Wikipedia

John Tomlinson, Baron Tomlinson

For other people named John Tomlinson, see John Tomlinson (disambiguation).

John Edward Tomlinson, Baron Tomlinson (1 August 1939 – 20 January 2024) was a British Labour Co-operative politician. He served as a life peer in the House of Lords from 1998 until his death, and had previously been a Member of Parliament from 1974 to 1979, and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1984 to 1999.

The Right Honourable
The Lord Tomlinson
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Overseas Development
In office
3 January 1977 – 4 May 1979
Prime MinisterJames Callaghan
Preceded byFrank Judd
Succeeded byoffice abolished
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
In office
17 March 1976 – 4 May 1979
Prime MinisterHarold Wilson
James Callaghan
Preceded byTed Rowlands
Succeeded byRichard Luce
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
21 July 1998 – 20 January 2024
Life Peerage
Member of the European Parliament
for Birmingham West
In office
14 June 1984 – 10 June 1999
Preceded byconstituency established
Succeeded byconstituency abolished
Member of Parliament
for Meriden
In office
28 February 1974 – 7 April 1979
Preceded byKeith Speed
Succeeded byIain Mills
Personal details
Born(1939-08-01)1 August 1939
London, England
Died20 January 2024(2024-01-20) (aged 84)
Political partyLabour Co-operative
Alma materCo-operative College
Brunel University
University of Warwick

Tomlinson was a pro-European Labour moderate who was Harold Wilson’s final Parliamentary Private Secretary.

Early life

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Born in London, Tomlinson was educated at Westminster City School and the Co-operative College in Loughborough. He later studied health services management at Brunel University, and in 1982 he was awarded an MA in industrial relations from the University of Warwick.

Professional and early political career

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Tomlinson was active in Yorkshire politics, secretary of Sheffield Co-operative Party and an executive member of Yorkshire Labour Party. He was the youngest councillor on Sheffield City Council from 1964. He worked as head of research for the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers 1968–70.

Parliamentary career

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Tomlinson stood for Parliament without success in 1966 at Bridlington and in 1970 at Walthamstow East. He was elected to the House of Commons as Labour Member of Parliament for Meriden in the February 1974 general election, defeating the sitting Conservative MP Keith Speed. In the October 1974 General Election he retained the seat, defeating a new Conservative candidate, the former Chairman of the Highway Planning Committee in the London Borough of Hammersmith, and Chairman of the Hyde Park Tories (the Conservative Party's open air speakers) Christopher Horne. He lost his seat in the 1979 general election to the Conservative candidate, Iain Mills.

During his five years in the Commons, he held a series of government posts:

After his defeat in 1979, he lectured at Solihull College of Technology. After unsuccessfully standing in the new constituency of North Warwickshire at the general election held in June 1983, in 1984, Tomlinson was elected as Labour Co-operative Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the new euro-constituency of Birmingham West. He was re-elected in the 1989 European election and in the 1994 election, but did not stand for re-election under the new list system in the 1999 election.

Tomlinson .[1]

In the European Parliament, he was, notably, Deputy Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP), Chair of the cross-party intergroup on Sports policy and the Parliament's rapporteur on the EU budget for 1990.[2]

On 21 July 1998, he was created a life peer as Baron Tomlinson, of Walsall in the County of West Midlands.[3]

Tomlinson was latterly Chair of the Association of Independent Higher Education Providers.

Elections contested

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UK Parliament elections

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Date Constituency Party Votes % votes Position Ref.
1966 general election Bridlington Labour 11,939 29.65 2nd of 3 [4]
1970 general election Walthamstow East Labour 13,732 45.0 2nd of 3 [5]
February 1974 general election Meriden Labour 40,451 52.93 Won [6]
October 1974 general election Meriden Labour 34,641 47.39 Won [7]
1979 general election Meriden Labour 33,024 43.35 2nd of 4 [8]
1983 general election North Warwickshire Labour 19,867 37.1 2nd of 3 [9]

European Parliament elections

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Date Constituency Party Votes % votes Position Ref.
1984 Birmingham West Labour Co-op 61,946 45.2 Won [10]
1989 Birmingham West Labour Co-op 86,452 50.5 Won [10]
1994 Birmingham West Labour Co-op 77,957 53.7 Won [10]

Death

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Tomlinson died on 20 January 2024, at the age of 84.[11] He died at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham following a brief illness.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "John Tomlinson: Labour peer dies aged 84 after brief illness". BBC News. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  2. ^ 'The European Parliament' (9 ed.), London: John Harper Publishing, ISBN 978-0-9934549-5-0
  3. ^ "No. 55205". The London Gazette. 21 July 1998. p. 8087.
  4. ^ "1966 - 1966 General Election - Bridlington". Parliament.uk.
  5. ^ "1970 - 1970 General Election - East Walthamstow". Parliament.uk.
  6. ^ "1974 - February 1974 General Election - Meriden". Parliament.uk.
  7. ^ "1974 - October 1974 General Election - Meriden". Parliament.uk.
  8. ^ "1979 - 1979 General Election - Meriden". Parliament.uk.
  9. ^ "1983 - 1983 General Election - North Warwickshire". Parliament.uk.
  10. ^ a b c "Elections to the European Parliament 1979-99, part 1". Election Demon. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Deceased Lords". UK Parliament. Retrieved 22 January 2024.

Sources

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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Meriden
Feb 1974–1979 		Succeeded by
European Parliament
New constituency Member of the European Parliament for Birmingham West
1984–1999 		Constituency abolished
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