John Cameron Cartwright (29 November 1933 – 18 November 2024) was a British politician. He was a Labour and then an SDP Member of Parliament (MP) representing Woolwich East then

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

from the October 1974 general election to the 1992 election.

Early life and education

Cartwright was born in

Lincoln, England Lincoln () is a cathedral city and non-metropolitan district, district in Lincolnshire, England, of which it is the county town. In the 2021 Census, the city's district had a population of 103,813. The 2021 census gave the Lincoln Urban Area, u ...

on 29 November 1933. He was educated at Monks Road Council School, Lincoln and Woking County Grammar School, he was the star of the grammar school's Dramatic Society, for which he played numerous

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

an and Goldsmithian ladies. One such production was seen by the Norwegian ambassador, who was so impressed that he invited the whole production to perform in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

and

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

Political career

Initially an executive officer in the

Home Civil Service In the United Kingdom, the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, which is led by a cabinet of ministers chosen b ...

, Cartwright's political career began when he became a constituency agent for the Labour Party in 1955. Serving twelve years in that role, he was later employed as political secretary of the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (R.A.C.S.) and as a councillor in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, where he became the Labour Group leader and, subsequently, leader of the council from 1971 to 1974. He unsuccessfully contested Bexley at the 1970 general election (losing to

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...

) and

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in southeast London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley. It had a population of approximately 15,600 in 2021 and is southeast of Charing Cross. It is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in London ...

at the February 1974 election (losing to Cyril Townsend). At the October 1974 election Cartwright was elected as the Labour member for Woolwich East, replacing

Christopher Mayhew Christopher Paget Mayhew, Baron Mayhew (12 June 1915 – 7 January 1997) was a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1950 and from 1951 to 1974, when he left the Labour Party to join the Liberals. In 1981 ...

(who had left Labour to join the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

the year before). Following six years as a

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of t ...

member of parliament and latterly Parliamentary Private Secretary to

Shirley Williams Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby (''née'' Catlin; 27 July 1930 – 12 April 2021) was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she served in ...

, Cartwright himself left the Labour Party in 1981 to become one of the founding members of the SDP. He served as the SDP's chief whip from 1983 onwards and as its president from 1987. He also served as the SDP/Liberal Alliance's chief defence spokesman from 1983 to 1987. A close political ally of

David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 to 1979, and later ...

, he stayed loyal to Owen's 'continuing' SDP after the

and a majority of the SDP merged in January 1988 to become the Liberal Democrats. After the collapse of the continuing SDP in 1990, Cartwright stood for re-election as an 'Independent Social Democrat' – albeit one endorsed by the Liberal Democrats – but lost by 2,200 votes.

Later life and death

After leaving active politics he went on to serve as deputy chairman of the Police Complaints Authority before retiring to

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. After suffering from a series of falls, Cartwright died on 18 November 2024, at the age of 90.

References

Sources

External links

* 1933 births 2024 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Social Democratic Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Independent politicians in England UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 Labour Party (UK) councillors Members of the Fabian Society Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988–1990) MPs {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub