Dianne Hayter, Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (born 7 September 1949) is a British politician serving as a Member of the House of Lords since 2010. A member of 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 ...

, she was Shadow Deputy

Leader of the House of Lords The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the majority party in the House of Lords who acts as ...

from 2017 to 2021. Hayter represented

Socialist Societies A socialist society is a membership organisation that is affiliated with the Labour Party in the UK. The best-known and oldest socialist society is the Fabian Society, founded in 1884, some years before the creation of the Labour Party itself ( ...

on the

National Executive Committee of the Labour Party The National Executive Committee (NEC) is the governing body of the UK Labour Party, setting the overall strategic direction of the party and policy development. Its composition has changed over the years, and includes representatives of affil ...

from 1998 to 2010, chairing the committee from 2007 to 2008. She served in numerous opposition front bench roles in the Lords from 2011 until 2021, when she became Chair of the International Agreements Committee.

Early life

She is the daughter of Flt Lt Alec Bristow Hayter (died 1972), and Nancy Evans (died 1959). Educated at

Trevelyan College , motto_English = Truth more readily than falsehood , scarf = , named_for = George Macaulay Trevelyan , namesake = George Macaulay Trevelyan , established = 1966 , principal = Adekunle Adeyeye , vice_principal = I ...

, Durham University, where she studied Social and Public Administration (BA), she gained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

in 2004.

Professional career

Hayter was a Director of Alcohol Concern from 1984 to 1990, and Director of Corporate Affairs for the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

from 1996 to 1999. She served as a board member of a number of organisations, including the

Financial Reporting Council The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is an independent regulator in the UK and Ireland based in London Wall in the City of London, responsible for regulating auditors, accountants and actuaries, and setting the UK's Corporate Governance and ...

's Board of Actuarial Standards, the Determinations Panel of

The Pensions Regulator The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is a non-departmental public body which regulates work-based pension schemes in the United Kingdom. Created under the Pensions Act 2004, the regulator replaced the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (OPRA) fr ...

, the Surveying Ombudsman Service, and the Insolvency Practices Council. Hayter chaired the Legal Services Consumer Panel, and was formerly vice chairman of the Financial Services Authority Consumer Panel and chair of the Consumer Panel of the Bar Standards Board. She was a JP from 1976 to 1990.

Political career

Hayter was the General Secretary of the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. T ...

between 1976 and 1982 and Chief Executive of the

European Parliamentary Labour Party The European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP) was the parliamentary party of the British Labour Party in the European Parliament. The EPLP was part of the pan-European Group of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), (with MEPs from sister parties such a ...

during 1990 to 1996. She sat on Labour's

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

from 1998 to 2010 and chaired it in 2007–08. Th
Labour History Archive and Study Centre
at the

People's History Museum The People's History Museum (the National Museum of Labour History until 2001) in Manchester, England, is the UK's national centre for the collection, conservation, interpretation and study of material relating to the history of working people ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

holds the personal papers of Dianne Hayter in their collection, spanning the period from the late 1970s to 2010.

House of Lords

On 22 June 2010, she was created a life peer as Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town, of

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the open ...

in the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and ...

, and was introduced 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 ...

the same day. She was an Opposition Whip from October 2011 to September 2015. Between 2012 and 2021, Hayter discontinuously served as a Shadow Spokesperson for the following departments: * Business, Innovation and Skills, later Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy * Cabinet Office * Digital, Culture, Media and Sport * Exiting the European Union *

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

* Women and Equalities She was elected Deputy leader of Labour in the Lords in June 2017. She is a member of

Labour Friends of Israel Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that promotes support for a strong bilateral relationship between Britain and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party and the Isra ...

. In July 2019,

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

sacked her as Shadow Brexit Spokesperson for making what the party called "deeply offensive" remarks at a

Labour First Labour First is a British political organisation associated with the Labour Party. It was originally founded in 1980 but refounded in 1988. Born out of the political right wing of the Labour Party's struggles with its left wing, it sees itself as ...

meeting. Hayter asserted that the party's leadership was not open to external views and suggested those around Corbyn were "in a bunker" like the "last days of Hitler". Despite this, she remained deputy leader in the Lords, as that was an elected position.

Personal life

Dianne Hayter lives in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

with her husband, Professor (Anthony) David Caplin, whom she married in 1994.

Publications

Hayter has written ''Fabian Tract no. 451—The Labour Party: Crisis and Prospects'' (September 1977), ''Fightback—Labour's traditional right in the 1970s and 1980s'' (2005), and ''Men Who Made Labour—Celebrating the Centenary of the Parliamentary Labour Party'' (2006) (with Lord Haworth). *
The Labour Party: crisis and prospects
' (Fabian Soc.), 1977; *(contrib.) ''Labour in the Eighties'', 1980; *(contrib.) ''Prime Minister Portillo and Other Things that Never Happened'', 2003; *''Fightback!: Labour's Traditional Right in the 1970s and 1980s'', 2005; *(ed jtly with Lord Haworth) ''Men Who Made Labour'', 2006; *(contrib.) ''From the Workhouse to Welfare'', 2009.

References

External links

Labour Party profileNational Consumer Council profileFightback!: Labour's Traditional Right in the 1970s and 1980s
Dianne Hayter, 2005, {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayter, Dianne 1949 births Living people Alumni of Trevelyan College, Durham Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Politicians from London British feminists British socialist feminists Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II People from Kentish Town Place of birth missing (living people) Chairs of the Labour Party (UK) General Secretaries of the Fabian Society Chairs of the Fabian Society Labour Friends of Israel