Ronald Leighton (24 January 1930 – 28 February 1994) was a British Labour Party politician.

Political career

Leighton contested Middleton and Prestwich at the

1964 general election The following elections occurred in 1964. Africa * 1964 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1964 Central African Republic parliamentary election * 1964 Central African Republic presidential election * 1964 Dahomeyan general election * 1964 Gabo ...

, but was beaten by the Conservative incumbent Sir John Barlow. At the February 1974 election he fought the new Horsham and Crawley seat, but was defeated by the Conservative Peter Hordern. He became an MP in 1979 by regaining

Newham North East Newham North East was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, in the London Borough of Newham. It returned one Member of Parliament, elected by the first past the post system. ...

for his party; it had been the seat of Reg Prentice, who during the previous Parliament had defected from Labour to the Conservatives. Leighton was opposed to British membership of the

European Communities The European Communities (EC) were three international organizations that were governed by the same set of institutions. These were the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), and the ...

, and was Director of the Common Market Safeguards Campaign from 1970 to 1972. David Butler and

Uwe Kitzinger Uwe Kitzinger, CBE (born 12 April 1928) is an Oxford academic specialising in International Relations. He was the first British economist at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg from 1951 to 1956, and in January 1973 to June 1975 Political Adviser t ...

, ''The 1975 Referendum'' (London:

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

, 1976), p. 97. He retained the seat until he died in office, aged 64, in 1994; at the subsequent by-election, the seat was held for Labour by

Stephen Timms Sir Stephen Creswell Timms (born 29 July 1955) is a British politician who served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2006 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for East Ham, formerly Newham North Eas ...

. A road in the

London Borough of Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...

was named after Leighton
Ron Leighton Way
allows through traffic to bypass the busy East Ham High Street.

Notes

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', Times Newspapers Ltd, 1979 and 1992 editions. 1930 births 1994 deaths Graphical, Paper and Media Union-sponsored MPs Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub