 1962 (vol 1); 1973 (vol 2) ISBN 0-261-61508-4
- Foot, Michael: Debts of Honour. Harper and Row. 1981. ISBN 0-06-039001-8
- Foot, Michael: Another Heart and Other Pulses. Collins. 1984.
- Foot, Michael: H. G. : The History of Mr Wells. Doubleday. 1985.
- Foot, Michael: Loyalists and Loners. Collins. 1986.
- Foot, Michael: Politics of Paradise. HarperCollins. 1989. ISBN 0-06-039091-3
- Foot, Michael: 'Introduction' in Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. Penguin (Penguin Classics), 1967 & 1985.
- Foot, Michael: 'Introduction' in Russell, Bertrand: Autobiography (Routledge, 1998)
- Foot, Michael: Dr Strangelove, I Presume (Gollancz, 1999)
- Foot, Michael: The Uncollected Michael Foot (ed Brian Brivati, Politicos Publishing, 2003)
- Foot, Michael: 'Foreword' in Rosen, Greg: Old Labour to New (Methuen Publishing, 2005)
- Foot, Michael: Isaac Foot: A West Country Boy - Apostle of England. Methuen Publishing Ltd is a British Publishing house and publishes in the areas of Theatre and Drama. (Politicos, 2006)
Biographies
- Hoggart, Simon; & Leigh, David. Michael Foot: a Portrait. Hodder. 1981. ISBN 0-340-27040-3
- Jones, Mervyn. Michael Foot. Gollancz. 1993. ISBN 0-575-05933-8
- Morgan, Kenneth O. Michael Foot: A Life. HarperPress (HarperCollins) 2007. ISBN 978 0 00 717826 1
External links
The Labour History Archive and Study Centre hold Michael Foot's archive see: http://www.phm.org.uk/
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories Isaac Leslie Hore-Belisha 1st Baron Hore-Belisha PC ( September 7, 1893 &ndash February 16, 1957) was a British A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. Plymouth Devonport is a Borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Joan Helen Vickers Baroness Vickers, DBE ( 3 June 1907 – 23 May 1994) was a British National Liberal and Aneurin Bevan, usually known as Nye Bevan ( 15 November 1897 &ndash 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. Blaenau Gwent is a Constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Llewellyn Thomas Smith (born 16 April 1944) was the Labour MP for Blaenau Gwent in Wales. Robert Edwards ( 16 January 1905 &ndash 4 June 1990) was a British Trade unionist and an Independent Labour Party Father of the House is a term that has by tradition been unofficially bestowed on certain members of some national Legislatures most notably the House of Commons in Results |} The turnout was 33514074 from an Electorate of 43275316 voting in a total of 651 seats Sir Edward Richard George Heath, KG, MBE (9 July 1916 &ndash 17 July 2005 often known as Ted Heath, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom William Stephen Ian Whitelaw 1st Viscount Whitelaw, KT, CH, MC, PC, DL (28 June 1918 &ndash 1 July 1999 commonly known as The Secretary of State for Employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Albert Edward Booth (born 28 May 1928 is a British Labour Party politician Edward Watson Short Baron Glenamara, CH, PC (born 17 December 1912) is a former Labour Member of Parliament The Deputy Leader of the Labour Party is the second most senior politician in the British Labour Party, which has been in government in the United Kingdom since Denis Winston Healey Baron Healey, CH, MBE, PC (born 30 August 1917 is a British Life peer and Labour politician Edward Watson Short Baron Glenamara, CH, PC (born 17 December 1912) is a former Labour Member of Parliament The Lord President of the Council is the fourth of the Great Officers of State of the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord High Treasurer and above Arthur Christopher John Soames Baron Soames, GCMG, GCVO, CH, CBE, PC ( October 12, 1920 &ndash September The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons Norman Anthony Francis St John-Stevas Baron St John of Fawsley, PC, FRSL (born 18 May 1929 is a British Conservative politician author constitutional Leonard James Callaghan Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005 was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the Neil Gordon Kinnock Baron Kinnock PC (born 28 March 1942 is a British Politician. The Leader of the Opposition (sometimes known as the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons) in the United Kingdom is the politician who leads Jon Kimche ( 17 June 1909 - 9 March 1994) was a journalist and author Tribune is a Democratic socialist weekly currently a magazine though in the past more often a newspaper published in London. Robert Edwards (1925-) is a British journalist Edwards was editor of Tribune (1951-54 a feature writer on the Evening Standard (1954-57 Robert Edwards (1925-) is a British journalist Edwards was editor of Tribune (1951-54 a feature writer on the Evening Standard (1954-57 Tribune is a Democratic socialist weekly currently a magazine though in the past more often a newspaper published in London. Richard Harry 'Dick' Clements ( 11 October, 1928 &ndash 23 November, 2006) was editor of the left-wing weekly Tribune from 1960 toDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic