Arthur Charles Latham (14 August 1930 – 3 December 2016) was a British Labour Party politician, who was the MP for

Paddington North Paddington North was a borough constituency in the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington in London which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post vot ...

from 1969 to 1974, and its successor seat,

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

, from that year until 1979.

Early life and education

Latham was born in

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

(now part of

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

). He was educated at Garnett College of Education, the

Royal Liberty School The Royal Liberty School is a secondary school for boys aged 11 to 16, located in Gidea Park in the London Borough of Havering, England. The school is situated on Upper Brentwood Road about 400 metres north of Gidea Park railway station, and a ...

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

, and 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 millio ...

Career

Latham worked as a methods consultant at an import-export firm. He became involved in politics whilst in his teenage years, joining the Labour Party in 1944, and was the party candidate in his school's mock election the following year. During the 1945 election campaign, he recruited 100 new members, and he later became Vice-Chairman of the National Committee for the Labour League of Youth in 1949, a position he held until 1953. In 1952, he was elected to

Romford Borough Council Romford was a local government district in southwest Essex from 1851 to 1965.Vision of Britain Romford UD/MB At the 1959 general election, Latham stood against the former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

in the

safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

seat of

Woodford Woodford may refer to: Places Australia *Woodford, New South Wales *Woodford, Queensland, a town in the Moreton Bay Region *Woodford, Victoria Canada * Woodford, Ontario England *Woodford, Cornwall * Woodford, Gloucestershire *Woodford, Greate ...

, in Essex, but was unsuccessful, despite increasing the Labour vote; it would turn out to be Churchill's last election. Romford Borough Council was subsequently replaced by

Havering Council The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities are Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham. The ...

, which became part of Greater London. Latham was elected to represent Havering's Hilldene ward (centred on the

Harold Hill Harold Hill is a suburban area in the London Borough of Havering, East London. northeast of Charing Cross. It is a district centre in the London Plan. The name refers to King Harold II, who held the manor of Havering-atte-Bower, and who was ...

area) in 1964, and was Leader of the Labour Group from 1962 to 1970. He was also an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

on the council from 1962 to 1978. At the 1964 general election, Latham contested the

marginal Marginal may refer to: * ''Marginal'' (album), the third album of the Belgian rock band Dead Man Ray, released in 2001 * ''Marginal'' (manga) * '' El Marginal'', Argentine TV series * Marginal seat or marginal constituency or marginal, in polit ...

Rushcliffe Rushcliffe is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 111,129. Its councilRushcliffe Borough Council Southgate Technical College Barnet and Southgate College is a further education college in North London, England. The current college was established in 2011. It has three main campuses and two other learning centres in the London Borough of Barnet and the London Borough of ...

. Outside of politics, Latham was a member North-East Regional Metropolitan Hospital Board, which covered parts of East London and Essex, from 1966 to 1972.

Member of Parliament

He was narrowly elected as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

in a 1969 by-election, following the death of the left-wing Labour incumbent,

Ben Parkin Benjamin Theaker Parkin (21 April 1906 – 3 June 1969) was a British teacher and politician who served as the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Stroud and for Paddington North. His father, Captain B. D. Parkin, served as Headmaster of St ...

. Coming five years into Labour leader

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 term as

, there was a large swing to the opposition Conservative Party, and Latham held the seat for Labour by just 517 votes (3.4%). The same year, he became Treasurer of the civil rights advocacy group

Movement for Colonial Freedom Liberation (founded as the Movement for Colonial Freedom) is a political civil rights advocacy group founded in the United Kingdom in 1954. It had the support of many MPs, including Harold Wilson, Barbara Castle and Tony Benn, and celebrities such a ...

, which was renamed Liberation in 1970. He remained in this role until 1979. Following the 1970 general election, which saw Latham hold his seat with an increased majority, he championed the cause of the Irish Nationalist MP

Bernadette Devlin Josephine Bernadette McAliskey (née Devlin; born 23 April 1947), usually known as Bernadette Devlin or Bernadette McAliskey, is an Irish civil rights leader, and former politician. She served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Ulster in North ...

, who had been imprisoned for incitement to riot. He visited her in

Armagh prison Armagh Prison in Armagh, Northern Ireland, is a former prison. The construction of the prison began in the 1780 and it was extended in the style of Pentonville Prison in the 1840 and 1850s. For most of its working life Armagh Gaol was the prim ...

