James Marshall (13 March 1941 – 27 May 2004) was a Labour Party politician in the

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Education

Marshall was born into a working-class family in the

Attercliffe Attercliffe is an industrial suburb of northeast Sheffield, England on the south bank of the River Don. The suburb falls in the Darnall ward of Sheffield City Council. History The name Attercliffe can be traced back as far as an entry in t ...

district of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. He was educated at Sheffield City Grammar School (now called The City School) on ''Orchard Lane'' and the

University of Leeds , 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 , ...

, gaining a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Physics in 1963 and

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in 1968 and working as a research scientist at the

Wool Industries Research Association The Wool Industries Research Association was an industrial research organization in the United Kingdom. It later became the Wira Technology Group before being merged with the Shirley Institute in the 1989 to form the British Textile Technology Group ...

(became the Wira Technology Group, the
British Textile Technology Group
in West Park, Leeds from 1963 to 1967. He was a

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

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 ...

City Council from 1965 to 1969.

Politics

In 1968, he became a lecturer at

Leicester Polytechnic De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was ta ...

remaining until 1974, and in 1971 he was elected to

Leicester City Council Leicester City Council is a unitary authority responsible for local government in the city of Leicester, England. It consists of 54 councillors, representing 22 wards in the city, overseen by a directly elected mayor. It is currently control ...

, becoming leader of the council in 1973. He contested the

Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the ad ...

seat in 1970. In the February general election of 1974 he contested the constituency of

Leicester South Leicester South is a constituency, recreated in 1974, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2011 by Jonathan Ashworth of the Labour Co-op Party (which denotes he is a member of the Labour Party and Co-operative Part ...

, and unseated 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 ...

MP, Tom Boardman, in the October election that year. He held the seat until his death, with the exception of the period 1983–1987, when he lost the seat to the Conservative

Derek Spencer Sir Derek Harold Spencer, King's Counsel, KC (born 31 March 1936) is a Great Britain, British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. Education and career Born in Clitheroe, Lancashire, he was educated at Clitheroe Royal Gramma ...

by seven votes. During his time out of parliament, he worked as a supply teacher and market trader: building up a stronger, more community oriented reputation. Marshall was an assistant

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

between 1977 and the end of

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...

's government in 1979. In opposition, he was assistant home affairs spokesman from 1982 to 1983, and deputy shadow spokesman on

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

from 1987 to 1992. In 1992, he voted for

Bryan Gould Bryan Charles Gould (born 11 February 1939) is a New Zealand-born British former politician and diplomat. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 to 1979, and again from 1983 to 1994. He was a member of the Labour Party's Shadow Ca ...

, seen as the leftwing candidate in the leadership election which followed the resignation of

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader of ...

. The victorious candidate, John Smith, dispensed with Marshall's services, and Marshall's support for

Margaret Beckett Dame Margaret Mary Beckett (''née'' Jackson; born 15 January 1943) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby South since 1983. A member of the Labour Party, she became Britain's first female Foreign S ...

in the following leadership election did not endear him to

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 ...

. Increasingly out of step with the mainstream of the Labour Party, he concentrated on constituency matters, and rebelled against Blair's government on many occasions, chiefly on matters relating to immigration and education. His constituency work, especially on immigration and benefit problems, won him strong personal support among local voters. Labour party chairman

Ian McCartney Sir Ian McCartney (born 25 April 1951) is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Makerfield from 1987 and 2010. McCartney served in Tony Blair's Cabinet from 2003 until 2007, when Gordon Brown became Prime ...

described him as "a hard-working and dedicated member of parliament who spoke up for his Leicester constituents and did a great deal to help to transform their communities and the opportunities open to them.

Personal life and death

Marshall married Shirley Ellis on 9 June 1962 in Sheffield, and they had a son and daughter. They divorced and he married Susan Carter on 15 July 1986 in Leicester. Marshall died suddenly and unexpectedly of a Cardiac arrest, heart attack, precipitating a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

dominated by the

invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...

(which he had opposed).

External links

Guardian Obituary

Voting record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Jim 1941 births 2004 deaths Graphical, Paper and Media Union-sponsored MPs Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Politicians from Sheffield UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 Academics of De Montfort University Councillors in Leeds Councillors in Leicestershire People educated at The City School, Sheffield