Denis Walter Coe (5 June 1929 – 3 March 2015) was a British Labour Party politician. 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 ...

(MP) for the marginal Middleton and Prestwich constituency from 1966 to 1970, when it was gained by the Conservative Alan Haselhurst. Coe was born in Whitley Bay,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. He earned a Scout Silver Medal for Gallantry after saving a young girl from drowning in Cullercoats Bay when he was 14. He served in the armed forces before returning to the North East to begin a career in teaching. He later left the area again to move to London, where he studied economics 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 millio ...

. This triggered his move into politics and he was elected to Middleton and Prestwich as a Labour MP in 1966. Following the 1970 election, Coe worked in the arts world and went on to establish the

British Youth Opera British Youth Opera (BYO) is an opera company in the United Kingdom. It aims to give young singers, conductors, directors and production staff training and experience through workshops and full-scale operatic productions at venues such as the Peaco ...

. In 2008, he published his memoirs – Variety Certainly Adds Spice.

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* 1929 births 2015 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1966–1970 People from Whitley Bay Politicians from Tyne and Wear {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub