Sir William O'Brien (25 January 1929 – 18 May 2025) was a British Labour Party politician.

Early life

Born in the historic market town of

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, O'Brien was previously a

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

from 1946 to 1983 and local

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

Wakefield Council Wakefield Council, also known as the City of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, is the local authority of the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. Wakefield has had a council since 1848, which has been reformed on several occasions ...

from 1973 to 1983. He stood unsuccessfully for the post of Secretary for the Yorkshire region of the National Union of Mineworkers in 1973, losing to Owen Briscoe from the Yorkshire Left group. He was considered the moderate candidate from the moderate Glasshoughton colliery, whereas Briscoe was a militant from Armthorpe Colliery. He gained a BEd degree from the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

in 1978.

Parliamentary career

O'Brien entered the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Normanton at the 1983 general election, and re-elected at four further general elections until he retired at the 2005 general election. He served as both an Opposition Spokesman on Environment (1987–92) and Opposition Spokesman on Northern Ireland (1992–94). He was named a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in the

2010 Dissolution Honours The 2010 Dissolution Honours List was issued on 28 May 2010 at the advice of the outgoing Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. The list was gazetted on 15 June. Life peerages Conservative * Timothy Eric Boswell, former Whip and Parliamentary secret ...

Personal life and death

O'Brien married Jean Scofield, and the couple had three daughters. He died on 18 May 2025, at the age of 96.

Bibliography

''The Prince of Wales Colliery''

References

External links

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1929 births 2025 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies English people of Irish descent Alumni of the University of Leeds Politicians from Pontefract UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 Knights Bachelor Councillors in Wakefield {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub