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Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley, (born 28 December 1932) is a British Labour Party politician, author and journalist from
Sheffield Sheffield is a 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 historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...
. He was MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook for over 32 years from 1964 to 1997, and served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992.


Early life

Hattersley was born on 28 December 1932 in
Sheffield Sheffield is a 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 historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...
, West Riding of Yorkshire, to Enid Brackenbury and Frederick Roy Hattersley (1902–1973; also known by his middle name), who married in the 1950s. His mother was a city councillor, and later served as
Lord Mayor of Sheffield The Lord Mayor of Sheffield is a ceremonial post held by a member of Sheffield City Council. They are elected annually by the council. The post originated in 1843, with the appointment of William Jeffcock as the first Mayor of Sheffield. E ...
(1981). His father, at various times a police officer, clerk at Sheffield town hall, and chairman of the council's Health Committee, was a former Roman Catholic priest, the parish priest at St Joseph's at
Shirebrook Shirebrook is a town in the Bolsover district in Derbyshire, England. Close to the boundaries with the districts of Mansfield and Bassetlaw of Nottinghamshire,OS Explorer Map 270: Sherwood Forest: (1:25 000): it had a population of 13,300 i ...
in
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
, who renounced the church and left the priesthood to cohabit with Hattersley's mother, Enid, a married woman at whose wedding he had officiated two weeks earlier; Frederick ultimately died an atheist.


Early political career and education

Hattersley was a socialist and Labour supporter from his youth, electioneering at the age of 12 for his local MP and city councillors, beginning in 1945. He won a scholarship to
Sheffield City Grammar School 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 ...
and went from there to study at the
University of Hull , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...
. Having been accepted to read English at 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 , ...
, he was diverted into reading Economics at Hull when told by a Sheffield colleague of his mother that it was necessary for a political career. At university Hattersley joined the Socialist Society (SocSoc) and was one of those responsible for changing its name to the "Labour Club" and affiliating it with the non-aligned
International Union of Socialist Youth The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) is an international organization, founded in 1907, whose activities include publications, support of member organizations and the organization of meetings. It was formed as the youth wing of the ...
(IUSY) rather than the Soviet-backed International Union of Students. Hattersley became chairman of the new club and later treasurer, and he went on to chair the National Association of Labour Student Organisations. He also joined the executive of the IUSY.


Member of Parliament

After graduating Hattersley worked briefly for a Sheffield steelworks and then for two years with the
Workers' Educational Association The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...
. He married his first wife, Molly, who became a headteacher and educational administrator. In 1956 he was elected to the City Council as Labour representative for Crookesmoor and was, very briefly, a JP. On the Council he spent time as chairman of the Public Works Committee and then the Housing Committee. His aim became a
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
seat, and he was eventually selected for Labour to stand for election in the
Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles sou ...
constituency but lost to the Conservative Geoffrey Lloyd in
1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
. He kept hunting for prospective candidacies, applying for twenty-five seats over three years. In 1963 he was chosen as the prospective parliamentary candidate for the multi-racial Birmingham Sparkbrook constituency (following a well-known local 'character', Jack Webster) and facing a Conservative majority of just under 900. On 16 October 1964 he defeated the Conservative candidate, Michael J. Donnelly, and was elected with a majority of 1,254 votes; he was to hold the seat for the next eight general elections.


Journalist

At first he was
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 ...
to
Margaret Herbison Margaret McCrorie Herbison (11 March 1907 – 29 December 1996) was a Scottish Labour politician who was Minister of Social Security from 1964 to 1967. Early life Herbison was born on 11 March 1907 in Shotts, Lanarkshire to Maria Jane McCro ...
, the Minister for Pensions. His
maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
was on a housing subsidies bill. Still a
Gaitskellite Gaitskellism was the ideology of a faction in the British Labour Party in the 1950s and early 1960s which opposed many of the economic policies of the trade unions, especially nationalisation and control of the economy. Theoretically, it repudia ...
, he also joined the 1963 Club. He also wrote his first ''Endpiece'' column for ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...
'' (the column moved to '' The Listener'' in 1979, and then to ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'').


Ministerial positions

Despite the support of
Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...
and
Tony Crosland Charles Anthony Raven Crosland (29 August 191819 February 1977) was a British Labour Party politician and author. A social democrat on the right wing of the Labour Party, he was a prominent socialist intellectual. His influential book '' The ...
he did not gain a ministerial position until 1967, joining
Ray Gunter Raymond Jones Gunter (30 August 1909 – 12 April 1977) was a British Labour Party politician. He was born in Wales and had a background in the railway industry and the British trade union movement – specifically his union, the Transport Sala ...
at the Ministry of Labour. He was reportedly disliked by Prime Minister
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
as a "Jenkinsite". The following year he was promoted to Under Secretary in the same ministry, now led by
Barbara Castle Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, (''née'' Betts; 6 October 1910 – 3 May 2002), was a British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1979, making her one of the longest-serving female MPs in Bri ...
, and become closely involved in implementing the unpopular Prices and Incomes Act 1966. In 1969, after the fiasco over ''
In Place of Strife ''In Place of Strife'' ( Cmnd 3888) was a UK Government white paper written in 1969. It was a proposed act to use the law to reduce the power of trade unions in the United Kingdom, but was never passed into law. The title of the paper was a rework ...
'', he was promoted to deputy to
Denis Healey Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey, (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970; he remains the longe ...
, the Minister of Defence, following the death of Gerry Reynolds. One of his first jobs, while Healey was hospitalised, was to sign the Army Board Order – putting troops into
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
.


European Common Market

The Labour defeat of 1970 ended six years of Labour government. Hattersley was to hold his seat – often increasing his majority – but for the next twenty-six years as MP he was to spend twenty one in Opposition. He was appointed Deputy Foreign Affairs Spokesman, again under Healey, which involved a lot of foreign travel if nothing else. He also took a Visiting Fellowship to the
Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, publi ...
. During this time he also became an enthusiastic supporter of the
Common Market The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
, and his "drift to the political centre" put him at odds with much of the
Parliamentary Labour Party In UK politics, the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is the parliamentary group of the Labour Party in Parliament, i.e. Labour MPs as a collective body. Commentators on the British Constitution sometimes draw a distinction between the Labour ...
(PLP). Hattersley was one of the sixty-nine 'rebels' who voted with the Conservative government for entry into the EEC, which precipitated the resignation of
Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...
as deputy leader (10 April 1972) and eventually a permanent split within Labour. (It was the adoption of a referendum on the EEC as shadow cabinet policy that caused Jenkins to resign.) For 'standing by' the party Hattersley was appointed
Shadow Defence Secretary The Shadow Secretary of State for Defence is a member of the UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Defence and the department, the Ministry of Defence. The post is currently held by John Healey. Shadow S ...
1972 to 1973 and later
Shadow Secretary of State for Education The Shadow Secretary of State for Education, also called the Shadow Education Secretary, is an office in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet responsible for Opposition policy on education and for holding the Secretary of State for Education, ...
.


Privy Council

In the Wilson government of 1974 he was appointed the (non-cabinet) Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, and in the
1975 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1975 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1975 to celeb ...
, he was sworn of the
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...
. Hattersley headed the British delegation to Reykjavik during the "
Cod Wars The Cod Wars ( is, Þorskastríðin; also known as , ; german: Kabeljaukriege) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of ...
", but was primarily given the task of renegotiating the terms of the UK's membership of the EEC. Following the resignation of Wilson he voted for
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 ...
in the ensuing leadership contest to stop
Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Labour Leader from 1980 to 1983. Foot began his career as a journalist on ''Tribune'' and the ''Evening Standard''. He co-wrote the 1940 p ...
(a man " hofor all his virtues ... could not become Prime Minister"). Under Callaghan he finally made it into the Cabinet as
Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection The Department of Prices and Consumer Protection was a short-lived United Kingdom government department created by the incoming Labour government in 1974 when the functions of the Department of Trade and Industry were divided between three new ...
, a position he held until Labour's defeat in the 1979 general election. In 1979 Hattersley was appointed to shadow
Michael Heseltine Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, (; born 21 March 1933) is a British politician and businessman. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket. Heseltine served ...
as the Minister for the Environment, contending with him over the cuts in local government powers and the "
Right to Buy The Right to Buy scheme is a policy in the United Kingdom, with the exception of Scotland since 1 August 2016 and Wales from 26 January 2019, which gives secure tenants of councils and some housing associations the legal right to buy, at a large ...
". Following the rise of the '
hard left In the United Kingdom, the hard left are the left-wing political movements and ideas outside the mainstream centre-left.* * Term The term was first used in the context of debates within both the Labour Party and the broader left in the 1980 ...
', as demonstrated at the 1980 Labour Conference, Callaghan resigned. The leadership contest was between Healey and Foot, with Hattersley organising Healey's campaign. "An electorate he PLPderanged by fear" elected Foot. Healey was made deputy leader and Hattersley was appointed
Shadow Home Secretary In British politics, the Shadow Home Secretary (formally known as the Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department) is the person within the shadow cabinet who shadows the Home Secretary; this effectively means scrutinising government poli ...
, but felt that Foot was "a good man in the wrong job", "a baffling combination of the admirable and the absurd". Healey was challenged for his post in 1981, following electoral rule changes, by
Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...
, retaining his post by 50.426% to 49.574%. Hattersley felt that "the Bennite alliance lthough defeatednbsp;... played a major part in keeping the Conservatives in power for almost twenty years". Hattersley also had very little regard for those Labour defectors who created the SDP in 1981. He helped found Labour Solidarity (1981–83) and credits the group with preventing the disintegration of the Labour Party.


