John Cameron Cartwright (born 29 November 1933) is a former politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Labour and then an SDP

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 ofte ...

(MP) representing Woolwich East then

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thro ...

from the October 1974 general election to the 1992 election.

Early life

Educated at Woking County Grammar School, he was the star of the school's Dramatic Society, for which he played numerous

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

an and Goldsmithian ladies. One such production was seen by the Norwegian ambassador, who was so impressed that he invited the whole production to perform in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

and

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula ...

Political career

Initially an Executive Officer in the

Home Civil Service His Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as His Majesty's Civil Service, the Home Civil Service, or colloquially as the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, which ...

, Cartwright's political career began when he became a constituency agent for the Labour Party in 1955. Serving twelve years in that role, he was later employed as Political Secretary of the

Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society The Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (RACS) was a large consumer co-operative based in south east London, England. The co-operative took its name from the Royal Arsenal munitions works in Woolwich and its motto was: "Each for all and all for ...

(R.A.C.S.) and as a councillor in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwi ...

, where he became the Labour Group leader and, subsequently, leader of the council from 1971 to 1974. He unsuccessfully contested

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Char ...

at the 1970 general election (losing to

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

) and

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in south-east London, England. It had a population of 31,929 as at 2011. Bexleyheath is located south-east of Charing Cross, and forms part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...

at the February 1974 election (losing to

Cyril Townsend Sir Cyril David Townsend (21 December 1937 − 20 November 2013) was a British politician. Townsend was elected Conservative Member of Parliament for Bexleyheath at the February 1974 election, and held the seat until retiring at the 1997 ele ...

). At the October 1974 election Cartwright was elected as the Labour member for Woolwich East, replacing

Christopher Mayhew Christopher Paget Mayhew, Baron Mayhew (12 June 1915 – 7 January 1997) was a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1950 and from 1951 to 1974, when he left the Labour Party to join the Liberals. In 1981 ...

(who had left Labour to join the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

the year before). Following six years as a

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

and latterly

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

Shirley Williams Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, (' Catlin; 27 July 1930 – 12 April 2021) was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she served in the Labour cabinet from ...

, Cartwright himself left the Labour Party in 1981 to become one of the founding members of the SDP. He served as the SDP's chief whip from 1983 onwards and as its President from 1987. He also served as the SDP/Liberal Alliance's chief defence spokesman from 1983 to 1987. A close political ally of

David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 to 1979, and later ...

, he stayed loyal to Owen's 'continuing' SDP after the

and a majority of the SDP merged in January 1988 to become the Liberal Democrats. After the collapse of the continuing SDP in 1990, Cartwright stood for re-election as an 'Independent Social Democrat' – albeit one endorsed by the Liberal Democrats – but lost by 2,200 votes.

Life after politics

After thus leaving active politics he went on to serve as Deputy Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority before retiring to

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...

References

Source

External links

* 1933 births Living people Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Social Democratic Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Independent politicians in England UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 Labour Party (UK) councillors Members of the Fabian Society Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988) MPs {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub