Edward Joseph Fletcher (25 February 1911 – 13 February 1983) was a British Labour Party politician.

Early life

Fletcher was educated at

Fircroft College Fircroft College is a specialist adult residential college based in Selly Oak, Birmingham, England. The college was founded by George Cadbury Junior, son of George Cadbury Senior, in 1908 and offers over 150 short residential courses throughou ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, and was a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

official. He served as a councillor on

Newcastle City Council Newcastle City Council is the local government authority for the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. The council consists of 78 councillors, three for each of the 26 wards in the city. It is currently controlled by the Labou ...

from 1952, and chaired the North-Eastern Association for the Arts.

Parliamentary career

Fletcher unsuccessfully contested Middlesbrough West for the Labour Party at the 1959 general election. At the 1964 general election he was elected as

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

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

, and held the seat until his death in 1983, aged 71. He was a member 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 ...

and was regarded as being broadly on the left of the Labour Party. Fletcher's Labour successor after the resulting by-election was

Ossie O'Brien Oswald O'Brien (6 April 1928 – 10 March 1997) was a British and European Labour Co-operative politician. He was one of the shortest serving Members of Parliament of modern times, serving just seven weeks and one day. Early life He was born O ...

, who was MP for just a matter of weeks before he lost 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 ...

Michael Fallon Sir Michael Cathel Fallon (born 14 May 1952) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 2014 to 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Sevenoaks from 1997 to 2019, h ...

at the 1983 general election.

Legacy

Ted Fletcher Court remains in the Haughton area of Darlington, as a memorial to Fletcher.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1966, 1979 & 1983 *

External links

* 1911 births 1983 deaths Alumni of Fircroft College Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff-sponsored MPs Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in Tyne and Wear UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub