Albert Booth

The Right Honourable
Albert Booth
The Right Honourable Albert Booth
Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
	In office; 14 July 1979 – 9 June 1983
Leader	James Callaghan; Michael Foot
Preceded by	Norman Fowler
Succeeded by	John Prescott
Shadow Secretary of State for Employment
	In office; 4 May 1979 – 14 July 1979
Leader	James Callaghan
Preceded by	James Prior
Succeeded by	Eric Varley
Secretary of State for Employment
	In office; 8 April 1976 – 4 May 1979
Prime Minister	James Callaghan
Preceded by	Michael Foot
Succeeded by	James Prior
Minister of State for Employment
	In office; 5 March 1974 – 8 April 1976
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	Robin Chichester-Clark
Succeeded by	Harold Walker
Member of Parliament ; for Barrow-in-Furness
	In office; 31 March 1966 – 13 May 1983
Preceded by	Walter Monslow
Succeeded by	Cecil Franks
Personal details
Born	28 May 1928; Acomb, England
Died	6 February 2010 (aged 81); London, England
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	Northumbria University

Albert Edward Booth (28 May 1928 – 6 February 2010)^[1] was a British left-wing^[2] Labour Party politician and cabinet minister.

Early life

Booth was born in Acomb, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, in 1928.^[3] He was raised in Hampshire and South Shields, and educated at Marine School, South Shields, and Rutherford College of Technology (now Northumbria University).^[3] He was a design draughtsman. He served as a councillor on Tynemouth Council 1962–65.

Parliamentary career

Booth contested Tynemouth in 1964.^[3] He was Member of Parliament for Barrow-in-Furness from 1966 to 1983, and was Secretary of State for Employment from 1976 to 1979 serving under James Callaghan.^[3] He also acted as the Labour Party's national Treasurer between 1983 and 1984.

After boundary changes, his seat was renamed Barrow and Furness, for the 1983 General Election but despite a 1979 majority of 7,741 he lost it to the Conservative Cecil Franks. This has often been attributed to Labour's unilateralist policy of nuclear disarmament, and Booth himself identified with that, leading a CND march through his constituency. However, his constituents were reliant on the defence industries, particularly shipbuilding, and this led to one of Labour's most unexpected defeats of the election.^[2]^[4] However, a campaign against him centred in a local Catholic church, highlighting his record of voting in favour of women's right to choose to have an abortion, was also a significant factor.^{[citation needed]} (Booth was a lay preacher in the Methodist Church.)^[1]

Later career

Booth made it through to the final round in the Labour selection for Sunderland South ahead of the 1987 election, but lost out by four votes to Chris Mullin.^[5] He unsuccessfully contested Warrington South in 1987.^[3]

Personal life and death

In 1957, Booth married Joan Atkinson (née Amis); they had three sons and were married until her death in 2008.^[3]

Booth died at the Princess Royal University Hospital in Locksbottom, London, on 6 February 2010, at the age of 81; his health had been in decline due to a series of illnesses, including prostate cancer.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b "Former Barrow MP Albert Booth dies at 81 – tributes". North-West Evening Mail. Archived from the original on 7 July 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
^ ^a ^b Julia Langdon (10 February 2010). "Albert Booth obituary | Politics". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Howell, David (2014). "Booth, Albert Edward (1928–2010), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/102534. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "Albert Booth". The Daily Telegraph. 15 February 2010.
^ Chris Mullin (2016). Hinterland (Page 10). ISBN 978-1781256060.

Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1966 & 1983
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Albert Booth
Albert Booth – Daily Telegraph obituary
Albert Booth 1928–2010: an "Old Labour" man – Workers' Liberty obituary by his niece, Janine Booth

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Walter Monslow	Member of Parliament for Barrow-in-Furness 1966–1983	Succeeded by Cecil Franks
Political offices
Preceded by Michael Foot	Secretary of State for Employment 1976–1979	Succeeded by James Prior
Party political offices
Preceded by Eric Varley	Treasurer of the Labour Party 1983–1984	Succeeded by Sam McCluskie

This article about a Labour Party member of Parliament representing an English constituency is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[nwem-1] "Former Barrow MP Albert Booth dies at 81 – tributes". North-West Evening Mail. Archived from the original on 7 July 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2010.

[Langdon-2] Julia Langdon (10 February 2010). "Albert Booth obituary | Politics". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2017.

[ODNB-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Howell, David (2014). "Booth, Albert Edward (1928–2010), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/102534. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[4] "Albert Booth". The Daily Telegraph. 15 February 2010.

[5] Chris Mullin (2016). Hinterland (Page 10). ISBN 978-1781256060.

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