Albert Edward Booth (28 May 1928 – 6 February 2010) was a British left-wing Labour Party politician and cabinet minister.

Early life

Booth was educated at Marine School,

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

and

Rutherford College of Technology Northumbria University (legally the University of Northumbria at Newcastle) is a United Kingdom, UK Public research university, public university located in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, North East of England. It has been a university s ...

(Northumbria University). He was a design draughtsman. He served as a councillor on

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, North East England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, hence its name. It is 8 mi (13 km) east-northeast of Newcastle upon T ...

Council 1962–65.

Parliamentary career

Booth contested

in 1964. He was

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

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

from 1966 to 1983, and was

Secretary of State for Employment The Secretary of State for Employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. In 1995 it was merged with Secretary of State for Education to make the Secretary of State for Education and Employment. In 2001 the employment functions w ...

from 1976 to 1979 serving under

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...

. He also acted as the Labour Party's national Treasurer between 1983–1984. After boundary changes, his seat was renamed

Barrow and Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

, for the 1983 General Election but despite a 1979 majority of 7,741 he lost it to the

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 ...

Cecil Franks Cecil Simon Franks (1 July 1935 – 2 February 2014) was a British solicitor and politician from Manchester. He was the Member of Parliament for Barrow and Furness from the 1983 General Election until the 1992 General Election. Franks was ...

. This has often been attributed to Labour's unilateralist policy of nuclear disarmament, and Booth himself identified with that, leading a

CND 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 ...

march through his constituency. However, his constituents were reliant on the defence industries, particularly shipbuilding, and this led to one of Labour's most unexpected defeats of the election. However, a campaign against him centred in a local

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church, highlighting his record of voting in favour of women's right to choose to have an abortion, was also a significant factor. (Religiously Booth was a lay preacher in the Methodist Church.)

Later life

Booth made it through to the final round in the Labour selection for Sunderland South ahead of the 1987 election, but lost out by four votes to

Chris Mullin Christopher Paul Mullin (born July 30, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player, executive and coach. He is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist and a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (in 2010 as a memb ...

. He unsuccessfully contested

Warrington South Warrington South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Andy Carter, a Conservative Party politician. Constituency profile Warrington South is one of two seats covering the Borough of Warri ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1966 & 1983 *

External links

*
Albert Booth
– Daily Telegraph obituary
Albert Booth 1928–2010: an "Old Labour" man
– Workers' Liberty obituary by his niece, Janine Booth , - , - 1928 births 2010 deaths Alumni of Northumbria University British Secretaries of State for Employment Councillors in Tyne and Wear Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section-sponsored MPs {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub