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Roy Hattersley

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Hattersley
PC FRSL
Hattersley in 2012
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
In office
2 October 1983 – 18 July 1992
LeaderNeil Kinnock
Preceded byDenis Healey
Succeeded byMargaret Beckett
Shadow cabinet posts
1979–1992
Shadow Secretary of State
1979–1980Environment
1980–1983Home Department
1983–1987Chancellor of the Exchequer
1987–1992Home Department
Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection
In office
10 September 1976 – 4 May 1979
Prime MinisterJames Callaghan
Preceded byShirley Williams
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Junior ministerial posts
1974–1976
Minister of State
1974–1976Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Shadow cabinet posts
1972–1974
Shadow Secretary of State
1973–1974Education and Science
Shadow Spokesperson
1972–1974Trade and Industry
Junior ministerial posts
1967–1970
Minister of State
1969–1970Defence Administration
Parliamentary Under-Secretary
1968–1969Employment and Productivity
Parliamentary Secretary
1967–1968Ministry of Labour
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Life peerage
24 November 1997 – 19 May 2017
Member of Parliament
for Birmingham Sparkbrook
In office
15 October 1964 – 8 April 1997
Preceded byLeslie Seymour
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
BornRoy Sydney George Hattersley
(1932-12-28)28 December 1932
Sheffield, England
Died13 June 2026(2026-06-13) (aged 93)
Derbyshire, England
PartyLabour
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1956; div. 2013)​
Maggie Pearlstine
​
(m. 2013)​
RelativesNorman Pearlstine (brother-in-law)
University of Hull
Signature

Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley (28 December 1932 – 13 June 2026) was a British politician, author and journalist who served in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom for Birmingham Sparkbrook from 1964 to 1997, and in the House of Lords from 1997 to 2017. A member of the Labour Party, he held multiple ministerial positions under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. In opposition, Hattersley was deputy leader of the Labour Party under Neil Kinnock from 1983 to 1992.

Born in Sheffield, Hattersley was introduced to politics by his mother Enid Hattersley, who served on the Sheffield City Council. At age 23 he was elected to the council. After a failed candidacy in 1959, Hattersley was elected to parliament in the 1964 election.

Hattersley was aligned with Gaitskellism. As Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence Hattersley oversaw the deployment of soldiers to Northern Ireland as part of Operation Banner. Although Hattersley opposed Michael Foot during the 1980 leadership contest he remained with Labour rather than joining the Social Democratic Party.

Hattersley lost the 1983 leadership contest to Kinnock and was made deputy leader. Both men resigned from leadership after Labour's defeat in 1992. After leaving parliament in 1997, Hattersley was critical of Labour under Tony Blair and Jeremy Corbyn.

Early life and education

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Roy Sydney George Hattersley was born in Sheffield on 28 December 1932,[1] to Enid Anne Brackenbury and Frederick Hattersley.[2] Frederick was commonly referred to by his second name Roy while his younger brothers William and Charles were referred to as George and Syd respectively.[3]

Frederick was a Catholic parish priest in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, and officiated at Enid's marriage to John O'Hara, but he and Enid eloped together two weeks later. He was subjected to excommunication in order to marry Enid; Roy did not learn of this until after his father's death[4][2] when Bishop Edward Ellis sent him a letter of condolence.[2][5] Roy was an illegitimate child[6] as his parents did not marry until 1956, following O'Hara's death.[2] The Labour government, which Roy was a member of, passed legislation in 1968 which allowed children born out of wedlock to re-register their births.[7] Frederick and Enid moved from Shirebrook to Sheffield due to their notoriety.[8]

Enid was the daughter of a coal merchant and formally joined the Labour Party at age 14. Enid and Frederick both served on the Sheffield City Council and Enid became Lord Mayor in 1981.[4] Enid introduced Hattersley to politics at age 12 by taking him with her while campaigning during the 1945 general election.[9] He state that his local member of parliament (MP) A. V. Alexander was his hero.[10] Roy joined Labour at age 16.[1]

Roy contracted diphtheria in December 1937,[11] and suffered from respiratory issues for years[12] before being diagnosed with asthma.[13] He attended Wisewood Primary School,[14] Hillsborough High School,[12] Sheffield City Grammar School and the University of Hull.[1][14]

Local politics

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Hattersley served as president of the National Association of Labour Students in 1954.[1]

Hattersley was elected to Sheffield Council at age 23;[15] he was the youngest member of the council. Park Hill was commissioned by Hattersley in his role as chair of the housing management committee.[1]

Member of Parliament

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In the 1959 general election Hattersley unsuccessfully stood as a Labour candidate in Sutton Coldfield.[16] In the 1964 general election Hattersley was elected to the House of Commons for Birmingham Sparkbrook, and represented that constituency for the next 33 years. He was the youngest MP elected in 1964.[1]

In 1994, Hattersley announced that he was retiring from politics.[14] He left the House of Commons in 1997, and was made a life peer in the House of Lords,[1] as Baron Hattersley of Sparkbrook.[17] He left the House of Lords in 2017.[1]

Party politics

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Upon entering parliament Hattersley was aligned with Gaitskellism and Roy Jenkins.[1]

In 1969, Hattersley attempted to convince Jenkins to withdraw his support for Barbara Castle and Harold Wilson and run for leadership, but Jenkins declined to do so.[1]

Wilson stepped down as leader of Labour in 1976. The candidates in the leadership contest included Hattersley's ally Jenkins, his mentor Anthony Crosland, and his ministerial superior James Callaghan. Hattersley supported Callaghan during the contest. He told Jenkins and Crosland that Callaghan was the only person who could hold Labour together, but was told to "fuck off" by Crosland.[1][14]

Callaghan stepped down as leader in 1980. Hattersley was a major figure in Denis Healey's campaign in the leadership contest, which was ultimately won by Michael Foot. Hattersley refused to join the Gang of Four in splitting from Labour in 1981.[1]

Hattersley was one of the leaders of the Labour Solidarity Campaign.[1]

Michael Foot stepped down as leader after Labour's poor performance in the 1983 general election. Hattersley ran in the leadership contest, but lost to Neil Kinnock. He was made deputy to Kinnock.[1]

Labour's Choice was written by Hattersley in 1983, and updated to Choose Freedom in 1987, to espouse a view for updating democratic socialism. Kinnock proposed using Hattersley's writing as a basis for a new Labour statement of aims and values in 1988, but it was rejected.[1]

After Labour's defeat in the 1992 general election both Kinnock and Hattersley resigned from leadership.[1] He would occasionally be asked to go on the topical panel programme "Have I Got News For You" but often pulled out, which led to the programme once replacing him with a tub of lard.[18]

Hattersley was critical of Tony Blair during his time as prime minister.[1] He believed that Labour under Blair abandoned blue-collar workers. He believed that Labour was not acting against antisemitism in the party and opposed Jeremy Corbyn's support for Palestine.[9] He threatened to leave Labour in 2019, and criticised MPs who opposed Corbyn for failing to present a different vision for Labour than him.[1]

Ministerial positions

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Hattersley was the youngest member of Wilson and Callaghan's cabinets.[1]

Hattersley was Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence from 1969 to 1970.[16] In this role Operation Banner, in which the United Kingdom deployed soldiers in Northern Ireland, started under him.[1] Healey was unable to launch the operation as he was hospitalised.[19]

Prime Minister Edward Heath negotiated the United Kingdom's entry into the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1971. Hattersley and the Tories voted in favour of joining while Labour was split on the issue. Jenkins resigned from Labour's shadow cabinet in protest of the party supporting a referendum on EEC membership, but Hattersley chose to remain. George Thomson, the Defence Spokesman, also resigned with Jenkins and was replaced by Hattersley.[1]

Hattersley was education spokesman in the shadow cabinet from 1972 to 1974. Hattersley, who supported phasing out private schools, was not retained in the cabinet after the February 1974 general election. He was made deputy to Foreign Secretary James Callaghan.[1] From 1979 to 1980, he was Secretary of State for Education in the shadow cabinet.[16]

Foot made Hattersley, who chose to remain loyal to Labour rather than join the Social Democratic Party, Home Secretary in his shadow cabinet,[1] a position that he held from 1980 to 1983. In Kinnock's shadow cabinet he was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1983 to 1987, and Home Secretary from 1987 to 1992.[16]

Relations between the government and unions broke down between 1974 and 1979. Hattersley attempted to restrict pay increases to below 6%. He blamed the Winter of Discontent and unions for Labour's defeat in the 1979 general election. However, he stated that the path towards Margaret Thatcher was paved by Callaghan's government accepting a bailout from the International Monetary Fund in 1976, and its failure to defend public spending.[1]

