Tony Banks, Baron Stratford

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Lord Temporal
Life peerage
23 June 2005 – 8 January 2006
Member of Parliament
for West Ham
Newham North West (1983–1997)
In office
9 June 1983 – 11 April 2005
Preceded byArthur Lewis
Succeeded byLyn Brown
Personal details
Born
Anthony Louis Banks

(1942-04-08)8 April 1942
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Died8 January 2006(2006-01-08) (aged 63)
Fort Myers, Florida, US
Political partyLabour (after 1960s)
Other political
affiliations		Liberal (1960s)
Alma mater

Anthony Louis Banks, Baron Stratford (8 April 1942

member of the House of Lords. He was well known in the House of Commons for his acid tongue.[2]

Career before politics

Banks was born at the Jubilee Maternity Hospital,

Tenison's School, Kennington. He failed his "O" Levels and left school to work as a clerk for a few years, but studied at night school to gain the qualifications necessary for university. From 1964 to 1967 he studied politics at the University of York
, where he was President of the Student Representative Council. He graduated with an upper-second degree in 1967, then undertook further study at the London School of Economics.

Banks then became a trade union official, first for the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers, from 1969 to 1975, then as Assistant General Secretary of the Association of Broadcasting Staff, from 1976 to 1983 (it later merged with other unions to form the

Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union
or BECTU). For several years Banks was responsible for freelancers.

Political career

In 1964 Banks unsuccessfully stood for the

Chairman of the Greater London Council from 1985 until its abolition in 1986.[3]

Having unsuccessfully contested East Grinstead in 1970, Newcastle upon Tyne North in October 1974 (by 469 votes), and Watford in 1979, Banks won Newham North West for Labour in 1983, defeating his predecessor, Arthur Lewis, who had been deselected as Labour's candidate. Following a boundary review in 1995, Newham North West was expanded and renamed West Ham for the general election in 1997. Banks retained the seat until 2005, when he stood down.

Ministerial post

After Labour's election victory in 1997 Banks was appointed Minister for Sport in the

Scotland's supporters by describing the team as the "West Ham of world football - they never quite perform to their potential"[5]

Among Banks's ministerial responsibilities were

listed buildings, and he approved controversial additions including the 1930s Three Magpies pub in Birmingham[7] and numerous redundant NHS buildings.[8] He was also responsible for Grade I listing the Severn Bridge.[9] He also controversially approved the demolition of the Twin Towers as part of the redevelopment of Wembley Stadium, dismissively referring to them as "concrete blocks".[10]

After two years in office he stepped down to become the Prime Minister's envoy for England's bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The bid failed and Germany won instead. From then until his retirement from the Commons in 2005 Banks remained a backbencher, though he made a failed bid to become Labour's candidate in the election for Mayor of London in 2004.

Elections contested

Parliamentary elections

Date Constituency Party Votes % votes Position Ref.
1970 general election East Grinstead Labour 12,014 19.2 3rd of 3 [11]
October 1974 general election Newcastle upon Tyne North Labour 10,748 41.1 2nd of 3 [12]
1979 general election Watford Labour 18,030 40.28 2nd of 4 [13]
1983 general election Newham North West Labour 13,042 46.6 Won [14]
1987 general election Newham North West Labour 15,677 55.4 Won [15]
1992 general election Newham North West Labour 15,677 55.4 Won [16]
1997 general election West Ham Labour 24,531 72.9 Won [17]
2001 general election West Ham Labour 20,449 69.9 Won [18]

Greater London Council elections

Date Constituency Party Votes % votes Position Ref.
1970 Hammersmith Labour 30,105 Won [19]
1973 Fulham Labour 15,176 Won [20]
1981 Tooting Labour 12,127 Won [21]

Political views

Banks was a vegetarian, a supporter of

2001 invasion of Afghanistan involved requests for government money and the help of the Royal Navy for the animals of the Kabul Zoo, particularly for Marjan, an elderly lion that needed air-conditioning for its rheumatism
.

