Austin Mitchell | |
|---|---|
 Mitchell in 2008 | |
| Opposition Whip | |
| In office July 1979 – July 1985 | |
| Leader | James Callaghan Michael Foot Neil Kinnock |
| Shadow Spokesperson For Trade and Industry | |
| In office July 1988 – July 1989 | |
| Leader | Neil Kinnock |
| Member of Parliament forGreat Grimsby | |
| In office 28 April 1977 – 30 March 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Anthony Crosland |
| Succeeded by | Melanie Onn |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Austin Vernon Mitchell (1934-09-19)19 September 1934 Bradford, England |
| Died | 18 August 2021(2021-08-18) (aged 86) Leeds, England |
| Political party | Labour Party (UK) Labour Party (NZ) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | University of Manchester (BA) Nuffield College, Oxford (PhD) |
Austin Vernon MitchellONZM (19 September 1934 – 18 August 2021)[1][2] was a British academic, journalist andLabour Partypolitician who was themember of Parliament (MP) forGreat Grimsby from a1977 by-election to2015.[3] He was also the chair of the Labour Euro-Safeguards Campaign.[4] Before becoming an MP in the United Kingdom, Austin Mitchell was a well known television broadcaster in New Zealand.
Born inBradford,[2] Mitchell was the elder son of Richard Vernon Mitchell and Ethel Mary Butterworth. He was educated at Woodbottom Council School in Baildon,[5] theBingley Grammar School, theUniversity of Manchester, andNuffield College, Oxford. His doctoral thesis,The Whigs in Opposition, 1815–1830, was published in 1963.[6]
From 1959 to 1963, he lectured in history at theUniversity of Otago inDunedin. While lecturing in politics from 1963 to 1967 at theUniversity of Canterbury, Mitchell wrote a popular book about New Zealand,The Half Gallon Quarter Acre Pavlova Paradise (1972). The book title became a phrase in theNew Zealand English lexicon. In the 1960s and 70s New Zealand remained a milder version of thesocialist laboratory it had been since 1935. In the 1980s and 90s the same socialist Labour party's governmenttransformed it into an open market economy. These drastic changes provided ample subject matter for social analysis and 30 years later Mitchell wrotePavlova Paradise Revisited (2002) as well as a video series accessible onNZ on Screen, after another New Zealand expedition. From 1967 to 1969 Mitchell was an Official Fellow at Nuffield College.[7]
Mitchell joined theNew Zealand Labour Party in 1961 and several months later he became chairman of theDunedin Central branch.[8] In 1963Phil Connolly, the retiring MP for Dunedin Central, shoulder-tapped Mitchell to put his name forward to replace him in the seat. During their conversation Connolly was particularly concerned with what religion Mitchell was (assuming him to be a Catholic) and was relieved when Mitchell said he was an Anglican, which would be acceptable to a predominantly Presbyterian constituency. However, Mitchell ultimately did not put himself forward for the nomination, instead resolving to return to the UK.[9]
Mitchell was a founding member of New Zealand'sUniversity of Canterbury Political Science Department in 1963, supporting it breaking away from the History Department. In 2015 he returned to the University of Canterbury as a Canterbury Visiting Fellow. Mitchell lectured on "Britain and New Zealand - The Great Unravelling", looking at the evolution of recent British politics, drawing analogies in each section with parallel developments and implications for New Zealand to examine all worldwide trends in the evolution of liberal English-speaking democracies.[10][11][12]
He first became involved in television journalism while teaching history and politics in New Zealand in the 1960s. He fronted the current affairs showCompass and in 1965 conducted an interview series with leading politiciansMen on the Hill in which he explored the balance of power among the institutions of modern government such as caucus, departments, cabinet, and parliament with an emphasis on the question of who governs?.[13] In 1966 he hosted a fortnightly television seriesTopic exploring an issue of the day[14] and also fronted one-off television programmes – for exampleThe New Zealand woman – who is she.[15] On returning to the UK he used his New Zealand television experience to become ajournalist atITV companyYorkshire Television from 1969 to 1977, presenting their regional news programmeCalendar, although he spent a short period at theBBC in 1972. During his period at Yorkshire, Mitchell chaired a tense live studio discussion involvingBrian Clough andDon Revie, immediately following Clough's sacking byLeeds United in 1974.[16]
He was elected to the UK Parliament at aby-election in 1977, following the death of the previous MP, the Foreign SecretaryTony Crosland.[17][18] At the time Mitchell identified himself as aGaitskellite.[19]
Mitchell supported the introduction of television cameras to the House of Commons, raising it for discussion in 1983.[20] The move opened the proceedings of the House to the wider public, who previously had only been able to follow via newspapers and, from 1978, radio. In 1986, following theJohn Stalker inquiry to allegedRoyal Ulster Constabulary "shoot-to-kill" policies in Northern Ireland, a policeman Chief Inspector Brian Woollard claimed he had been removed from the inquiry by a group ofFreemasons; Mitchell backed Woollard and argued that there should be a national register of all people in authority who are Freemasons.[21]
