Julia Langdon

Terry Lewis, the former Labour MP for Worsley, has died aged 90 after a 22-year parliamentary career marked by frequent rebellion against Labour leaderships. A prominent member of the party’s left and the parliamentary “awkward squad,” he opposed policies including benefit reductions, the Maastricht treaty, the Gulf and Iraq wars, and terrorism legislation. Popular in his Salford-area constituency, Lewis also campaigned on public health and against telephone chat lines, retired from Westminster in 2005, left Labour in 2010 over its loss of socialist principles, and rejoined after Jeremy Corbyn became leader. He is survived by his son David.

Sir George Howarth, who died aged 77, represented the constituency where he was born for 38 years and held elected office on Merseyside for more than five decades. A Labour politician known for his reliability, kindness and strong constituency work, he served as a Home Office and Northern Ireland junior minister, helped modernize postal voting rules and later sat on the Intelligence and Security Committee. He was knighted in 2019 and regarded the freedom of Knowsley as his proudest honour. His career also included campaigning for Hillsborough justice, working-class opportunity, veterans’ affairs, type 1 diabetes support and the Shakespeare North Playhouse.

Meta Ramsay, who died aged 89, was a senior MI6 officer whose 22-year career included postings in Stockholm and Helsinki during the Cold War “Moscow watch.” She was involved in the 1985 exfiltration of Soviet double agent Oleg Gordievsky and later led MI6’s counteraction department, but believed misogyny prevented her from becoming the service’s first female chief. After retiring in 1991, Ramsay became a Labour political adviser, peer and government whip under Tony Blair. She co-chaired the convention that established Scotland’s Holyrood parliament and served on parliamentary intelligence and national-security committees, while remaining committed to secrecy around intelligence work and speaking against antisemitism.

Sir Jeremy Hanley, the popular and pro-European Conservative politician who chaired the party under John Major, has died aged 80. Promoted in 1994 to repair the party’s finances, morale and divisions over Europe, he cut its overdraft by £4.5m but was undermined by a series of comments, hostile press coverage and attacks from Conservative Eurosceptics. Replaced after less than a year, he lost his marginal seat in the 1997 Labour landslide and subsequently returned to business, leading trade missions and serving as master of the Chartered Accountants’ Company. The son of actors Jimmy Hanley and Dinah Sheridan, he entered Parliament in 1983 and held several ministerial posts before his political career ended at 51. He is survived by his wife Verna, sons Joel and Jason, and stepdaughter Sophia.

Harry Barnes, the former Labour MP for North East Derbyshire, has died aged 89 from cancer. A lifelong Labour and socialist activist, he represented the constituency from 1987 to 2005 and became known for combining left-wing principles with pragmatic, independent judgment. He frequently rebelled against Labour’s frontbench, opposed the Gulf War and the Maastricht Treaty, and worked across party lines on new approaches to peace in Northern Ireland. His parliamentary work included proposals on miners’ safety and electoral registration, while his support extended to Iraqi trade unions and Kurdish causes. Barnes was also an educator who taught several future Labour MPs, supported mining communities during the 1984–85 strike, and remained politically active after leaving Parliament until Alzheimer’s disease affected him. He is survived by his wife, Ann Stephenson, and their children, Stephen and Joanne.

Phil Woolas, the former Labour minister and MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, died aged 66 from brain cancer. He is remembered for helping modernise Labour, supporting the introduction of the national minimum wage and confronting the far right in Oldham. A committed but outspoken politician, he advocated a tougher immigration policy and attracted repeated controversy. His parliamentary career ended after an election court found that he had made false claims about his Liberal Democrat opponent in 2010; later judicial review proceedings largely upheld the ruling. Woolas subsequently worked as an environmental consultant and political lobbyist and is survived by his wife, children, grandson, mother and brother.

Ken Weetch, who died aged 92, was the Labour MP for Ipswich from 1974 to 1987 and became known for exceptional dedication to his marginal constituency. He successfully campaigned against the monopoly of solicitors over property conveyancing, helping lead to its abolition under the Administration of Justice Act 1985. A moderate Labour politician and supporter of multilateral defence and the Palestinian cause, he remained loyal to Labour despite the formation of the Social Democratic party. Born into poverty in south Wales, he became a teacher and lecturer before entering Parliament, and later taught, campaigned against mortgage fraud, supported Ipswich Town and worked as a pub pianist. He was survived by two daughters.

David Triesman, who died aged 82, is remembered for a varied career spanning academia, trade-union leadership, Labour Party administration, government and football. He served as Labour’s general secretary from 2001 to 2003, helping stabilise party finances and strengthen trade-union support during the Iraq war period, before entering the House of Lords and becoming a government minister. As Football Association chair from 2008 to 2010, he led England’s 2018 World Cup bid but resigned after secretly recorded remarks about alleged referee bribery. The obituary portrays him as an idealistic, persuasive and highly principled figure whose commitment to fairness and integrity shaped his public life, despite setbacks in his two most prominent leadership roles.

Colin Pickthall, the former Labour MP for Lancashire West, has died aged 81. Remembered for his loyalty to Labour, modesty and reliability, he served as Jack Straw’s parliamentary private secretary and was valued for privately challenging ministerial decisions while understanding the concerns of Labour backbenchers. A former teacher and English literature lecturer, Pickthall opposed variable university top-up fees, struggled with Labour’s decision to support the Iraq war, and campaigned for animal rights and against hare coursing. After leaving Parliament in 2005, he remained active in local Labour politics, chaired Ulverston Labour and led Ulverston town council, while pursuing local history, fell walking and environmental projects. He is survived by his wife, Judy, and their two daughters.

Sir Patrick Duffy, the former Labour MP for Colne Valley and Sheffield Attercliffe, has died aged 105. An economist, wartime Royal Navy serviceman and academic, he served as a navy minister, Labour defence spokesman and president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly from 1988 to 1990. Duffy was an Atlanticist and lifelong European for much of his career but supported Brexit in 2016. He frequently opposed Labour's left-wing policies, including unilateral nuclear disarmament, and took conservative Catholic positions on abortion and embryo research. He was also outspoken on Irish and Northern Irish issues, criticizing British policy, the imprisonment of the Birmingham Six and the SAS killings in Gibraltar. After leaving Parliament in 1992, he returned to academia and published two autobiographical volumes.

Bill Hagerty, who died aged 86, had a 70-year journalism career spanning local newspapers, the RAF, Fleet Street editing, showbusiness reporting and later film, theatre and football criticism. A senior figure at Mirror Group newspapers, he served as deputy editor of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror and edited the People, while also working at Today. He strongly defended press freedom and journalistic ethics, campaigned for better training and warned that the decline of local newspapers threatened democracy. Hagerty edited all eight volumes of Alastair Campbell's Diaries, led the British Journalism Review and supported the Journalists' Charity. He is remembered for his professionalism, enthusiasm, kindness and ability to adapt to the newspaper industry's transition from print to digital.

Nigel de Gruchy, who died aged 82, led NASUWT from 1990 to 2002 and campaigned forcefully for teachers' interests, particularly over excessive workload, pay, assessment and classroom violence. He helped secure a teachers' pay review body and won a legal case that contributed to reforms reducing teachers' role in pupil testing. Known for provocative public statements, he argued that disruptive pupils could make mainstream teaching untenable. During his tenure, NASUWT membership grew from 120,000 to more than 200,000. After retiring, he wrote a history of the union and stood as a Labour parliamentary candidate.

Mark Fisher, who has died aged 81, was a popular Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central for 27 years and served as arts minister for just over a year in Tony Blair’s first government. An arts enthusiast and lifelong idealist, he helped shape Labour’s cultural agenda but was removed in Blair’s 1998 reshuffle and returned to the back benches. The obituary highlights his commitment to public service, arts funding, social equality, parliamentary accountability and freedom of information, alongside his work as a writer, educator and constituency representative. He is survived by his wife, Gillian FitzHugh, and his children and stepchildren.

Helen Newlove, who died aged 63 after a short illness, became a prominent advocate for crime victims after her husband Garry was murdered outside their Warrington home in 2007. Her public campaign against antisocial behaviour and for stronger victim support led to a seat in the House of Lords, two terms as victims’ commissioner, and influence on the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024. She also worked on community relations, youth unemployment, civic engagement and justice, served as a Lords deputy speaker, and became pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Bolton. She is survived by her second husband, Paul Shacklady, and her three daughters.

