Denis Healey
The Lord Carrington
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Denis Winston Healey 30 August 1917 Mottingham, Kent, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 3 October 2015 Alfriston, East Sussex, England | (aged 98)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Resting place | St Andrew's Church | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Military service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Branch/service | British Army | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years of service | 1940–1945 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rank | Major | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unit | Royal Engineers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Battles/wars |
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Awards | Member of the Order of the British Empire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey,
Healey attended the
After Labour's victory at the
Healey stood a second time for the leadership of the Labour Party in November 1980, but narrowly lost to Michael Foot. Foot immediately chose Healey as his Deputy Leader, but after the Labour Party agreed a series of changes to the rules governing leadership elections, Tony Benn launched a challenge to Healey for the role; the election was bitterly contested throughout most of 1981, and Healey was able to beat the challenge by less than 1%. Standing down as Deputy Leader after Labour's landslide defeat at the 1983 election, Healey remained in the Shadow Cabinet until 1987, and entered the House of Lords soon after his retirement from Parliament in 1992. Healey died in 2015 at the age of 98, having become the oldest sitting member of the House of Lords, and the last surviving member of Harold Wilson's first government formed in 1964.
Early life
Denis Winston Healey was born in Mottingham, Kent, son of William Healey (1886-1977) and Winifred Mary (1889-1988), née Powell. His father- son of a tailor from Glenfarne, County Leitrim, Ireland- was an engineering mechanic who worked his way up from humble origins, winning an engineering scholarship to Leeds University and qualifying to teach engineering, eventually becoming head of Keighley Technical School. The Healeys but moved to Keighley in the West Riding of Yorkshire when he was five.[7] His middle name honoured Winston Churchill.[8]
Healey had one brother, Terence Blair Healey (1920–1998), known as Terry.[citation needed] Healey's family often spent the summer in Scotland during his youth.[citation needed]
Education
Healey received early education at
At Oxford, Healey met future Prime Minister
Healey achieved a
Second World War
After graduation, Healey served in the
Healey became an MBE in 1945.[13] He left the service with the rank of Major. He declined an offer to remain in the army, with the rank of Lieutenant colonel, as part of the team researching the history of the Italian campaign under Colonel David Hunt. He also decided against taking up a senior scholarship at Balliol, which might have led to an academic career.[14]
Political career
Early career
Healey joined the Labour Party. Still in uniform, he gave a strongly left-wing speech to the Labour Party conference in 1945, declaring, "the upper classes in every country are selfish, depraved, dissolute and decadent"
He became secretary of the international department of the Labour Party in 1944, becoming a foreign policy adviser to Labour leaders and establishing contacts with socialists across Europe.
Healey was one of the leading players in the Königswinter conference that was organised by
Member of Parliament
Healey was elected to the
He was a moderate on the right during the series of splits in the Labour Party in the 1950s. He was a
Defence Secretary
Following Labour's victory in the
Of the scrapped
In January 1968, a few weeks after the
Chancellor of the Exchequer
Healey was appointed
Healey became
When Harold Wilson stood down as Leader of the Labour Party in 1976 Healey stood in the contest to elect the new leader. On the first ballot he came only fifth out of six candidates. However, he also contested the second round, coming third of the three candidates but increasing his vote somewhat.
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
Labour lost the
When Callaghan stood down as Labour leader in November 1980, Healey was the favourite to win the
In an essay addressing why Healey did not become Prime Minister (or Labour leader) Steve Richards states that in 1980 Healey, not Foot, was widely expected by the media and many political figures to be the next Labour leader.[44] Richards also notes that of by this point his main rivals as potential leaders from the right of the party from 1976 and earlier, Roy Jenkins and Anthony Crosland, were no longer in contention for the position with the former out of parliament and the latter having died in 1977.[45] However he also argues that while "Healey was widely seen as the obvious successor to Callaghan", and that sections of the media ultimately reacted with "disbelief" at Labour not choosing him to be their leader, the decision to opt for Foot "was not as perverse as it seemed". He argues Labour MPs were looking for a figure from the left who could unite the wider party with the leadership which Healey could not do. Richards believes that Foot was not a "tribal politician" and had proved he could work with those of different ideologies and had been a loyal deputy to Callaghan and so came to be "seen as the unity candidate" which allowed him to defeat Healey.[46]
Healey was returned unopposed as
Healey was
Retirement
His views on
During an interview with
In March 2013 during an interview with the
Following the death of Alan Campbell, Baron Campbell of Alloway, in June 2013, Healey became the oldest sitting member of the House of Lords.[57] Following the death of John Freeman on 20 December 2014, Healey became the surviving former MP with the earliest date of first election, and the second-oldest surviving former MP, after Ronald Atkins.
Public image
Healey's notably bushy eyebrows and piercing wit earned him a favourable reputation with the public. When the media were not present, his humour was equally caustic but more risqué. The popular impressionist
His long-serving deputy at the Treasury,
Personal life and death
Healey married
Healey was an amateur photographer for many years;[67] he also enjoyed music, painting and reading crime fiction. He sometimes played popular piano pieces at public events.[68] In a May 2012 interview for The Daily Telegraph, Healey reported that he was swimming 20 lengths a day in his outdoor pool.[69] Healey was interviewed in 2012 as part of The History of Parliament's oral history project.[70][71]
After a short illness Healey died in his sleep at his home in Alfriston, Sussex, on 3 October 2015, at the age of 98. He was buried alongside his wife in the graveyard of St Andrew's Church, Alfriston.[72][73] In 2017, his personal archives were deposited at the Bodleian Library.[74]
Honours
Ribbon | Name | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour
|
12 June 1979 | CH | |
Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire | 13 December 1945 | MBE | |
Mentioned in dispatches x 2 |
In 2004, Healey became the recipient of the first Veteran's Badge.[75]
Legacy
Healey is credited with popularising in the UK a proverb which became known as Healey's
.In popular culture
Film, television and theatre
Healey is the only Chancellor of the Exchequer to have appeared on
Healey was satirised in the ITV series
In 1994, Healey appeared in a TV advertisement for Visa Debit cards. This was banned by the Independent Television Commission as it contained a reference to a scandal, subsequently revealed to be a fabrication, involving Norman Lamont's personal life. Healey had appeared in an advert for Sainsbury's in the previous year.[80]
Music
During Led Zeppelin's 1975 and 1977 concert tours, Robert Plant facetiously dedicated the song "In My Time of Dying" to Healey for the tax exile issues the band was facing. During Yes's recording of what was to become the album Tormato (1978), there was an outtake called "Money", on which the Yes keyboardist at the time, Rick Wakeman, provides a satirical voice-over parodying Healey.[81]
Bibliography
Healey's publications include: Healey's Eye (photography, 1980), The Time of My Life (his autobiography, 1989), When Shrimps Learn to Whistle (1990), My Secret Planet (an anthology, 1992), Denis Healey's Yorkshire Dales (1995) and Healey's World (2002).
References
- ^ "House of Lords, Official Website – Lord Healey". Retrieved 5 July 2013.
- ^ a b Lashmar, Paul; Oliver, James (1988). Britain's Secret Propaganda War 1948–1977. Phoenix Mill: Sutton Publishing. p. 43.
- ^ Defty, Andrew (2005). Britain, America and Anti-Communist Propaganda 1945-1953: The Information Research Department. E-book version: Routledge. p. 3.
- S2CID 159855506– via JSTOR.
- ^ [1] Archived 20 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [2] Archived 20 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Hookham, Mark (3 December 2008). "Denis Healey: 'The best Prime Minister we never had'". Yorkshire Evening Post. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
- ^ Kaufman, Gerald (13 March 2000). "Debates for 13 Mar 2000 (pt 20)". Hansard. London, England, UK: House of Commons. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
- ISBN 978-1838606763.
- ^ Levens, R.G.C., ed. (1964). Merton College Register 1900–1964. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 312.
- ^ "No. 35163". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 May 1941. p. 2801.
- ^ David McKie (3 October 2015). "Lord Healey obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "No. 37386". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 December 1945. p. 6064.
- ^ Healey 1989, p. 69.
- ^ M. Andrews. 'Life in the shadow of Victory' in History Mag (BBC), January 2015, pp. 31–2.
- ISBN 978-0-900178-06-1.
- ISBN 978-0-333-56081-5.
- ^ Lawrence Black, "'The Bitterest Enemies of Communism': Labour Revisionists, Atlanticism and the Cold War." Contemporary British History 15#3 (2001): 26–62.
- ^ Jenks, John (2006). British Propaganda and News Media in the Cold War. Edinburgh: Edinburgh. p. 105.
- ^ Lashmar, Paul; Oliver, James (1988). Britain's Secret Propaganda War 1948-1977. Sutton Publishing. p. 86.
- ^ Lashmar, Paul; Oliver, James (1988). Britain's Secret Propaganda War 1948-1977. Sutton Mill: Sutton Publishing. p. 100.
- ^ Jenks, John (200). British Propaganda and News Media in the Cold War. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 70–71.
- ^ Long Life: Presiding Genius, Nigel Nicolson, 15 August 1992, The Spectator, Retrieved 28 November 2015 ]
- ^ "1952 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
- ^ Alf Goes To Work (1960)
- ^ a b c d McKie, David. "Lord Healey obituary". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Edward Longinotti, "Britain's Withdrawal from East of Suez: From Economic Determinism to Political Choice." Contemporary British History 29#3 (2015): 318–340. DOI
- ^ a b D. Healey, Time of My Life (Penguin, 1990).
- ^ a b 1966 Defence Review.
- ^ "What Now for Britain?” The State Department’s Intelligence Assessment of the “Special Relationship,” 7 February 1968 by Jonathan Colman.
- ISBN 9780191610431.
- Armilla Patrolin 1979/80
- ^ The Times, Tuesday, 2 October 1973; p. 1; Issue 58902; col A.
- ^ The Times, Tuesday, 19 February 1974; p. 4; Issue 59018; col D.
- ^ The Times, Thursday, 18 October 1973; p. 2; Issue 58916; col C.
- ^ Michael StewartThe Jekyll and Hyde Years: Politics and Economic Policy since 1964 (1977).
- ^ [3] Archived 20 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [4] Archived 20 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Eric Shaw, The Labour Party since 1945 (1996).
- ^ "No. 47868". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 1979. p. 7600.
- ^ Parkhouse, Geoffrey (15 June 1979). "Shore steps up as Owen is demoted". The Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ 'Mr Healey tops opinion poll in leadership vote', The Times (8 September 1980), p. 3.
- ^ Crewe, Ivor and King, Anthony, SDP: The Birth, Life and Death of the Social Democratic Party (Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 74–75.
- ISBN 978-1-83895-241-9.
- ISBN 978-1-83895-241-9.
- ISBN 978-1-83895-241-9.
- Verso. pp. 28–29.
- ^ "No. 52979". The London Gazette. 2 July 1992. p. 11141.
- ^ Sale, Jonathan (4 May 2006), "Passed/failed: An education in the life of Denis Healey, Labour peer", The Independent, archived from the original on 15 August 2007, retrieved 28 April 2009
- ^ Ronson, Jon (10 March 2001). "Who pulls the strings? (part 3)". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- OCLC 47831472.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- ^ "UK needs no nuclear arms – Healey". BBC News. 7 July 2006. Retrieved 13 January 2007.
- ^ Rafael Behr, ‘Denis Healey: “Thatcher was good-looking and brilliant”’, New Statesman (26 March 2013).
- ^ Michael Crick, ‘Healey: case for leaving Europe stronger than staying’, Channel 4 (9 May 2013).
- ^ "House of Lords, Official Website – Who is the oldest sitting Member of the House of Lords?". Retrieved 5 July 2013.
- ^ Denis Healey. The Time of My Life, Penguin 1990, p. 444.
- ^ "ECONOMIC SITUATION, HC Deb 14 June 1978 vol 951 cc1013-142". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 14 June 1978.
- ^ "Water way to splash out for charity". Oxford Mail. 17 May 1999. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
- ^ "Come on Lads: Canteen songs of World War Two" Archived 3 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Beautiful Jo Records website . Retrieved 13 September 2008.
- ^ "Denis Healey's wife, Edna, dies aged 92". BBC News Online. BBC. 23 July 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
- ^ "Denis Healey at 90", BBC News.
- ^ "BBC Politics 97". bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Adam Boulton: Sky's political editor on the channel's relaunch". The Independent. London. 24 April 2006.
- ^ Burrell, Ian (15 May 2010). "Adam Boulton: Just don't tell him what he thinks". The Independent. London.
- ^ Open2.net – Denis Healey & Photography Archived 5 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- National Museum of Science and Industry, May 1987, retrieved 28 April 2009
- ^ Interview, Bryony Gordon, The Daily Telegraph (London), 8 May 2012, Accessed same day.
- ^ "Oral history: HEALEY, Denis Winston (1917–2015)". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- ^ "Lord Denis Healey interviewed by Mike Greenwood". British Library Sound Archive. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- ^ "Labour's Denis Healey dies at 98". BBC News. 3 October 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ^ "Denis Healey Dies Aged 98". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- ^ Ffrench, Andy (28 July 2017). "Archive of Labour politician Denis Healey is deposited at the Bodleian". The Oxford Times. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
- ^ Military medals: a matter of honour www.journaloftradingstandards.co.uk, accessed 2 November 2020
- ISBN 978-1-84022-311-8.
- ^ "Interview: Denis Healey; Healey's First law of holes is to stop digging". New Statesman. 9. 8 November 1986.
- ^ "Denis Healey: The big man behind the big eyebrows". Yorkshire Post.
- ^ Spitting Image (1984) – Series 1, Episode 12 | Full Episode, retrieved 3 April 2021
- ^ Macintyre, Donald; Williams, Rhys (17 March 1994). "ITC bans Healey joke in advert". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- ISBN 1-84449-056-4, pp. 24–25.
- Healey, Denis. The time of my life (London: Michael Joseph, 1989),
- Pearce, Edward, and Denis Healey. Denis Healey: a life in our times (Little, Brown, 2002).
Further reading
- Black, Lawrence. "'The Bitterest Enemies of Communism': Labour Revisionists, Atlanticism and the Cold War." Contemporary British History 15.3 (2001): 26–62. Healey was a bitter enemy.
- Callaghan, John. The Labour Party and foreign policy: a history (Routledge, 2007).
- Dell, Edmund. The Chancellors: A History of the Chancellors of the Exchequer, 1945–90 (HarperCollins, 1997) pp. 400–48, covers his term as Chancellor.
- Dell, Edmund. A hard pounding: politics and economic crisis, 1974–1976 (Oxford UP, 1991).
- Heppell, Tim, and Andrew Crines. "How Michael Foot won the Labour Party leadership." The Political Quarterly 82.1 (2011): 81–94.
- Insall, Tony. Haakon Lie, Denis Healey and the Making of an Anglo-Norwegian Special Relationship 1945–1951 (Unipub, Oslo, 2010).
- Pearce, Edward. "Denis Healey" in Kevin Jefferys, ed. Labour Forces: From Ernie Bevin to Gordon Brown (2002) pp. 135–54.
- Radice, Giles. The Tortoise and the Hares: Attlee, Bevin, Cripps, Dalton, Morrison (Politico's Publishing, 2008).
- Reed, Bruce, and Geoffrey Lee Williams. Denis Healey and the policies of power (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1971).
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Denis Healey
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Denis Healey at IMDb
- Births England and Wales 1837–1983
- Interview about nuclear strategy in Europe for the WGBH-TV series, War and Peace in the Nuclear Age, 1986
- The old bruiser who remained the boy next door, William Keegan, The Observer, 3 December 2006, interview and retrospective
- Denis Healey at 90, Elinor Goodman, BBC News, 30 March 2007
- "Desert Island Discs". Desert Island Discs. 14 June 2009. BBC News. Radio 4.
- Portraits of Denis Healey at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- Interview as part of the History of Parliament oral history project