Frank Dobson

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Frank Gordon Dobson (15 March 1940 – 11 November 2019) was a British

Dobson was born in 1940 in Dunnington, York, the son of Irene (née Shortland) and John William Dobson.^[2][3] His father, a railwayman, died when Dobson was sixteen years old.^[4] Dobson attended Dunnington County Church of England Primary School and the Archbishop Holgate Grammar School (now Archbishop Holgate's School), where he was supported after the death of his father by a grant from the county council.^[2] He then studied economics at the London School of Economics, gaining a BSc in 1962. He worked at the headquarters of the Central Electricity Generating Board from 1962 to 1970 and for the Electricity Council from 1970 to 1975.^[2]

After contesting a seat on

Dobson's naturally pugnacious style earned him rapid promotion to the front bench, where he served in several important posts from 1982. His liking for dirty jokes and conviviality won him many friends. He once remarked of Hazel Blears, who is 4'10" in height, "The good thing about global warming is that Hazel Blears will be the first to go when the water rises." After privatisation of the Rover Group in 1988 he quipped, "The price charged for Rover was so low that there is some suspicion that Lord Young thought it was a dog."^[4] As Spokesman on Environment and London from 1994, he led the national Labour response to a series of scandals over City of Westminster council and its former leader Shirley Porter.

In government

Following Labour's landslide victory at the 1997 general election, Dobson was appointed as

In 2000, Dobson was named "Beard 2000" by the Beard Liberation Front, amid controversy over his claim that Labour spin doctors had told him to shave off his prize-winning beard for the upcoming elections for Mayor of London. Dobson said he had told them to "Stick it up their wicket".^[7]

He was the subject of controversy for living in a council flat while receiving a six-figure minister's salary.^[8] He continued to live there, despite owning a large property in Yorkshire. In an interview in July 2014, he responded to this criticism, saying: "I first lived there when we were subtenants of a subtenant of a private landlord. We were then sold to Camden council. What should I have done? Exercised the right to buy, which I voted against?"^[4]

In the Labour leadership controversy after Tony Blair's declaration he would step down within a year of September 2006, Dobson called for Blair to step down right away and end uncertainty.^[9] He also attacked Alan Milburn for making a "terrible mess" of the NHS. Milburn had been mentioned by Charles Clarke as a potential future Labour leader several hours earlier.^[10]

Dobson was criticised for hypocrisy after he spoke against

In the expenses scandal, he supported the Speaker of the House in his attempts to block exposure of expenses, arguing he was merely being scapegoated (for example, on BBC Radio 4 on 16 May 2009). He also supported the Speaker in allowing a warrant-less search of the offices of Conservative MP Damian Green.^[12]

A survey of his constituents revealed that in 2008, Dobson responded to 69 letters out of 269 sent through

Dobson's brother Geoff, a schoolteacher, died of liver cancer on the eve of Labour's landslide general election victory in 1997.^[4] Dobson married Janet Mary Alker; they had three children.^[14]

With his "portly frame, jovial expression and bright white beard", Dobson was sometimes compared jokingly to

Dobson died at Homerton University Hospital in London on 11 November 2019, at the age of 79.^[6][16][17] His death drew tributes from former Labour prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, the then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, his constituency successor Keir Starmer, and Labour's current London mayor, Sadiq Khan.^[6]

References