Robert Harry Harpham (21 February 1954 – 4 February 2016) was a British Labour Party politician and

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

. He was the

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 o ...

(MP) for

Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament by Gi ...

from the May 2015 general election until he died nine months later. He was succeeded by his widow, Gill Furniss, as the MP for the seat at the ensuing

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 ...

Early life and education

Harpham was born on 21 February 1954 in

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market to ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

, England. Harpham moved to

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 ...

in 1985, and studied at Northern College in

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough ha ...

and the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

as a

mature student An adult learner or, more commonly, a mature student, is a person who is older and is involved in forms of learning. Adult learners fall in a specific criterion of being experienced, and do not always have a high school diploma. Many of the adult ...

. He graduated from Sheffield with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

in 1991.

Career

Early career

Harpham left school at 16, and became a

Clipstone Colliery Clipstone Colliery was a coal mine in the village of Clipstone, Nottinghamshire, part of the area known as The Dukeries. The colliery opened in 1922 and operated until 2003. It was built by the Bolsover Colliery Company, transferred to the Nati ...

. He took part in the miners' strike of 1984–85 as an NUM member, staying out for the duration.

Political career

In 2000, Harpham was elected to

Sheffield City Council Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under No Overall Con ...

, serving as 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 ...

for Manor ward. He represented Darnall ward from 2004 onwards, and was deputy leader of the council from 2012. He did not stand at the 2015 council election. Harpham was elected as the

(MP) for

in the 2015 general election. He was one of the final deep coal miners ever to enter parliament. He was one of 125 MPs who employed a member of their family, in his case, employing his wife as a part-time researcher. He supported

Andy Burnham Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2007 to 2008, Culture Secretary from 200 ...

in the 2015 Labour leadership election. He served as

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 ...

(PPS) to

Lisa Nandy Lisa Eva Nandy (born 9 August 1979) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities since 2021. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (United Kin ...

, the shadow energy secretary. He was a Member of Parliament for 260 days, making him one of the shortest serving MPs.

Personal life

Harpham had a son and a daughter from his first marriage. He was married to Gill Furniss until his death.

Death

Harpham was diagnosed with terminal cancer in October 2015. He died on 4 February 2016, aged 61. On 16 February 2016, a non-religious funeral was held for him at

Sheffield Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul, Sheffield, more commonly known as Sheffield Cathedral, is the cathedral church for the Church of England diocese of Sheffield, England. Originally a parish church, it was elevated to cathedral st ...

. Harpham's widow Gill Furniss, a member of Sheffield City Council, won the by-election caused by his death as Labour's candidate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harpham, Harry 1954 births 2016 deaths Alumni of the University of Sheffield Deaths from cancer in England Councillors in Sheffield English miners Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Mansfield UK MPs 2015–2017