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 the Conservative party.

Education and war service

Reg Prentice was born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extens ...

, Surrey, and educated at

Whitgift School ("He who perseveres, conquers") , established = , closed = , type = Independent school , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head Master , head = Christopher Ramsey , c ...

South Croydon South Croydon in south London is the area surrounding the valley south of central Croydon and running as far south as the former Red Deer public house on the Brighton Road. It is bounded by Waddon to the West and Selsdon and Sanderstead to the E ...

, then at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

. He served in Austria and Italy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Early politics

Prentice joined the staff of the

Transport and General Workers Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

(TGWU) in 1950. He was a councillor for Whitehorse Manor in the then-

County Borough of Croydon The County Borough of Croydon was a local government district in and around the town of Croydon in north east Surrey, England from 1889 to 1965. Since 1965 the district has been part of the London Borough of Croydon within Greater London. Hi ...

from 1949, having stood unsuccessfully in

Thornton Heath Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the C ...

ward in 1947. He served on the Housing, Libraries, Planning & Development, Water and Reconstruction Committees. He first stood, unsuccessfully, for parliament in Croydon North in 1950 and 1951, then Streatham in 1955. As Labour Member of Parliament from 1957 for East Ham North, later

Newham North East Newham North East was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, in the London Borough of Newham. It returned one Member of Parliament, elected by the first past the post system. ...

, he was a minister of state in

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

's first government at Education and Science (1964–66), then as Minister of Public Buildings and Works (1966–67), and finally was put in charge of the still-new Ministry of Overseas Development (1967–69). In the 1971 Shadow Cabinet election, Prentice just missed out on being elected, finishing in 13th place in the ballot for 12 available places. However in April 1972 the resignations from the shadow cabinet of

Harold Lever Norman Harold Lever, Baron Lever of Manchester, PC (15 January 19146 August 1995) was a British barrister and Labour Party politician. Early life He was born in Manchester, the son of a Jewish textile merchant from Lithuania, and was educate ...

and

George Thomson George Thomson may refer to: Government and politics * George Thomson (MP for Southwark) (c. 1607–1691), English merchant and Parliamentarian soldier, official and politician * George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth (1921–2008), Scottish p ...

saw Prentice and 14th placed candidate

John Silkin John Ernest Silkin (18 March 1923 – 26 April 1987) was a British left-wing Labour politician and solicitor. Early life He was the third son of Lewis Silkin, 1st Baron Silkin, and a younger brother of Samuel Silkin, Baron Silkin of Dulwich ...

join the body in their place. At the next shadow cabinet election, Prentice topped the poll and he was again re-elected in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

, this time finishing in third place. When Labour regained power, he was Secretary of State for Education and Science between 1974 and 1975, subsequently becoming Minister for Overseas Development with a seat in the cabinet until 1976. In 1975, after his

Constituency Labour Party __NOTOC__ 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 constituen ...

had been infiltrated by

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

Militants, he was deselected. He appealed unsuccessfully from the rostrum of the

Labour Party Conference The Labour Party Conference is the annual conference of the British Labour Party. It is formally the supreme decision-making body of the party and is traditionally held in the final week of September, during the party conference season when th ...

for the National Executive Committee to overturn their endorsement of his deselection.

Switch of party

In 1977, Prentice left the Labour Party after a series of battles with left-wing constituency activists such as Owen Ashworth and joined the Conservative Party. He was elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament for

Daventry Daventry ( , historically ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority in Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 Census Daventry had a population of 28,123, making ...

in the 1979 general election. Lady Hesketh was instrumental in him standing for Daventry. He was a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

at the

Department of Health and Social Security The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services. Hi ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

's government between 1979 and 1981. He left the government owing to ill health. He was knighted in 1987, the year he stepped down as an MP. On 30 January 1992, he was created

Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Prentice, of

in the County of Northamptonshire. In the last few years before his death at age 77, he was President of the

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between St ...

Conservative Association.

Death and legacy

Prentice died at his home in

Mildenhall, Wiltshire Mildenhall ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Kennet Valley in Wiltshire, England, immediately east of the market town of Marlborough. The village is about east of the centre of Marlborough, on the minor road which follows the River Ken ...

. His daughter, Christine, followed her father as a

London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of . It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; w ...

councillor for Coulsdon East ward from 1992 to 1998. A biography, which provides an in-depth account of Prentice's party-political transition during the 1970s, was published in 2015: Geoff Horn, ''Crossing the floor: Reg Prentice and the crisis of British social democracy''.

References

External links