Harold Best (18 December 1937 – 24 August 2020) 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,

electrician An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance ...

and

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 ( ...

ist who served 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

Leeds North West Leeds North West is a constituency in the City of Leeds which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Alex Sobel, of Labour Co-op. Boundaries 1950–1955: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Far He ...

from the 1997 general election until he retired at the 2005 election.

Early life

During his childhood, Best lived in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, the city in which he was born on 18 December 1937 to Fred and Marie Best. He was educated at Meanwood County School and

Leeds College of Technology Leeds College of Technology (formerly Kitson College) was a further education college in Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. With a strong technical bias, the college supported the computing, engineering, social care and transport industries. In ...

, and worked as an electrical technician.

Career

Best was selected as the candidate for

, winning the seat unexpectedly in the 1997 general election and becoming the Labour Party's first holder of the seat since its formation. He began with a majority of 3,844 over his predecessor,

Keith Hampson Keith Hampson (born 14 August 1943) is a former Conservative party politician in the United Kingdom. Hampson was educated at King James I Grammar School, Bishop Auckland, where he was head boy, the University of Bristol and HarvardMatthew P ...

, and increased his majority in the 2001 general election to 5,236. He began as a supporter of his leader,

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

, before vocally opposing the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. Best was involved in the opening of the new

Wharfedale Hospital Wharfedale Hospital (formerly known as Wharfedale General Hospital) is located in the market town of Otley, West Yorkshire, England, and is managed by the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. History The facility has its origins in an infirmary ...

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically a part of the West Ridi ...

in 2004. He announced he would not contest the 2005 general election.

Personal life

Best died in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

on 24 August 2020, at the age of 82, and was survived by his wife since 1960, Glyn, and their two sons and two daughters.

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Harold 1937 births 2020 deaths English electricians English socialists Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Politicians from Leeds Trade unionists from Leeds UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005