, and secured an agreement that she could deal with her constituency correspondence. After the February 1974 general election (owing to boundary changes), Latham became MP for

. In

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, he was founder, and joint chairman, of the All-Party Group for Pensioners from 1971 to 1979. He was also chairman 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 soft-left Labour MPs from 1975 to 1976 (and its treasurer from 1977 to 1979). From 1977 to 1986, he was chairman of the Greater London Labour Party. At the 1978 local elections, Latham stood for election to Chase Cross ward (based around the area of that name) in

, but lost out to the Conservative candidates. His wife, Ruby, who had first been elected to Mawney (also in Romford) in 1971, lost her seat at that election. In

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, Latham lost his Paddington seat to the Conservative John Wheeler by 106 votes (0.3% of the total). It was so close that Latham asked for three recounts, and the result was not declared until late on the Friday morning.

After Parliament

In 1981, Latham was shortlisted to be Labour's candidate for the forthcoming Bermondsey by-election, but lost out to

Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is a British human rights campaigner, originally from Australia, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey ...

(who failed to be elected). With boundary changes, Latham's former Paddington seat was largely replaced by Westminster North for the 1983 general election. Latham contested Westminster North, but it was held by the Conservatives. From 1983 to 1984, he was a non-executive Director of the

London Transport Board The London Transport Board was the organisation responsible for public transport (except main-line trains) in London, England, and its environs from 1963 to 1969. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public na ...

. At the 1986 local elections, Latham was again elected to the

London Borough of Havering The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities are Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham. The ...

as a councillor, representing the Brooklands ward in Romford. He was once again Leader of the Labour Group, holding this title from 1986 to 1998. From 1986 to 1990, he was Leader of the Opposition, and then, from 1990 to 1996,

Leader of the Council In England, local authorities are required to adopt one of three types of executive arrangements, having either an "elected mayor and cabinet", a "leader and cabinet", or a "committee system". The type of arrangement used determines how decisions ...

. Latham was also was Vice-President of the

Association of Metropolitan Authorities The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. Its core membership is made up of 339 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the Welsh Local Government Association. The LGA is p ...

. Latham was challenged over his leadership in 1995 and 1997. On the latter occasion, it followed discussions over the effect on the party of

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

activist Terry Hurlstone's conviction for assaulting Latham. This incident occurred in March 1996, during an argument over Latham's friendship with Hurlstone's estranged wife, Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Caroline Hurlstone. At the time, Latham was running a minority administration and was dependent on the votes of Liberal Democrat councillors. In May 1996, Hurlestone defected to the Labour Party. That month, rumours of an affair between Hurlstone and Latham were said to have led to other defections on the council, which eventually led to the end of the ruling Lib-Lab coalition. In December 1996, Terry Hurlstone, a former Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, was convicted of common assault, but cleared of theft, having been accused of stealing a notebook from Latham. Caroline was an English teacher who had won

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's ''

Fifteen to One ''Fifteen to One'' is a British general knowledge quiz show broadcast on Channel 4. It originally ran from 11 January 1988 to 19 December 2003 and had a reputation for being one of the toughest quizzes on TV. Throughout the show's original run, ...

'' quiz show twice, and appeared as a contestant on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

's ''

Mastermind Mastermind, Master Mind or The Mastermind may refer to: Fictional characters * Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), a fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics, a title also held by his daughters: ** Martinique Jason, the first daughter and successor of the ...

''. In January 1997,

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London, England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed ...

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 constituenc ...

passed a motion of no confidence in Latham; however, in May that year, the Labour Group voted him back in as Group Leader. Latham resigned as Group Leader in December 1997, leading to Labour regaining control of the council. Latham stood down as a councillor at the 1998 local elections. He later married Caroline, who had become known as Caroline Warren. At the 1998 elections, she stood for re-election as a Labour candidate in St Edward's ward, but was not elected. During his career, Latham was Vice-President of Labour Action for Peace, and a member of the British Campaign for Peace in Vietnam and the

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...

. In keeping with these left-wing stances, he resigned from the Labour Party in May 2003 over the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

(instigated by a Labour government) and other issues. However, he rejoined the party in 2007.

Personal life and death

In 1951, he married Ruby Margaret Green, and they had two children: a son, Howard Arthur, and a daughter, Diana Margaret. Howard became a councillor for the Bellenden ward in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

in 1994, and then for Alleyn in the same borough in 1998. Ruby was a fellow Havering borough councillor, representing Heaton ward in

Upminster Upminster is a suburb, suburban town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is one of the district centres identified for development in the London Plan. Historically a rural ...

for the

Labour and Co-operative Party Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated Labour Co-op; cy, Llafur a'r Blaid Gydweithredol) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party. Candidat ...

until her death in 2001. She died in November 2000, and Latham married Caroline Warren in 2001. Latham was a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

. His recreations were listed in ''

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

'' as "

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

, chess, cricket,

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

, walking, theatre,

Chelsea Football Club Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. The ...

, pet rats". He lived in

. Latham died in December 2016, aged 86.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons 1979'' *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Latham, Arthur 1930 births 2016 deaths Alumni of the London School of Economics Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at the Royal Liberty Grammar School UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 Labour Party (UK) councillors