In 1980, Mitchell brought in a Bill that would have televised parliamentary proceedings. The vote to allow the Bill to be entered into the House which resulted in a tie vote. Then Deputy SpeakerBernard Weatherill broke to tie to allow the Bill to be debated in line with theSpeaker Denison's rule.[22]
Beginning in the 1990s, Mitchell helped to highlight Jersey's role in facilitating tax evasion, drug trafficking, and money laundering, as well as the island's secretive partnership with accountancy firmsPrice Waterhouse andErnst & Young to enactLLP legislation to minimise accountants' liabilities.[23][24] In the 1997-2001 parliament, Mitchell was a member of theAgriculture Select Committee.[25]
In the2001 Queen's Birthday Honours, Mitchell was appointed anOfficer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to New Zealand interests in the United Kingdom.[26]
In October 2002, he temporarily changed his name to Austin Haddock ashaddock is a staple catch for his constituents that was suffering a decline and it was his wish to promote it.[27]
He was chair of the Parliamentary All-Party Photography Group and he regularly exhibited in the APPG's annual photography exhibition.[28] He campaigned for the recognition of photographers' rights after an over-zealous police officer deleted photographs, without his permission, from his camera's memory card at the 2005 Labour Conference in Brighton.[29][30][31][32][33][34]
In 2007, Mitchell wrote a front-page article forThe Independent newspaper in which he criticised the treatment of a family ofasylum-seekers in his constituency. This article quoted him as saying that certain correspondents on the subject to the website of the local newspaper, theGrimsby Telegraph, were "lumpen lunatics."[35] TheGrimsby Telegraph covered the response in which it stood by the MP but also reported that a number of readers had called for his resignation.[36]
He was a member of theSocialist Campaign Group – although this affiliation did not prevent him from nominatingGordon Brown (rather thanJohn McDonnell) for the2007 Labour Party leadership election. As a supporter of theBetter Off Out campaign, Mitchell was aEurosceptic and he opposed theCommon Fisheries Policy. He supported Leave in the 2016 referendum on EU membership, and he commented that 'the EU is a racket run at Britain's expense, a system bonding national elites together to ignore the people'.[37]
Mitchell was also a keen supporter of theAdditional Member System, (the electoral system used in elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly), and called a Private Members' Debate on this issue on 1 December 2009.[38]
As part of an independent audit conducted after theUnited Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal of 2009, in which expense claims between 2004 and 2008 for second homes were examined, Mitchell was discovered to have wrongly claimed £10,549 for mortgage repayments. He explained that this was as a result of an oversight in 2006; in January 2010, he issued an apology and repaid the funds.[39][40][41]
During 2010, Mitchell participated inTower Block of Commons, aChannel 4 documentary where MPs live intower blocks and in with ordinary residents in deprived areas. Mitchell, who insisted on living in his own flat with his wife instead of living with the local residents,[42] was criticised for his apparent lack of engagement in comparison to his Liberal Democrat and Conservative counterparts. He claimed the production company misled him.[43] Mitchell was the President of the Debating Group.[44]
On 29 October 2012, Mitchell directed atweet at formerConservative MPLouise Mensch, saying "A good wife doesn’t disagree with her master in public and a good little girl doesn’t lie about why she quit politics." He also referred to Mensch as "Menschkin." The comments were widely condemned as being sexist, with Mensch demanding an apology from both Mitchell andEd Miliband. Mitchell responded that he was being "ironic".[45]
In April 2014, Mitchell announced that he would not be standing in thenext general election, which was held in May 2015.[46]
Austin married Dorothea Patricia Jackson in 1959: they had two daughters, Susan Ngaio and Nicola Rewa, but divorced in 1966. In 1976, he married New Zealand television producer and writer Linda McDougall: they had one son, Jonathan Vernon Mitchell, and one daughter, Hannah Kezia Mitchell. Amongst his personal interests were photography and he was a member of theRoyal Photographic Society.[47]
In July 2013, Mitchell underwentheart surgery atKing's College Hospital, London, to repair a leaking valve.[48] He died at the coronary care unit atLeeds General Infirmary on 18 August 2021, a month before his 87th birthday.[49][50] Speaking after his death, former Labour leaderTony Blair said, "Austin was a larger than life figure – immense fun, a jovial manner often concealing an acute mind, a challenging colleague at times for sure but always warm-hearted and decent, and above all totally committed to Grimsby! I never had a conversation with him without coming away with a new insight or perspective which is why even when disagreeing, I had to listen."[51]
Mitchell was portrayed in the 2009 filmThe Damned United, in a scene recreating his interview with Brian Clough and Don Revie. He was played by Mark Bazeley.[52]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forGreat Grimsby 1977–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chair of theFabian Society 1986–1987 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
