Michael John Ward (7 April 1931 – 25 March 2009) was a British Labour politician. Ward was educated at Royal Liberty Grammar School,

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

and

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. He became a local government advisor and director of a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

firm. He was elected to Romford Borough Council in 1958, and was subsequently elected to its replacement,

Havering London Borough Council Havering London Borough Council, also known as Havering Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Havering in Greater London, England. It is a London boroughs#London borough councils, London borough council, one of 32 in London. T ...

, in 1964. He served as

leader of the council Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

at Havering from 1971 to 1974. He was a member of the

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

river authority from 1964 and local government officer at the Labour Party 1961–65. Having contested the seat three times previously, losing by three votes in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

after seven recounts and by 22 votes in February 1974, Ward was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

in the October 1974 general election, defeating the Conservative Party's incumbent Sir

Harmar Nicholls Harmar Harmar-Nicholls, Baron Harmar-Nicholls (1 November 1912 – 15 September 2000), known as Sir Harmar Nicholls, 1st Baronet, from 1960 to 1975, was a British Conservative Party politician. Early life and career Harmar Nicholls was born i ...

. He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to

Reg Prentice Reginald Ernest Prentice, Baron Prentice, PC (16 July 1923 – 18 January 2001) was a British politician who held ministerial office in both Labour and Conservative Party governments. He was the most senior Labour figure ever to defect to th ...

, Secretary of State for Education and Science, and after Prentice left the government, Ward was PPS to Bill Rodgers, Minister of State in the Foreign Office. However, in 1979, Ward lost the marginal Peterborough seat to the Conservative

Brian Mawhinney Brian Stanley Mawhinney, Baron Mawhinney, (26 July 1940 – 9 November 2019) was a British Conservative Party politician. He was a member of the Cabinet from 1994 to 1997 and a member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2005. Early life Mawhin ...

. Ward subsequently joined the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SDP) but later rejoined Labour, working for the Greenwich

Constituency Labour Party A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency. In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituencies. In Sc ...

. In 2005, his daughter Alison Seabeck was elected the Labour MP for

Plymouth Devonport Plymouth, Devonport was, from 1832 until 2010, a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It covered part of the city of Plymouth in South West En ...

. Ward also served as the chairman of Charlton Triangle Homes in South East London. He was also the chairman of the Greenwich Labour Party Local Government Committee from 1996 until 2000 and of the Rochester and Strood Labour Party from 2003 until 2007.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons 1979'' *
Obituary, The Independent, 31 March 2009

External links

* 1931 births 2009 deaths People educated at the Royal Liberty Grammar School Alumni of the University of Manchester Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in Greater London Councillors in the London Borough of Havering UK MPs 1974–1979 Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub