Michael Joseph O'Halloran (20 August 1933 – 29 November 1999) was an Irish-born British politician. He was brought up in

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

, Ireland, and being out of work, he "drifted to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

" in 1948, aged fifteen, and worked as a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

man until he entered politics. He stood as a Labour candidate, and was elected as the Member of Parliament for Islington North at a by-election in 1969 following the death of sitting MP Gerry Reynolds. He had previously been the secretary of the Islington North Constituency Labour Party. His selection over Keith Kyle was the subject of an investigation in the early 1970s by ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' newspaper. They highlighted his background with a local building company and the local Irish community and questioned the propriety of the tactics of his supporters during his selection as candidate. He was a staunch

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in his political beliefs, although he made relatively few contributions to parliamentary debates. He frequently drew on his experience as a railwayman when discussing transport policy. In 1976, Keith Veness, a local party member, was expelled for saying that O'Halloran was dominated by Irish Catholic influences, but later reinstated by the party's NEC. He was a strong opponent of the legalisation of

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

. His office was invaded by activists in 1977, and he claims that he was punched to the ground and kicked, and was only revived when the police arrived. During the same year, when the Labour Government's parliamentary majority was under threat, he threatened to resign unless the left wing in his constituency party was brought under control. Following pressure from the left in his local party, O'Halloran was among the Labour MPs who defected to the newly founded Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981. However, in 1983, the SDP chose John Grant, the MP for Islington Central (which was being abolished in boundary changes), to be their official candidate in Islington North. O'Halloran left the SDP to stand as an Independent Labour candidate at the 1983 general election. The official Labour Party candidate and future leader,

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

won the seat; whilst O'Halloran came in fourth place with 11% of the vote. Grant finished in third place with 22% of the vote. O'Halloran retired to

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

with his wife, and lived there until his death aged 66.

References

* ''Times Guide to the House of Commons 1983'' *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohalloran, Michael 20th-century Irish people 1933 births 1999 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies National Union of Railwaymen-sponsored MPs People from Islington (district) Politicians from the London Borough of Islington Politicians from County Clare Politicians from County Wexford Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom Social Democratic Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 Independent members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom