Harold Walker, Baron Walker of Doncaster

Harold Walker, Baron Walker of Doncaster PC DL (* 12. July 1927 in Audenshaw , Manchester ; † 11. November 2003 ) was a British politician of the Labor Party and temporarily deputy speaker of the lower house ( House of Commons ) .

Life

Member of the House of Commons and government offices

Walker worked as a toolmaker in Openshaw after school and later in Oldham . He began his political career in union and local politics in Ashton , Gorton and Mossley .

In the general election of October 15, 1964 , he ran for the first time in the constituency of Doncaster for a seat in the lower house and won against the previous constituency holder of the Conservative Party , Anthony Barber , who at the time was Minister of Health in the Conservative government of Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home and later Chancellor of the Exchequer has been. After several re-elections, Walker represented the constituency, which was later renamed Doncaster Central , until 1997.

In 1967 he was Whip the Labor Group before he served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State from 1968 to 1970 as Junior Minister in the Barbara Castle- led Labor Department in the government of Prime Minister Harold Wilson . During this time he proved to be a loyal employee Castles, although he whose In Place of Strife mentioned bill refused to limit the influence of the trade unions. Based on his own professional and union experience, he opposed public service plans to call strikes and to withdraw periods. On the other hand, he won recognition by defending the restrained wage policy in the construction industry during the subsequent exchange rate devaluation of the pound .

After the Labor Party's defeat in the general election of June 18, 1970 , he became spokesman for his group for labor and employment. In 1972 he ran a successful campaign to prevent the M18 Motorway from passing through Doncaster .

After the Labor Party won the general election on February 28, 1974 , he became Parliamentary Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Labor in 1974 during the second term of Prime Minister Wilson and then from 1976 to 1979 Minister of State in the Ministry of Labor in the government of Wilson's successor James Callaghan and thus a close collaborator of the then Minister of Labor Michael Foot and Albert Booth .

After the electoral defeat of his party in the general election of May 3, 1979 , he was again employment spokesman for his parliamentary group and Privy Councilor . As a moderate representative of the left wing of the party, he supported the candidacy of John Silkin for the office of chairman of Labor during the party-political Healey - Benn power struggle .

Deputy Speaker and Member of the House of Lords

After the general election of June 9, 1983 , Walker succeeded Ernest Armstrong as deputy spokesman for the House of Commons and thus represented Speaker Bernard Weatherill . At the same time he was the influential Chairman of Ways and Means between 1983 and 1992 .

1984 was a troubled time for him when he led parliamentary debates on the issue during the miners' strike that lasted almost a year, as he felt loyal to the concerns of the miners. His basic loyalty to the miners was due to the fact that he had a coal-mining constituency with Doncaster . On the other hand, because of his fair debate, he was exposed to criticism from the striking miners, whose leader Arthur Scargill even called on him not to vote for Walker. On the other hand, this also led to Weatherill and the staff of Parliament protecting him. In 1988 he chaired meetings on the difficult budget negotiations, which were harshly criticized by a number of the ultra-left and a minority in the Scottish National Party .

After Weatherill's resignation, he was disappointed that he would not succeed him as Speaker of the House of Commons. However, instead of Betty Boothroyd , who had no further experience, a woman was elected speaker of the House of Commons for the first time. He then renounced the office of Deputy Speaker and was raised as a Knight Bachelor in the personal nobility . Until he left the House of Commons in 1997, Sir Harold Walker was a member of Parliament as a backbencher .

On September 26, 1997, he was finally after leaving the House for Baron Walker of Doncaster , of Audenshaw in the County of Greater Manchester, a Life Peer henceforth who owned ennobled and upper house ( House of Lords ) to. In 1998 he was also Deputy Lieutenant of South Yorkshire and Freeman of the City of Doncaster.

Web links

• Harold Walker at Hansard (English)
• Lord Walker of Doncaster: Old-school Labor MP, devoted to his constituency, and deputy speaker, disappointed at losing the top job to Betty Boothroyd . In: The Guardian of November 13, 2011