James Callaghan (28 January 1927 – 29 March 2018) was a British Labour Party politician who was a member of parliament between 1974 and 1997.

Early life

Callaghan was educated at

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

universities, and he worked as a lecturer in art at St John's College,

, before entering Parliament.

Political career

At the February 1974 general election, Callaghan was elected as the member of parliament (MP) for

Middleton and Prestwich Middleton and Prestwich was a United Kingdom constituencies, parliamentary constituency centred on the Middleton, Greater Manchester, Middleton and Prestwich districts of Greater Manchester. It returned one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), ...

. He served this constituency and its successor, Heywood and Middleton, until he retired in 1997. He was a member of several

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

Select Committees – on Transport, on the Cardiff Barrage scheme, and on Education, Science & the Arts. He served as parliamentary private secretary to Joel Barnett, the

Chief Secretary to the Treasury The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is a senior ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom and is the second most senior ministerial office in HM Treasury, after the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The office holder is always a full ...

. He was removed from this role in March 1976, after abstaining in a division on spending cuts which the Government lost, forcing a vote of confidence against Prime Minister

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

. He later also served as PPS to the Sports Minister Denis Howell. He was a member of the

Tribune Group ''Tribune'' is a democratic socialist political magazine founded in 1937 and published in London, initially as a newspaper, then converting to a magazine in 2001. While it is independent, it has usually supported the Labour Party from the left. ...

of Labour MPs.

Death

Callaghan died on 29 March 2018 at the age of 91.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Callaghan, James 1927 births 2018 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Heywood and Middleton