Edwin Brooks (born 1 December 1929) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

-born academic who has been a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, and a local politician in both England and Australia.

Early life

Brooks was born in

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

and went to

Barry Grammar School Barry Comprehensive School ( cy, Ysgol Gyfun y Barri) was a secondary school for boys aged 11–16, situated opposite Highlight Park in the town of Barry, in Wales. Bryn Hafren Comprehensive School was the partner girls' school that also provide ...

. His

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

was spent in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, after which he went to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. Th ...

. After an undergraduate degree he also took his PhD there. He became a Lecturer in Geography at

Liverpool University , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

in 1954.

Political career

In 1958, Brooks was elected to

Birkenhead County Borough Council Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpoo ...

as a Labour Party member. At the

1964 general election The following elections occurred in 1964. Africa * 1964 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1964 Central African Republic parliamentary election * 1964 Central African Republic presidential election * 1964 Dahomeyan general election * 1964 Gabo ...

he was Labour candidate for the Bebington constituency on the

Wirral Peninsula Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to th ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

, losing to future Chancellor of the Exchequer and Foreign Secretary

Geoffrey Howe Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, (20 December 1926 – 9 October 2015) was a British Conservative politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1989 to 1990. Howe was Margaret Thatcher ...

. Brooks defeated Howe in the 1966 general election. Once in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

, Brooks broke the Labour whip to support an amendment to the 1967 budget to relieve charities of Purchase Tax on goods they bought to further their objects; early the next year he supported amendments to soften the Commonwealth Immigrants Bill. He opposed the government's attempt to negotiate a settlement with

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to th ...

. He also wanted all hereditary peers removed from the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

, and called for a negotiated settlement to the

Vietnam war The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Brooks was also successful in getting the 1967 NHS Family Planning Act passed as a private members Bill. This enabled local health authority-funded family health clinics to give contraceptive advice to unmarried women, on both medical and social grounds. He identified a social problem whereby low income groups risked financial difficulties from having more children than they could afford. Brooks lost his seat in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

Academic career

Having lost his parliamentary seat in the

UK general election, Brooks returned to Liverpool University. Two years later he was promoted to Senior Lecturer and he was Dean of College Studies from 1975 to 1977. In 1977, he was appointed Dean of Business and Liberal Studies at Riverina College of Advanced Education,

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, and emigrated to Australia with his family. From 1982 to 1988 he was Dean of Commerce of the merged Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education, part of the

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain Charles Napier Sturt, a British explorer ...

. On retirement he was appointed Dean Emeritus. One of the University buildings has been named after him. He co-founded Wagga Ratepayers Association, and is active in civic life in the town. He was President of Wagga Wagga Chamber of Commerce from 1988 to 1990. Brooks is still relied upon by many members of the community to comment on issues of national and local importance.

Personal life

Brooks is married to Wendy. The couple met in Liverpool. While living in England, she served as a juvenile court magistrate.Hansard, House of Commons, Vol. 784, Col. 1034, 9 June 1969. Brooks has five children: Aldric (deceased), Martin, Timothy, Benjamin and Victoria. His daughter Victoria was the 2004 Federal

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate for the seat of

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

References

* Philip Norton, "Dissension in the House of Commons 1945-74" (Macmillan, 1975) * M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs", Vol. IV (Harvester Press, 1981)
Local newspaper column
by Edwin Brooks.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Edwin 1929 births Living people Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Liverpool British emigrants to Australia People from Wagga Wagga UK MPs 1966–1970 Councillors in Merseyside Labour Party (UK) councillors Academic staff of Charles Sturt University