John Laurence Garrett (8 September 1931 – 11 September 2007) was a British

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultants ...

and Labour Party politician. He was

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 ...

for

Norwich South Norwich South is a constituency in Norfolk represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, since 2015 by Clive Lewis, of the Labour Party. History The constituency was created by the Representation of the Peopl ...

for 19 years in two non-consecutive terms, from 1974 to 1983, and later from 1987 to 1997.

Early life

Garrett was born in

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...

, the son of a book-keeper. He was brought up in Walthamstow, and attended the Monoux School. After National Service in the Royal Air Force he read geography at

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

, graduating with a first. He undertook research into industrial location, receiving a B.Litt, and spent a year at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

graduate business school as a King George VI Fellow. He worked in industry as a labour officer in the chemical industry, then a market research manager in the car industry, and finally a

with Inbucon from 1963. He contributed to the Fulton Commission, on the reform of the civil service, from 1966 to 1968.

Political career

He joined the Labour Party in 1951, and was elected to Greenwich Borough Council in 1970. He fought Norwich South in 1972, and unseated the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Thomas Stuttaford Irving Thomas Stuttaford, (4 May 1931 – 8 June 2018) was a British medical doctor, columnist, and politician who served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Norwich South between 1970 and 1974. In 2002 he retired as Senior Medical Advi ...

, a local GP, at the February 1974 general election. He was re-elected in October 1974, and served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the

Minister for the Civil Service In the Government of the United Kingdom, the minister for the Civil Service is responsible for regulations regarding His Majesty's Civil Service, the role of which is to assist the governments of the United Kingdom in formulating and implementin ...

, Robert Sheldon, in 1974, and to the

Minister of State for Social Security The secretary of state for work and pensions, also referred to as the work and pensions secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the busin ...

, Stan Orme, from 1977 to 1979. He was re-elected again in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

, and became an opposition spokesman on Trade and Industry, but failed to gain a position in the shadow cabinet as a

Tribune group ''Tribune'' is a democratic socialist political magazine founded in 1937 and published in London, initially as a newspaper, then converting to a magazine in 2001. While it is independent, it has usually supported the Labour Party from the left ...

candidate. With Robert Sheldon and

Norman St John-Stevas Norman Antony Francis St John-Stevas, Baron St John of Fawsley, ( ; born Norman Panayea St John Stevas; 18 May 1929 – 2 March 2012) was a British Conservative politician, author and barrister. He served as Leader of the House of Commons in th ...

, he was instrumental in the creation of the system of departmental Select committees. He and Sheldon collaborated in the establishment of the statutory independence of the National Audit Office. He lost his seat to the Conservative

John Powley John Albert Powley (3 August 1936 – 16 October 2020) was a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich South between 1983 and 1987 and served as the chairman of the Cambridgeshire County Council fr ...

in the

landslide at the 1983 election, and returned to work for Inbucon, but regained the seat at the next election, with a majority of only 336. He resumed his post as an opposition spokesman on Trade and Industry, then moved on to Energy, and finally to the Civil Service. He was re-elected in 1992, but retired due to ill health at the 1997 general election. His successor as MP for Norwich South was

Charles Clarke Charles Rodway Clarke (born 21 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006. Early life T ...

, who later became

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...

. In retirement, he was a councillor for on

Norfolk County Council Norfolk County Council is the top-tier local government authority for Norfolk, England. Its headquarters are based in the city of Norwich. Below it there are 7 second-tier local government district councils: Breckland District, Broadland Distr ...

from 1997 to 2001 and then on

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

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, representing

Bowthorpe Bowthorpe is a suburban village to the west of Norwich, in the county of Norfolk, England. Geography Bowthorpe is primarily a residential area, but includes a large industrial estate (Bowthorpe Industrial Estate; occupied by mix-use commercia ...

. He was an honorary lecturer in government at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

Personal life

Garrett married Wendy Ady in 1959; they had two daughters. Garrett died in

on 11 September 2007, aged 76.

References

Sources

* ''

Times Guide to the House of Commons ''The Times Guide to the House of Commons'' is a political reference guide book published by Times Newspapers giving coverage of general elections in the United Kingdom. Following most general elections since 1880, the book has been published. Th ...

'', Times Newspapers Limited, 1987, 1992 and 1997 editions. *

External links

Obituary, ''The Guardian'', 14 September 2007

Obituary, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 14 September 2007

Obituary, ''The Independent'', 15 September 2007

Obituary, ''The Times'', 17 September 2007
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett, John 1931 births 2007 deaths Alumni of University College, Oxford British management consultants Councillors in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Councillors in Norfolk Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Academics of the University of East Anglia Members of Norfolk County Council People from Romford Labour Party (UK) councillors