Robin Corbett, Baron Corbett of Castle Vale (22 December 1933 – 19 February 2012) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 ...

and journalist. Corbett sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1974 to 1979 and then from 1983 to 2001, before being elevated to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

as a

Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

Early life

Corbett was born at

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, to Marguerite Adele (''née'' Mainwaring) and Thomas William Corbett. His parents had recently immigrated to Australia from England. His father, a foundry worker and mechanical engineer, was a militant unionist, and his involvement in certain demonstrations resulted in he and his family being repatriated to England in 1935. They resettled in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, ...

, and Corbett attended Holly Lodge Grammar School in

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire. In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider bu ...

, leaving at the age of sixteen. He was called up for two years'

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

in 1951. After completing his

he became a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, first for the ''

Birmingham Evening Mail The ''Birmingham Mail'' (branded the ''Black Country Mail'' in the Black Country) is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, England but distributed around Birmingham, the Black Country, and Solihull and parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire ...

'' and then for the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

''. In 1968 he became deputy editor of ''

Farmer's Weekly ''Farmers Weekly'' is a magazine aimed at the British farming industry. It provides news; business features; a weekly digest of facts and figures about British, European and world agriculture; and livestock, arable and machinery sections wit ...

'', then worked for IPC Magazines in 1970, where he stayed until his election to parliament in 1974.

Parliamentary career

Corbett first stood for Parliament at

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a ne ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, and then in a 1967 by-election at West Derbyshire, but was unsuccessful at both attempts. He was elected

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 ...

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 Hemel Hempstead at the October 1974 general election, but he lost the seat at the general election in 1979. He then returned to IPC Magazines, working as a communications consultant until he returned to parliament in the 1983 general election, representing

Birmingham Erdington Birmingham Erdington is a parliamentary constituency in Birmingham, England, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2022 by Paulette Hamilton of the Labour Party. Members of Parliament MPs 1918� ...

. He held this seat until retiring from the

at the 2001 general election, when

Siôn Simon Siôn Llewelyn Simon (born 23 December 1968) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Erdington from 2001 to 2010 and as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands f ...

succeeded him as Labour Member of Parliament for Birmingham Erdington. In the House of Commons, Corbett served as Opposition Spokesman for Home Affairs (1979–1992), then for National Heritage, Broadcasting and Press until 1995. He was a Labour Party Whip from 1984 until 1987, and Chairman of the

Home Affairs Select Committee The Home Affairs Select Committee is a Departmental Committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Remit The Home Affairs Committee is one of the House of Commons Select committees related to government departments: its ...

from 1999 to 2001. His Private Member’s Bill, still law today, granted lifetime anonymity for rape victims in court and media.

House of Lords

Created a

as Baron Corbett of Castle Vale, ''of

Erdington Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its o ...

in the County of West Midlands'', on 5 July 2001, his political interests included Home Office,

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

, the motor industry, manufacturing, disability, children's rights, alternative energy, environment, agriculture, animal welfare, and

the press ''The Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One comm ...

and broadcasting. He was Chairman of the All Party Penal Affairs Group, a parliamentary organisation clerked by the

Prison Reform Trust The Prison Reform Trust (PRT) was founded in 1981 in London, England, by a small group of prison reform campaigners who were unhappy with the direction in which the Howard League for Penal Reform was heading, concentrating more on community punish ...

, and a Patron of the Forum on Prisoner Education and UNLOCK, The National Association of Ex-Offenders. He was chairman of the all-party British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom and Chairman of Friends of Cyprus. Lord Corbett was a Vice-President of the Debating Group.Debating Group

Family

Married to Val Hudson in 1970, they had one daughter, Polly Hudson, a columnist for the ''

''. Lord Corbett also had a daughter and a son from a previous marriage.

Death

Corbett died of lung cancer at his home in

on 19 February 2012, aged 78.Notice of death of Lord Corbett
/ref>

Robin Corbett Award

Following Lord Corbett's death in February 2012 and his lifelong interest in prisoners 'learning through doing', his family established a lasting memorial to his work in penal reform. The Robin Corbett Award for Prisoner Rehabilitation was launched in 2013 with the

as prisoner rehabilitation legacy. The Robin Corbett Award funds £10,000 annually to three charities who do the most for prisoner reintegration. The presentation takes place at the House of Lords. Unless ex-offenders are steered in the right direction after release, around 50% will re-offend within two years – that figure plummets to 19% when they have a job. Yet only 12% of firms employ people with criminal convictions who have served their time and need to change direction. www.robincorbettaward.co.uk 3 This led to The Corbett Network, a coalition of over 90 decision-makers of charities, social enterprises and organisations involved in reintegration working together to persuade more firms to hire returning citizens. The videos we produced - view them on the website - has the same aim. www.thecorbettnetwork.com On 11 February 2019 the Corbett Centre for Prisoner Reintegration opened in the centre of Nottingham, operated by the charity

Safer Living Foundation The Safer Living Foundation (SLF) is a British charity focused on reducing sexual offending and reoffending through rehabilitative and preventative initiatives. It operates in Derby, Derbyshire, Leicester, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottingha ...

. The centre aims to reducing reoffending by supporting ex-prisoners to reintegrate into society.

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Corbett, Robin 1933 births 2012 deaths Communications consultants Deaths from cancer in England Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Corbett of Castle Vale Politics of Dacorum UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 People from Hemel Hempstead Australian emigrants to England People from Fremantle People from Smethwick Royal Air Force airmen Australian people of English descent English journalists People from West Bromwich Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom British consultants Life peers created by Elizabeth II