John Denis Fraser (30 June 1934 – 6 April 2017) was a

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 for Norwood in London from 1966 to 1997 and a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

Early life and education

Fraser was born on 30 June 1934 in Wandsworth, London, to Frances Benedict and Archibald Fraser. He was of Scottish and Irish descent. He was educated at Sloane Grammar School, Chelsea and the

Law Society A law society is an association of lawyers with a regulatory role that includes the right to supervise the training, qualifications, and conduct of lawyers. Where there is a distinction between barristers and solicitors, solicitors are regulated ...

College of Law, becoming a solicitor. He was a senior partner at the law firm Lewis Silkin LLP.

Political career

Fraser was a councillor on Lambeth Borough Council from 1962 to 1965 and the

London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London boroughs, London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London ...

from 1964. He was a founding member of the Co-operative (Housing) Development Society. He was Under Secretary at the Department of Trade and Industry in 1966, Under Secretary of State for Employment from 1974 to 1976, and Minister of State at the Department of Prices & Consumer Protection from 1976 to 1979. He was largely responsible for steering the Unfair Contract Terms Act of 1977 through Parliament. Norwood was abolished as a constituency in 1997. Fraser lost the selection contest for Dulwich and West Norwood to Tessa Jowell, then MP for Dulwich.

Personal life

Fraser was a devout Catholic, and he often gave readings at church. He married Ann Hathaway in 1960. Together they had three children: two sons and a daughter.

References

* *http://www.lewissilkin.com/About-us/Our-History 1934 births 2017 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in Greater London Councillors in the London Borough of Lambeth 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 Members of Lambeth Metropolitan Borough Council {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub