The Lord Hoyle | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2018 | |
| In office 8 May 1997 – 9 April 1999 | |
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Courtown |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Burlison |
| Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party | |
| In office 18 July 1992 – 3 May 1997 | |
| Leader |
|
| Preceded by | Stan Orme |
| Succeeded by | Clive Soley |
| In office 14 May 1997 – 25 July 2023 Life peerage | |
| Member of Parliament forWarrington North Warrington (1981–1983) | |
| In office 16 July 1981 – 8 April 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Williams |
| Succeeded by | Helen Jones |
| Member of Parliament forNelson and Colne | |
| In office 10 October 1974 – 7 April 1979 | |
| Preceded by | David Waddington |
| Succeeded by | John Lee |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Eric Douglas Harvey Hoyle (1926-02-17)17 February 1926 Coppull, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 6 April 2024(2024-04-06) (aged 98) |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Lindsay |
Eric Douglas Harvey Hoyle, Baron Hoyle,JPGMH (17 February 1926 – 6 April 2024) was a British politician andlife peer who waschair of the Parliamentary Labour Party from 1992 to 1997 and alord-in-waiting from 1997 to 1999. A member of theLabour Party, he wasMember of Parliament (MP) forNelson and Colne from1974 to1979 andWarrington North from1981 to1997.[1][2]
Eric Douglas Harvey Hoyle was born inCoppull, nearChorley, inLancashire, on 17 February 1926 to William Hoyle and Leah Hoyle (née Harvey).[3][4][5] His father was a shop assistant at aCo-op and a social member of the local Conservative club.[5]
Hoyle attended Adlington Church of England school and Horwich and Bolton Technical Colleges, before he started working as an engineering apprentice forBritish rail in Horwich.[5] He moved toManchester to work as a sales engineer in 1951, before joining a company inSalford as a marketing executive in 1953 where he worked until his election as an MP.[5]
Hoyle joined theLabour Party in 1945.[5]
Hoyle first stood for Parliament atClitheroe in1964, but came second. In1970, he first foughtNelson and Colne, and was defeated by theConservative incumbentDavid Waddington by 1,410 votes. He fought the seat again inFebruary 1974, and reduced Waddington's margin to 177. He was finally elected at the general election ofOctober 1974 for Nelson and Colne by 669 votes; this was the first Labour gain to be announced on election night.
Hoyle narrowly lost his seat at the general election of1979, but returned to Parliament in 1981 when he saw off a strong challenge fromRoy Jenkins in a traditionallysafe Labour seat. This was a notableby-election inWarrington when enthusiasm for the newly createdSocial Democratic Party was at its peak. Constituency boundaries were redrawn for the general election of1983, when he became MP forWarrington North.
In the1992 Labour Party leadership election he voted forBryan Gould; one of only twelve MPs to do so.[6]
Hoyle stepped down from the House of Commons at the general election of1997, and on 14 May 1997, he was created alife peer asBaron Hoyle, ofWarrington in the County ofCheshire in the1997 Dissolution Honours.[7][8][9] He retired from the Lords on 25 July 2023.
Lord Hoyle served as chairman ofWarrington WolvesRugby League Club from 1999 to 2009.[10] He was also a non-executive director of the major local employer Debt Free Direct.[11][12] In 1957 he helped foundLabour Friends of Israel.[13]Hoyle received theFreedom of the Borough ofWarrington on 11 November 2005.[14]
Hoyle was awarded the Freedom of the City of Gibraltar, and in July 2008 received theGibraltar Medallion of Honour (GMH).[15]
In November 2010, Lord Hoyle was awarded an honoraryDoctor of Letters degree by theUniversity of Chester for his 'outstanding contribution to the Borough of Warrington'.[16]
Hoyle was married to Pauline Spencer from 1953 until her death in 1991.[5] Their only child,Lindsay Hoyle, became theMember of Parliament forChorley in 1997 and theSpeaker of the House of Commons in 2019.[17]
Lord Hoyle died on 6 April 2024, at the age of 98.[18][4][5] He was survived by his son, grandchild and great grandchildren.[18]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forNelson and Colne October 1974 –1979 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWarrington 1981–1983 | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forWarrington North 1983–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party 1992–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Trade union offices | ||
| Preceded by Len Wells | President of theAssociation of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs 1977–1981 | Succeeded by Len Wells |
| President of theAssociation of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs 1985–1988 | Union merged | |