Rosalind Howells, who died aged 94, devoted her life to challenging racial discrimination and improving housing, education, health services and opportunities for Black communities in south London. After community and local-government work, including leadership roles in racial-equality organizations, she entered the House of Lords in 1999 and continued campaigning for equality nationally and internationally until retiring in 2019. She became a prominent spokeswoman for the family of Stephen Lawrence and sought justice for victims of racist violence, including those killed in the 1981 New Cross fire. Born in Grenada, Howells also held senior educational, charitable and diplomatic roles and received recognition including an OBE and the Order of Grenada. She is survived by her daughter Anne, two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Iain Coleman, the former Labour MP for Hammersmith and Fulham, has died aged 67. Driven by concern for disadvantaged people, particularly homeless people, he championed free social care at home during his leadership of the local council and in Parliament. Elected in Labour’s 1997 landslide, he was a diligent constituency MP who also advocated for the Palestinian cause and Ireland. A series of strokes forced him to leave Parliament in 2005, and after suffering around 20 strokes he developed early-onset dementia; ironically, he later benefited from the home-care policy he had promoted. He is survived by his wife, Sally Powell, their son and his siblings.

Alan Howarth, who died aged 81, was a former Conservative MP and minister who crossed the floor to Labour in 1995, becoming the first MP to make that direct transition. Initially a rising Conservative figure under Margaret Thatcher and John Major, he became increasingly troubled by widening social divisions and the economic and social consequences of Conservative policy. After joining Tony Blair’s New Labour, he represented Newport East and served as employment minister, minister for disabled people and minister for the arts. He later entered the House of Lords, where he remained active on constitutional, arts, heritage and health issues. Remembered as courteous, intellectually rigorous and conscientious, Howarth also wrote a memoir reflecting on his political career and personal life.

Swraj Paul, Lord Paul, the Indian-born British steel industrialist and philanthropist, died aged 94 on 21 August 2025. After moving to Britain in 1966, he founded and expanded Caparo into a diversified engineering, property and investment group, while also supporting institutions including London Zoo and the University of Wolverhampton. A Labour peer from 1996, he became the first person of Indian origin to serve as a deputy speaker of the House of Lords, but resigned after an expenses investigation led to a four-month suspension, despite a police finding that he had no case to answer. The 2015 collapse of much of Caparo’s steel business caused major job losses and was followed by the suicide of his son Angad. Paul remained active around Westminster and in Indo-British civic organizations, and was survived by his twin sons Ambar and Akash and daughter Anjali.

Tom Sawyer, the former Labour general secretary and trade-union leader, died aged 82. A former leftwing activist who became a soft-left moderniser, he helped Labour respond to its 1987 election defeat by revising policies on unilateralism, Europe, enterprise and wealth creation. As chair of the National Executive Committee’s home policy committee and later as general secretary under Tony Blair, he helped establish the consensus-driven “partnership in power” approach that preceded Labour’s 1997 return to government. His career also included a decisive role in the expulsion of Militant members, the creation of Unison and reforms introducing one-member, one-vote. After leaving Labour’s leadership in 1998, he became a life peer and held academic, charitable and corporate roles. He is survived by his second wife, Elizabeth, and three sons.

Sir Bill O’Brien, who died aged 96, was a Yorkshire miner, trade-union activist, local councillor and Labour MP for Normanton from 1983 to 2005. A pragmatic and moderate figure, he supported the 1984–85 miners’ strike while opposing Arthur Scargill’s union tactics, and often challenged prevailing Labour and political orthodoxies. In Parliament he advocated greater investment in Yorkshire and northern England, clean-coal technology and infrastructure, and scrutinized issues including council-house sales, energy security and local government. He remained active in local affairs after leaving Parliament, was knighted in 2010 and later wrote about the history of the Prince of Wales colliery.

Norman Tebbit, who has died aged 94, was a central figure in Margaret Thatcher’s governments, serving as employment secretary, trade and industry secretary and Conservative party chairman. Known for his sharp wit, combative style and radical Conservative views, he championed trade union reform, privatization and self-reliance while making controversial statements on immigration, assimilation, capital punishment and British identity. The 1984 IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton severely injured both Tebbit and his wife Margaret, who was left paralysed; his commitment to her care ultimately led him not to contest the Conservative leadership after Thatcher’s resignation. He later became a prominent critic of John Major, Britain’s European policy and David Cameron’s coalition government, retiring from the House of Lords in 2022.