On 21 May 2004 Banks proposed an

Second World War. The motion condemned the proposal, described human beings as "obscene, perverted, cruel, uncivilised and lethal", and proposed that the House "looks forward to the day when the inevitable asteroid
slams into the Earth and wipes them out, thus giving nature the opportunity to start again".

Banks was also a supporter of the arts and chaired the House of Commons Works of Art Committee, which had responsibility for historic paintings and sculptures in the Palace of Westminster.

Outspoken behaviour

Wikiquote has quotations related to Tony Banks.

In 1990, responding to a speech by the Conservative MP

pig's bladder on a stick can get elected to Parliament". Banks also described another Conservative MP, Nicholas Soames, as "a one-man food mountain". Banks referred to Canadians as "dickheads" for culling seals.[23]

During a question on Basildon's maternity services in 1994, Banks remarked that then Conservative MP for the area, David Amess had (as the father of five children) "put far too much pressure on Basildon's maternity services and suggested he use "a do-it-yourself vasectomy kit with two bricks."[24]

At the Labour Party conference in 1997 Banks described

foetus
", adding that Conservative MPs might be rethinking their views on abortion.

Banks crossed his fingers when he took the oath of allegiance to the Queen during a new session of Parliament.[25] Banks said that he was wishing himself luck in his new job as Minister for Sport.[26]

Retirement

On 23 November 2004, Banks announced that he would not stand at the next general election. Three days later, in an interview with Robin Oakley on BBC Radio 4, he said "To be honest, I found it intellectually numbing and tedious in the extreme. I most certainly won't miss the constituency work. I've got to tell you that honestly. It's 22 years of the same cases, but just the faces and the people changing. It might sound a little disparaging to say this about people's lives and their problems, and we did deal with them, ... but I got no satisfaction from this at all. I really didn't. And all you were was a sort of high-powered social worker and perhaps not even a good one at that. I will miss being Chairman of the Works of Art Committee . . . because I was having so much intellectual enjoyment, and indeed just straightforward fun, out of reorganising our collection, and that kept me in touch with history".[27]

On 24 March 2005 he made his final speech in the House of Commons. A week after the general election, on 13 May 2005, it was announced that he would be created a life peer, and on 23 June 2005 the peerage was gazetted as Baron Stratford, of Stratford in the London Borough of Newham.[28]

Personal life, death and legacy

Banks was married to Sally Jones. He was a keen supporter of

British Humanist Association
.

On 7 January 2006, Banks was reported to have collapsed two days earlier after suffering a massive stroke while having lunch on

Sanibel Island in Florida, where he was on holiday.[30] He was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Fort Myers and died on 8 January without regaining consciousness. The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, described him as "one of the most charismatic politicians in Britain, a true man of the people".[31]

His funeral was held on 21 January at the City of London Crematorium: John Prescott, Tessa Jowell, Margaret Beckett, Alastair Campbell, Tony Benn, Chris Smith and Richard Caborn attended. Banks's friend, Conservative MP David Mellor, gave an address paying tribute. "A lord of misrule, a cheeky chappy, call him what you will—he can be defined but he cannot be replaced," said Mellor.[32]

Following her husband's death, Lady Stratford vowed to continue his animal rights work, leading a campaign against the culling of

Captive Animals Protection Society, a charity campaigning for an end to the use of animals in circuses, zoos and the exotic pet trade.[34]

In popular culture

The Wit and Wisdom of Tony Banks, edited by Iain Dale, was published in 1998.

His death on 8 January 2006 was referenced in the first series of The Ricky Gervais Show as part of Karl Pilkington's diary of his holiday to Gran Canaria. Pilkington spoke of Banks' death: "There was a piece on the news about how everyone was shocked".[35]

An American singer-songwriter,

British politics.[36]

Arms

Coat of arms of Tony Banks, Baron Stratford
Adopted
2006
Coronet
Coronet of a Baron
Crest
A Fox sejant Gules supporting with the dexter forepaw a Crozier Or
Escutcheon
Or, three chevronels each terminating in three finials bottony Gules and each limb ensigned by a Pigeon volant outwards Sable
Supporters
On either side a Badger sejant erect proper armed and grasping in the interior forefoot a Hammer Or
Motto
ALL IS DUST
Badge
Within an Annulet set with finials bottony Gules a Badger's Face proper
Symbolism
The red chevronels on a gold field are taken from the arms of the Borough of Newham. To these have been added three finials bottony, suggesting the Saxon crown in the arms of the Greater London Council. The chevronels can also be taken as an allusion to the London roofline and are accompanied by diving London pigeons. The arms of Newham also feature a crozier, which has been combined with a fox in the crest. Lord Stratford had a particular interest in the 18th-century politician Charles James Fox.

References

  1. ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography profile
  2. ^ BBC report on "wit and wisdom of Tony Banks", BBC News, 8 January 2006
  3. ^ "Corrections and clarifications". The Guardian. 5 April 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  4. ^ Great Britain United, BBC News, 9 August 2000
  5. ^ a b "Sports world divided over Banks". BBC News. 29 July 1999. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  6. ISBN 0-415-18541-6
    .
  7. ^ Listed Buildings, the Guardian Unlimited gallery
  8. ^ NHS hospital buildings now listed – Banks Department for Culture, Media and Sport press release, Distributed by PR Newswire, 14 November 1997
  9. ^ Severn Bridge and Aust Viaduct English Heritage Images of England, shows bridge was Grade I listed on 29 May 1998 during Banks's term in office
  10. ^ "BBC News | Football | Twin towers facing demolition".
  11. Parliament.uk
    .
  12. Parliament.uk
    .
  13. Parliament.uk
    .
  14. Parliament.uk
    .
  15. Parliament.uk
    .
  16. Parliament.uk
    .
  17. Parliament.uk
    .
  18. Parliament.uk
    .
  19. ^ "Greater London Council Election" (PDF). London Datastore. 9 April 1970. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Greater London Council Election" (PDF). London Datastore. 12 April 1973. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  21. ^ "Greater London Council Election: 7 May 1981" (PDF). London Datastore. 1981. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  22. ^ Early Day Motion 1255, Parliamentary Information Management Services
  23. ^ "The wit and wisdom of Tony Banks", bbc.co.uk, 8 January 2006.
  24. ^ "Maternity Service, Basildon (Hansard, 22 March 1994)".
  25. ^ MPs new and old prepare to be sworn in, bbc.co.uk; accessed 18 May 2015.
  26. ^ https://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2010/06/03/tony-banks-swears-the-oath/ Tony Banks Swears The Oath by Alex Selwyn-Holmes
  27. ^ Shukor, Steven (27 November 2004). "I won't miss 'tedious' MP work, says Banks". the Guardian.
  28. ^ "No. 57687". The London Gazette. 28 June 2005. p. 8379.
  29. ^ Offshore cash and huge loans: leak reveals how Roman Abramovich funded Chelsea’s success
  30. ^ 'No hope of recovery' for Banks, BBC News, 8 January 2006
  31. ^ Tributes paid to ex-MP Tony Banks, BBC News, 9 January 2006
  32. ^ Elliott, Francis (22 January 2006). "Mourners bid farewell to 'lovable rogue' Tony Banks". The Independent. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  33. ^ Canada Defends Seal Cull While World Calls for a Trade Boycott Archived 22 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine, The Independent, 19 March 2006; reproduced online by Common Dreams Newscenter
  34. ^ "Spotlight on CAPS' Patrons". Captive Animals' Protection Society. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010.
  35. ^ "Fuck Yeah, The Ricky Gervais Show! — Ricky: (reading Karl's diary) "Going on 'oliday to..." fuckyeahtherickygervaisshow.tumblr.com. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  36. ^ How we met; Aimee Mann and Tony Banks, The Independent, 5 May 1996

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Arthur Lewis
 Member of Parliament for Newham North West
1983–1997 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for West Ham
1997–2005 		Succeeded by
Lyn Brown
Political offices
Preceded by
Minister for Sport

1997–1999 		Succeeded by
Civic offices
Preceded by Chair of the Greater London Council
1985–1986 		Council abolished
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