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Les Huckfield | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament forNuneaton | |
| In office 1967–1983 | |
| Preceded by | Frank Cousins |
| Succeeded by | Lewis Stevens |
| Member of the European Parliament forMerseyside East | |
| In office 1984–1989 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Terry Wynn |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Leslie John Huckfield (1942-04-07)7 April 1942 (age 83) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation |
|
| Website | huckfield |
Leslie John Huckfield (born 7 April 1942)[1] is a BritishLabour politician who served asmember of parliament (MP) forNuneaton from 1967 to 1983 and as aMember of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1984 to 1989.
He attendedPrince Henry's Grammar School in Evesham, where he won a sixth form prize,[2]taking his A-levels in 1959.[3] In 1960 he was given aTrevelyan Scholarship.[4][5]
From 1960 to 1963, Huckfield studied atKeble College, Oxford, graduating with a degree inPhilosophy, Politics and Economics, subsequently promoted toMA.
From 1963 to 1966, he worked as a lecturer ineconomics atBirmingham City University (then the City of Birmingham College of Commerce) whilst studying for a Master of Commerce degree, specialising in Econometrics and Statistics.[citation needed]
Huckfield first stood for Parliament atWarwick and Leamington in1966, but he was defeated by theConservative incumbentJohn Hobson.
In 1967, at the age of 24, Huckfield was elected to parliament for the constituency ofNuneaton in aby-election following the resignation ofFrank Cousins, becoming the youngest MP (the "Baby of the House"). He was Under-Secretary of State for Industry from 1976 to 1979, serving under Industry SecretaryEric Varley in the government ofJames Callaghan. For a time he was a member of Labour'sNational Executive Committee, holding the Socialist Societies seat. When Labour returned to opposition in 1979, he was opposition spokesperson on industry from 1979 to 1981. He was a founding member of theSocialist Campaign Group in 1982.
After being re-elected in four general elections, Huckfield did not stand when the constituency boundaries were changed for the1983 general election. The Nuneaton seat was gained by theConservativeLewis Stevens, who held it until 1992. Huckfield had been expected to contest the recreatedSedgefield seat for the 1983 general election, but instead Labour selectedTony Blair as their candidate, who was elected.[6]
| This section of abiography of a living persondoes notinclude anyreferences or sources. Please help by addingreliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately. Find sources: "Les Huckfield" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Huckfield was then appointed as Director of the Capital Transport Campaign for theGreater London Council. In the1984 elections for the European Parliament, he was returned asMember of the European Parliament (MEP) for theMerseyside East constituency. He was Vice Chair of Parliament's Transport Committee, and stood down in1989.
He is now based inAuchterarder,Scotland, where he runs a funding consultancy called Leslie Huckfield Research International. He quit as a Labour member in 2003 and now supportsScottish independence.[7][8]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forNuneaton 1967–1983 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Baby of the House 1967–1969 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Socialist societies representative on theLabour PartyNational Executive Committee 1978–1982 | Succeeded by |
