William David McKenzie, Baron McKenzie of Luton (24 July 1946 – 2 December 2021) was a British

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

politician. Until the 2010 general election, he was

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...

at the

Department for Work and Pensions , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

and the

Department for Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local governme ...

. He was also a partner at accounting firm

Price Waterhouse PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

Education and early career

Born in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

in 1946, son of Donald McKenzie and wife Elsa "Elsie" May Doust, McKenzie was educated at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

between 1964 and 1967, graduating with a BA degree in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

and Accounting. In 1967, he began his accountancy career at Martin Rata and Partners as an articled clerk and went on to qualify as a professional accountant. He moved to

in 1973, working for a senior manager in many locations. In 1980, he was promoted to a partner, holding this position until 1986, when he became a consultant. He stayed within the company, but in 1992, he moved to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, working first as a consultant, and then as a partner again. He acted as partner-in-charge for Price Waterhouse Vietnam from 1996 to 1998.

Early political career

McKenzie twice contested the seat of

Luton South Luton South is a constituency in Bedfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Rachel Hopkins, a member of the Labour Party. History This seat was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of Luton ...

in the

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, ...

and 1992 general elections respectively. However, both attempts were unsuccessful. He was an elected member of

Luton Borough Council Luton Borough Council (also known as LBC, or Luton Council) is the local authority of Luton, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It is a member of the East of England ...

from 1976 to 1992, then again from 1999 to 2005, following a spell in the far east. He served as its leader until May 2003 and remained on the Council until 2005. He covered a number of roles during his Council service, particularly relating to local government finance. During this time, he was a member of the GMB trade union, serving a range of trades from clerical work to furniture manufacturers. Lord McKenzie remained a member of GMB. He was also Chairman of London Luton Airport.

Later political career

McKenzie was elevated to the peerage on 18 June 2004 as Baron McKenzie of Luton, of Luton, in the County of Bedfordshire. He was appointed Government Spokesperson in the House of Lords Treasury and a Whip for the Department of Trade and Industry in May 2005. Before being awarded a peerage, Lord McKenzie had been an advisor to Labour's Shadow Treasury team and a member of the original Fabian Society Taxation Review Committee. McKenzie served as a

Lord in Waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (withou ...

and Government Spokesperson in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

for Treasury and Industry issues from 2005 to 2007.McKenzie of Luton, William David McKenzie. (2008). ''Who's Who 2008''. A&C Black He was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the

on 8 January 2007 and among his ministerial responsibilities were health and safety at work and the Health and Safety Executive. In the June 2009 reshuffle he retained this role, in addition to becoming a minister at the

. After the 2010 General Election, Lord McKenzie shadowed his former roles in the House of Lords, as opposition spokesman on both Work and Pensions, and Communities and Local Government. He remained in this position after the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliban ...

as Labour Party leader.

Personal life

McKenzie married Diana Joyce Angliss in 1972. She became Lady McKenzie of Luton when her husband was elevated to the peerage in 2004. He died on 2 December 2021, at the age of 75.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mckenzie, Bill 1946 births 2021 deaths Labour Party (UK) life peers Alumni of the University of Bristol Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Councillors in Bedfordshire Labour Party (UK) councillors Leaders of local authorities of England Labour Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting English accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers people Life peers created by Elizabeth II