Writing

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In Hattersley's youth his favourite authors were Richmal Crompton and W. E. Johns.[20]

Hattersley published over 20 books. His columns were published by The Spectator, The Listener, The Guardian, and Daily Mail. He was a contributor to the New Statesman.[1] In 1988, he signed a £150,000 contract for an autobiography and two novels.[14]

Personal life

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Hattersley attended Wadsley Parish Church in his youth.[21]

Hattersley met Molly Hattersley at the University of Hull.[1] They married in 1956, and had no children. The couple separated in 2008, and divorced in 2013.[22] He married Maggie Pearlstine in 2013. On 13 June 2026, Hattersley died at his home in Derbyshire, England.[1][9]

Norman Pearlstine was Hattersley's brother-in-law.[9] Hattersley's maternal grandfather Ernest Brackenbury was chair of the Derbyshire County Council.[23]

Bibliography

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  • The Catholics: The Church and its people in Britain and Ireland, from the Reformation to the present day (2017) ISBN 9781784741587
  • The Devonshires: The Story of a Family and a Nation, Random House (2013) ISBN 978-0-099-55439-4
  • David Lloyd George: The Great Outsider, Little Brown (2010) ISBN 978-1-4087-0097-6
  • Borrowed Time: The Story of Britain Between the Wars. London: Abacus. 2010. ISBN 9780349118949.
  • In Search Of England, Hachette (2009) ISBN 9780748118168
  • Buster's Secret Diaries (2007) ISBN 978-0-297-85216-2
  • Campbell-Bannerman (2006) ISBN 978-1-9049-5056-1
  • The Edwardians: Biography of the Edwardian Age (2004) ISBN 0-316-72537-4
  • A Brand from the Burning: The Life of John Wesley (2002) ISBN 978-0-316-86020-8
  • Buster's Diaries (1999) ISBN 0-7515-2917-6
  • Blood and Fire: William and Catherine Booth and the Salvation Army (1999) ISBN 0-316-85161-2
  • 50 Years on: Prejudiced History of Britain Since the War (1997) ISBN 0-316-87932-0
  • No Discouragement: An Autobiography (1996) ISBN 0-333-64957-5
  • Who Goes Home?: Scenes from a Political Life (1995) ISBN 0-316-87669-0
  • Between Ourselves (1994) ISBN 0-330-32574-4
  • Skylark's Song (1993) ISBN 0-333-55608-9
  • In That Quiet Earth (1993) ISBN 0-330-32303-2
  • The Maker's Mark (1990) ISBN 0-333-47032-X
  • Choose Freedom: Future of Democratic Socialism (1987) ISBN 0-14-010494-1
  • A Yorkshire Boyhood (1983) ISBN 0-7011-2613-2
  • with Eric Heffer, Neil Kinnock and Peter Shore Labour's Choices (1983)
  • Press Gang (1983) ISBN 0-86051-205-3
  • Goodbye to Yorkshire (1976) ISBN 0-575-02201-9

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Perkins 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d Mendick & Pepinster 2017.
  3. ^ Hattersley 2001, p. 17.
  4. ^ a b The Daily Telegraph 2001.
  5. ^ Hattersley 2001, pp. 2–3.
  6. ^ Hattersley 2001, p. 5.
  7. ^ Hattersley 2001, p. 9.
  8. ^ Hattersley 2001, p. 20.
  9. ^ a b c d Cowell 2026.
  10. ^ Hattersley 2001, p. 138.
  11. ^ Hattersley 2001, pp. 39–41.
  12. ^ a b Hattersley 2001, p. 46.
  13. ^ Hattersley 2001, p. 71.
  14. ^ a b c d e Profile: So farewell, socialist about town: Roy Hattersley, Labour's Yorkshire pudding, bows out 1994.
  15. ^ Basini 2002.
  16. ^ a b c d Parliament of the United Kingdom.
  17. ^ Davies 2026.
  18. ^ "Roy Hattersley: Labour politician who helped start the party's modernisation". BBC News. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  19. ^ Hattersley 2007.
  20. ^ Hattersley 2001, p. 120.
  21. ^ Hattersley 2001, p. 200.
  22. ^ Pitel 2013.
  23. ^ The Herald 2001.

Works cited

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Books

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News

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Web

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