Deputy Leader

Following Labour's devastating defeat in the 1983 general election Foot declined to continue as leader. Hattersley stood in the subsequent
leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...
. John Smith was his campaign manager and a young
Peter Mandelson Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson (born 21 October 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who served as First Secretary of State from 2009 to 2010. He was President of the Board of Trade in 1998 and from 2008 to 2010. He is the ...
impressed Hattersley. The other competitors were
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 ...
, Peter Shore, and
Eric Heffer Eric Samuel Heffer (12 January 192227 May 1991) was a British socialist politician. He was Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton from 1964 until his death. Due to his experience as a professional joiner, he made a speciality of the ...
. Hattersley had the support of most of the Shadow Cabinet, but the majority of the PLP, the constituency groups and the unions were in favour of Kinnock. In the final count Kinnock secured around three times as many votes as the second-place Hattersley. As was standard practice at the time, Hattersley was
elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...
deputy leader. The combination was promoted at the time as being a "dream ticket" with Kinnock a representative of the left of the party and Hattersley of the right. Hattersley remained deputy for eight years and also
Shadow Chancellor The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in the British Parliamentary system is the member of the Shadow Cabinet who is responsible for shadowing the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The title is given at the gift of the Leader of the Opposition and ...
until 1987, when he moved back to Shadow Home Affairs. Kinnock and Hattersley attempted to "rehabilitate" Labour after 1983. Following the
Miners' Strike Miners' strikes are when miners conduct strike actions. See also *List of strikes References {{Reflist Miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two s ...
they resumed expelling members of the
entryist Entryism (also called entrism, enterism, or infiltration) is a political strategy in which an organisation or state encourages its members or supporters to join another, usually larger, organization in an attempt to expand influence and expand the ...
Militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin ...
group whose activities, organisation and politics had earlier been found to contravene the Labour Party's constitution. In
1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
they fought off a leadership challenge by
Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...
,
Eric Heffer Eric Samuel Heffer (12 January 192227 May 1991) was a British socialist politician. He was Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton from 1964 until his death. Due to his experience as a professional joiner, he made a speciality of the ...
, and
John Prescott John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he w ...
. Defeat in 1987 was expected; by 1992 it was much more even. Labour had regularly topped opinion polls since 1989 and at one stage had a lead of up to 15 points over the Conservatives, though this was cut back and more than once overhauled by the Tories following the resignation of
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
as prime minister to make way for
John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon, formerly Hunting ...
in November 1990. In the run-up to the 1992 election, Hattersley was present at the Labour Party rally in his native
Sheffield Sheffield is a 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 historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...
and backed up Kinnock with the claim that "with every day that passes, Neil looks more and more like the real tenant of number 10 Downing Street".


Backbenches and retirement

The 1992 general election was held on 9 April 1992, but saw a fourth consecutive Labour defeat by the Conservatives. Kinnock announced his resignation as party leader on 13 April, and on the same day Hattersley announced his intention to resign from the deputy leadership of the party, with the intention of carrying on in their roles until the new leadership was elected that summer. Hattersley supported his friend John Smith in the leadership contest, which Smith won in July that year. In June 1993, Hattersley cancelled an appearance on TV panel show '' Have I Got News for You'' with very late notice, which infuriated the production staff and hosts, leading to Hattersley being replaced with a tub of
lard Lard is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.Lard
entry in the ...
. The programme compared Hattersley and the tub of lard, and claimed "they possessed the same qualities and were liable to give similar performances". In February 1994, Hattersley announced he would leave politics at the following
general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
. He was made 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 ...
as Baron Hattersley, of
Sparkbrook Sparkbrook is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, England. It is one of the four wards forming the Hall Green formal district within Birmingham City Council. Etymology The area receives its name from Spark Brook, a small stream that f ...
in the County of West Midlands on 24 November 1997. Hattersley was long regarded as being on the right-wing of the party, but with
New Labour New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...
in power he found himself criticising a Labour government from the left, stating that "Blair's Labour Party is not the Labour Party I joined". He mentioned repeatedly that he would be supporting
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony ...
as leader. Hattersley retired from the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...
on 19 May 2017.


