Edward Lyons, QC (17 May 1926 – 23 April 2010) was a British

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Early life

Lyons was born in Glasgow and then the family moved to Leeds. He was educated at

Roundhay School Roundhay is a large suburb in north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Roundhay had a population of 22,546 in 2011. It sits in the Roundhay ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds North East parliamentary constituency. History Etymology Roundh ...

and

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he worked as a Russian interpreter in Germany attached to the

Control commission {{Unreferenced, date=November 2019 A control commission is an independent regulatory body. Control commissions are most often found in regulated industries and political organisations. They typically have full authority to operate within the regu ...

(1946–48). He became a barrister, called to the bar by

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1952.

Political career

Lyons contested

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

in 1964, but was elected

Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all gen ...

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 Bradford East in 1966. He served there until the constituency's abolition for the February 1974 general election, and then in

Bradford West Bradford West is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since 2015 United Kingdom gene ...

from

February 1974 The following events occurred in February 1974: February 1, 1974 (Friday) * A fire killed 177 people and injured 293 others in the 23-story Joelma Building at São Paulo in Brazil. Another 11 later died of their injuries. The blaze began on ...

to 1983. In 1979 Lyons secured an unusual swing to Labour (against the national trend), almost certainly as a result of heavy support amongst the Asian community angry at

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

's anti-immigrant rhetoric. In March 1981, Lyons was one of the Labour MPs who defected to the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

. In the 1983 general election, Lyons polled 27% of the vote in Bradford West - and came third behind the new Labour candidate

Max Madden Maxwell Francis Madden (born 29 October 1941) is a British journalist and Labour Party politician. Parliamentary career Madden unsuccessfully fought Sudbury and Woodbridge in 1966, coming second. He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) fo ...

Death

Lyons died on 23 April 2010 following a long illness.

References

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

External links

* 1926 births 2010 deaths British King's Counsel Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies 20th-century King's Counsel Social Democratic 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 People educated at Roundhay School Members of Parliament for Bradford West {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub