Stanley Orme, Baron Orme, PC (5 April 1923 – 27 April 2005) was a British left-wing Labour Party

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. He was a

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) from 1964 to 1997, and served as a cabinet minister in the 1970s.

Early life

Stan Orme was born in Sale, Cheshire. He was educated at a technical school, which he left in 1938 to become an instrument maker's apprentice. He joined the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

in 1942, becoming a bomber-navigator, serving in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. He was demobilised in 1947 as a

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...

Political career

Orme joined the Labour Party in 1944 and he became a Sale Borough Councillor in 1958. A committed

Bevanite Bevanism was a movement on the left wing of the Labour Party in the late 1950s led by Aneurin Bevan which also included Richard Crossman, Michael Foot and Barbara Castle. Bevanism was opposed by the Gaitskellites, moderate social democrats w ...

, he embraced many left-wing causes, including the Movement for Colonial Freedom and the

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuc ...

. He first stood for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in Stockport South at the 1959 general election, when he lost to 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 ...

candidate. He was elected as

(MP) for Salford West at the 1964 general election. When Labour returned to office at the February 1974 general election, Orme was installed at Stormont as

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. He made an impression in this role, before moving to the

Department of Health and Social Security The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services. Hi ...

in March 1976. The Prime Minister James Callaghan promoted him to the Cabinet in September 1976 to sit alongside his departmental boss David Ennals. He remained in this role until 1979. Orme joined the Shadow Cabinet in 1979 as chief health and social security spokesman, before later moving on to hold the Industry and Energy portfolios until 1987. After constituency boundary changes for the 1983 general election, he was elected for the redrawn seat of Salford East. He served as the Chairman 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 ...

(1987–1992). He retired from 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 ...

at the 1997 general election, and he was created a life peer as Baron Orme, of

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

in the County of

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

on 21 October 1997. Orme was a republican. He made several unsuccessful attempts to be elected to Labour's

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

, without breaking through. Lord Orme died in 2005. His funeral at Dunham Crematorium was attended by many family, friends and political colleagues. A memorial service was held 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 ...

, with speeches from

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

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 very rare exception was made by the Lord Chancellor such that any Divisions were suspended during this evening service.

Private life

In 1951 he married Irene Mary Harris (died 2022). They had no children.

Controversy

In December 2019, a Daily Telegraph investigation reported that Orme had been involved in handing confidential information to Czech communist spies.Senior Labour politicians gave information to Cold War spies

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

References

* *''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', Times Newspapers Limited, 1992 *Obituary
''The Times''
obituaries.
Catalogue of the Orme papers
at th

of the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Orme, Stan 1923 births 2005 deaths Amalgamated Engineering Union-sponsored MPs English republicans Councillors in Greater Manchester Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II People from Sale, Greater Manchester 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 Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force airmen Northern Ireland Office junior ministers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Salford West