Later life

In 1996, Hattersley was fined for an incident involving his dog, Buster, after it killed a goose in one of London's royal parks. He later wrote the "diary" of Buster, writing from the dog's perspective on the incident, in which it claimed to have acted in self-defence. In 2003, Hattersley was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, ele ...
. Hattersley is the author of three novels and several biographies. He has written biographies on religious topics, and on the Edwardian period as well. His 700-page biography of
David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...
''The Great Outsider: David Lloyd George'' was published by Little, Brown in 2010. In 2008, Hattersley appeared in a documentary on the DVD for the ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...
'' serial '' Doctor Who and the Silurians'', to discuss the political climate that existed at the time of making the serial. He now writes a regular column for the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'', "In Search of England", about different parts of the United Kingdom; it normally appears in the paper on Tuesdays.


Personal life

Hattersley married his first wife, the educationalist Molly, in 1956. They divorced in April 2013 after 57 years of marriage, having been separated for five years. They had no children. In summer 2013, he married Maggie Pearlstine, his literary agent and sister of
Norman Pearlstine Norman Pearlstine (born October 4, 1942) is an American editor and media executive. He previously held senior positions at the '' Los Angeles Times'', Time Inc, Bloomberg L.P., ''Forbes'' and ''The Wall Street Journal''. Early life and educatio ...
. Hattersley supports a British republic. He is a dedicated supporter of
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
, and a member of the
Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...
and
Garrick Garrick may refer to: * Garrick (name), for the name's origin and people with either the surname or given name, the most famous being: ** David Garrick (1717–1779), English actor * Garrick Club, a London gentlemen's club named in honour of David ...
clubs.


Partial bibliography

*''The Catholics: The Church and its people in Britain and Ireland, from the Reformation to the present day'' (2017) *''David Lloyd George: The Great Outsider'', Little Brown (2010) *''Buster's Secret Diaries'' (2007) *''Campbell-Bannerman'' (2006) *''The Edwardians: Biography of the Edwardian Age'' (2004) *''The Life of John Wesley: A Brand from the Burning'' (2002) *''Buster's Diaries'' (1999) *''Blood and Fire: William and Catherine Booth and the Salvation Army'' (1999) *''50 Years on: Prejudiced History of Britain Since the War'' (1997) *''No Discouragement: An Autobiography'' (1996) *''Who Goes Home?: Scenes from a Political Life'' (1995) *''Between Ourselves'' (1994) *''Skylark's Song'' (1993) *''In That Quiet Earth'' (1993) *''The Maker's Mark'' (1990) *''Choose Freedom: Future of Democratic Socialism'' (1987) *''A Yorkshire Boyhood'' (1983) * with
Eric Heffer Eric Samuel Heffer (12 January 192227 May 1991) was a British socialist politician. He was Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton from 1964 until his death. Due to his experience as a professional joiner, he made a speciality of the ...
,
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 ...
and Peter Shore ''Labour's Choices'' (1983) *''Press Gang'' (1983) *''Goodbye to Yorkshire'' (1976)


References


External links

* *
Buster's Diaries
official site


New Statesman articles by Roy Hattersley
*Roy Hattersley, ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'', 10 May 2004
'We should have made it clear that we too were modernisers'
*Roy Hattersley and Kevin Hickson '' Political Quarterly'', 8 September 201
In Praise of Social Democracy
, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hattersley, Roy 1932 births 20th-century British journalists Alumni of the University of Hull British Secretaries of State Councillors in Sheffield Daily Mail journalists English humanists English male journalists English republicans Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Harvard Kennedy School staff Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers Living people Members of the Fabian Society Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 People educated at The City School, Sheffield People from Wadsley The Guardian journalists UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Shadow Chancellors of the Exchequer Life peers created by Elizabeth II