Robert Edward Sheldon, Baron Sheldon PC (born Isaac Ezra Shamash; 13 September 1923 – 2 February 2020) was a British Labour Party politician and

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 ...

who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashton under Lyne from 1964 to 2001.

Early life and career

Isaac Ezra Shamash was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

to a family of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

immigrants from

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. His parents were Jack, a textile exporter, and Betty Shamash. His family always called him Bobby and so he changed his name by

deed poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract, because it binds only one party. Etymology Th ...

in 1943. Sheldon was educated at Upper Latimer School, trained in engineering at Burnley and Stockport technical colleges, and awarded an

external degree An external degree is a degree offered by a university to students who have not been required to be physically present within the geographic territory of the institution. These undergraduates may be called ''external students'' and may study at c ...

from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. He joined the Labour Party in 1945 and later served as a

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...

lor. Sheldon worked as director of his family textile firm.

Political career

Sheldon first stood for Parliament in

Manchester Withington Manchester Withington is a Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Jeff Smith (British politician), Jeff ...

at the 1959 general election and was elected as MP for Ashton under Lyne at the 1964 general election a post he held until 2001. He was one of the four directors of the Left Wing Coffee House from 1959 to 1963 in Manchester as well as Joel Barnett, and

Edmund Dell Edmund Emanuel Dell (15 August 1921 – ) was a British politician and businessman. He was a Labour MP and minister in the 1960s and 1970s, but after leaving parliament, joined the Social Democratic Party and its eventual successor, the Libe ...

, in addition to the chief funder, Harold Lever. Sheldon caused difficulty for the

first Wilson government First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

in his support for devaluation of the pound, which the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

and

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

strongly opposed. When Chancellor

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the L ...

refused to answer his question on the issue in Parliament, there was a run on the pound. He was also staunchly pro- EU, supporting Britain's entry into the

European Common Market The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lis ...

and later advocating for membership of the

European Monetary Union The economic and monetary union (EMU) of the European Union is a group of policies aimed at converging the economies of member states of the European Union at three stages. There are three stages of the EMU, each of which consists of progress ...

. Sheldon was known for his association with fellow MPs Joel Barnett and

, the three of whom met in Manchester during their youth. He briefly served as Civil Service Minister after Labour returned to power in 1974 but was appointed as a Treasury Minister later in the same year. Sheldon was promoted to

Financial Secretary to the Treasury The Financial Secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in HM Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Exchequer, the ch ...

from 1975 to 1979 and was made a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

in 1977. He served as

Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury The shadow chief secretary to the treasury is the most junior member of the Shadow Cabinet, and is the deputy to the shadow chancellor of the exchequer. The shadow chief secretary to the treasury acts as the primary opposition to the equivalent ...

from 1981 until 1983, when he became Chair of the

Public Accounts Committee A public accounts committee (PAC) is a committee within a legislature whose role is to study public audits, invite ministers, permanent secretaries or other ministry officials to the committee for questioning, and report on their findings subseque ...

(PAC). In his final term in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

, Sheldon stepped down from the PAC to chair both the Liaison Committee and

Standards and Privileges Committee The Standards and Privileges Committee is a former committee of the United Kingdom House of Commons that existed from 1995 to 2013. The committee was established in 1995 to replace the earlier Committee of Privileges. It consisted of 10 Members o ...

. He stood down from the Commons at the 2001 general election, and was created a

as Baron Sheldon, of Ashton-under-Lyne in the County of

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, on 22 June 2001. Sheldon retired from 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 ...

on 18 May 2015.

Personal life

Sheldon married his first cousin Eileen Shamash in 1945, with whom he had a son and daughter. Eileen died in 1969 and he married again to Mary Shield in 1971. His daughter, Gillian Sargeant, later became a Labour Councillor on

Barnet London Borough Council Barnet London Borough Council, also known as Barnet Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Barnet in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority cont ...

. In 2000, he collapsed on the street of a heart attack and was resuscitated by a passer-by, who happened to be former Olympic swimmer Duncan Goodhew. He eventually died of a heart attack on 2 February 2020.

References

External links

Profile
at

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

*
Catalogue of the Sheldon papers held at LSE Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Robert Baron Sheldon 1923 births 2020 deaths People educated at Burnley Grammar School Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK) life peers Councillors in Manchester Alumni of the University of London 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 UK MPs 1997–2001 Jewish British politicians Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Ashton-under-Lyne Life peers created by Elizabeth II Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 British people of Iraqi-Jewish descent