John Diamond, Baron Diamond, PC (30 April 1907 – 3 April 2004) was a British Labour Party politician. Diamond was educated at

Leeds Grammar School Leeds Grammar School was an independent school founded 1552 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Originally a male-only school, in August 2005 it merged with Leeds Girls' High School to form The Grammar School at Leeds. The two schools physicall ...

and became an accountant. He was elected

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 ...

in 1945 for the Blackley division of Manchester, but lost it in 1951. In 1946 and 1947, he was parliamentary private secretary to the Ministry of Works. He returned to 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. T ...

in a 1957 by-election for

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, caused by the death of its Labour MP, Moss Turner-Samuels. He served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 1964, a cabinet position from 1968, and Privy Councillor from 1965. He represented Gloucester until his surprise defeat in 1970 by the Conservative candidate, Sally Oppenheim-Barnes. Diamond was appointed to the Privy Council in the

1965 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1965 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. The appointments were made to celebrate t ...

, and was created a life peer as Baron Diamond ''of the City of

'' on 25 September 1970. In 1981 he left the Labour Party for the new Social Democratic Party. He led the SDP in 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 Westminste ...

from 1982 to 1988 but opposed its merger with the Liberals and rejoined Labour in 1995.

Family

Diamond was first married in 1932 and had two sons and a daughter. He had a daughter, Joan, by his second wife, Julie Goodman, whom he married in 1948. They separated in 1966 and divorced 10 years later. Upon his death at 96, he was survived by his children and by his third wife, Barbara Kagan, whom he had married in 1976.

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* 1907 births 2004 deaths People from Chalfont St Giles Politicians from Leeds Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies British Jews People educated at Leeds Grammar School Social Democratic Party (UK) life peers UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs who were granted peerages Labour Party (UK) life peers Members of Parliament for Gloucester Jewish British politicians Members of the Fabian Society Treasurers of the Fabian Society Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988) peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Chief Secretaries to the Treasury {{Life-peer-stub