Alan Robert Haworth, Baron Haworth (26 April 1948 – 28 August 2023) was a British Labour politician. He was an official in the party from 1975 to 2004, including serving as Secretary of the Parliamentary Labour Party from 1992 to 2004. In 2004, he was appointed to the House of Lords as a life peer.
The Lord Haworth | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2019 | |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| In office 28 June 2004 – 28 August 2023 Life peerage | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alan Robert Haworth 26 April 1948 Blackburn, Lancashire, England[1] |
| Died | 28 August 2023 (aged 75) Reykjavík, Iceland |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse |
Maggie Rae (m. 1991) |
| Alma mater | |
Early life
editAlan Haworth grew up in the Blackburn suburb of Revidge, where his family owned a grocery shop, and was educated at St Silas School, Blackburn and Blackburn Technical & Grammar School.[2] He attended the University of St Andrews to study medicine, but left after one year's study. He then studied for a degree in sociology at the Barking Regional College of Technology, from which he graduated in 1971.[2] He then worked from 1973 to 1975 as a registrar at the university.[3]
Parliamentary career
editHaworth was appointed to the staff of the Parliamentary Labour Party in 1975, became Senior Committee Officer in 1985,[3] and served as Secretary of the PLP from 1992 to 2004.[4] He was elevated to the House of Lords on 28 June 2004 as a life peer as Baron Haworth, of Fisherfield in Ross and Cromarty.[5]
In December 2009, Haworth was accused by The Times of earning £100,000 in expenses by pretending that his main home was a cottage in Scotland.[6] Following an investigation by Michael Pownall, Clerk of the Parliaments, Haworth was cleared of wrongdoing in February 2010.[7]
Writings
editHaworth was the author of 113 obituaries of former Labour MPs, some published in Politico's Book of the Dead 2003, and the joint editor (with Dianne Hayter) of Men Who Made Labour, obituaries of the first 29 Labour MPs elected to Parliament in 1906.[4]
Personal life and death
editHaworth married Maggie Rae, a lawyer, in 1991.[2] He died of a heart attack in Reykjavík, Iceland, on 28 August 2023, while on holiday with his wife.[4] Former prime minister Tony Blair said, "In all the years I knew Alan, he never wavered in his belief in, and commitment to, the party. He served it with distinction and true and dedicated loyalty."[2]
References
edit- ^ "Lord Haworth obituary". The Times. 2 September 2023. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
- ^ a b c d Farnworth, Amy (29 August 2023). "Blackburn-born Labour peer Lord Alan Haworth has died". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ a b "Lord Haworth". UK Parliament. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ a b c McGrath, Dominic (29 August 2023). "Labour peer Alan Haworth dies on Iceland holiday with wife". Evening Standard. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ "No. 57342". The London Gazette. 1 July 2004. p. 8203.
- ^ "Cottage earns Lord Alan Haworth £100,000 in expenses". The Times. 13 December 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ Pownall, Michael (9 February 2010). "Complaints Response" (PDF) (Letter). Clerk of the Parliament's Office, UK Parliament.