Alan Robert Haworth, Baron Haworth (26 April 1948 – 28 August 2023) was a British Labour politician. He was an official in the party from 1975 to 2004, including serving as Secretary of the

Parliamentary Labour Party The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is the parliamentary group of the Labour Party in the British House of Commons. The group comprises the Labour members of parliament as a collective body. Commentators on the British Constitution sometimes ...

from 1992 to 2004. In 2004, he was appointed to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

Early life

Alan Haworth grew up in the

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

suburb of Revidge, where his family owned a grocery shop, and was educated at St Silas School, Blackburn and Blackburn Technical & Grammar School. He attended the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

to study medicine, but left after one year's study. He then studied for a degree in sociology at the Barking Regional College of Technology, from which he graduated in 1971. He then worked from 1973 to 1975 as a registrar at the university.

Parliamentary career

Haworth was appointed to the staff of the

in 1975, became Senior Committee Officer in 1985, and served as Secretary of the PLP from 1992 to 2004. He was elevated to the

on 28 June 2004 as a

as ''Baron Haworth, of Fisherfield in

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty (), is an area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. In modern usage, it is a registration county and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. Between 1889 and 1975 it was a Shires of Scotland, county. Historical ...

''. In December 2009, Haworth was accused by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' of earning £100,000 in expenses by pretending that his main home was a cottage in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Following an investigation by

Michael Pownall Sir Michael Graham Pownall, (born 11 October 1949) is a retired British public servant. From 2007 to 2011, he was Clerk of the Parliaments in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. Early life and education Pownall was born on 11 October 1949 ...

Clerk of the Parliaments The Clerk of the Parliaments is the chief clerk of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The position has existed since at least 1315, and duties include preparing the minutes of Lords proceedings, advising on proper parli ...

, Haworth was cleared of wrongdoing in February 2010.

Writings

Haworth was the author of 113 obituaries of former Labour MPs, some published in ''Politico's Book of the Dead'' 2003, and the joint editor (with

Dianne Hayter Dianne Hayter, Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (born 7 September 1949) is a British politician serving as a Member of the House of Lords since 2010. A member of the Labour and Co-operative Party, she was Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lord ...

) of ''Men Who Made Labour'', obituaries of the first 29 Labour MPs elected to Parliament in 1906.

Personal life and death

Haworth married Maggie Rae, a lawyer, in 1991. He died of a heart attack in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, Iceland, on 28 August 2023, while on holiday with his wife. Former prime minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

said, "In all the years I knew Alan, he never wavered in his belief in, and commitment to, the party. He served it with distinction and true and dedicated loyalty."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haworth, Alan Haworth, Baron 1948 births 2023 deaths Labour Party (UK) life peers People from Blackburn Alumni of the University of St Andrews Life peers created by Elizabeth II