Ted Graham, Baron Graham of Edmonton explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Lord Graham of Edmonton
Office:Opposition Chief Whip of the
Term Start:5 July 1990
Term End:2 May 1997
Predecessor:The Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede
Successor:The Lord Strathclyde
Office3:Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
Primeminister3:James Callaghan
Term Start3:14 April 1976
Term End3:4 May 1979
Predecessor3:James Dunn
Successor3:John MacGregor
Office4:Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Term Start4:12 September 1983
Term End4:20 March 2020
Life peerage
Parliament5:United Kingdom
Constituency Mp5:Edmonton
Term Start5:28 February 1974
Term End5:13 May 1983
Predecessor5:Austen Albu
Successor5:Ian Twinn
Birth Name:Thomas Edward Graham
Birth Date:26 March 1925
Birth Place:Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Death Place:Knebworth, England
Party:Labour and Co-operative
Children:2
Relatives:Miriam Stoppard (cousin)
Ed Stoppard (cousin)
Oona King (cousin)

Thomas Edward Graham, Baron Graham of Edmonton, (26 March 1925 – 20 March 2020) was a British Labour and Co-operative politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Edmonton from 1974 to 1983, and became a life peer in 1983.

Background

Thomas Edward Graham was born in Newcastle.[1] During the Second World War he saw active service in the British Army and was seriously injured by enemy fire.

Political career

Graham was educated at the Co-operative College and held several positions in the co-operative movement from 1939, becoming National Secretary for the Co-operative Party.[2] He was a councillor on Enfield Borough Council from 1961, joining the new London Borough of Enfield in 1964 and becoming its leader for ten years.

In 1966, Graham contested Enfield West at that year's general election.[2] He was Member of Parliament for Edmonton from February 1974, serving as a Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department of Prices and Consumer Protection from 1974 to 1976, then as a government whip from 1976 to 1979, with the title of Lord Commissioner of the Treasury.[2] He was an opposition spokesman on the environment from 1980 to 1983, when he lost his seat in the House of Commons to Ian Twinn as part of Labour's landslide election defeat of that year.[2]

On 12 September 1983, after losing his seat, Graham was created a life peer as Baron Graham of Edmonton, of Edmonton in Greater London. He was Labour Chief Whip 1990–97. He was chairman of the Co-operative Council, and served as President of the 1987 Co-operative Congress. Graham was President of the Institute of Meat and Patron of the Ancient Order of Foresters and of the Edmonton Constituency Labour Party.[3]

On 18 December 1986, Graham was the only Peer in the House of Lords to speak against Lord Halsbury's Local Government Act 1986 (Amendment) Bill, which sought to prohibit the "promotion of homosexuality" by local authorities.[2] This bill subsequently became law as Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, when it was reintroduced by David Wilshire in the Commons.[4]

Personal life

Graham married Margaret Golding in 1950. The couple had two sons. His wife was diagnosed with myotonic dystrophy, a condition that both their sons would inherit; she died in 2005 and their sons shortly thereafter.[1]

Graham was a first cousin of Dr. Miriam Stoppard, Lady Hogg, a physician, and her son, actor Ed Stoppard, Miriam's son, as well as politician Oona King, Lady Hogg's's niece.[5] He was a supporter of Humanists UK and lived in Loughton, Essex.[2]

He died at a care home in Knebworth on 20 March 2020, six days before his 95th birthday.[2]

References

Sources

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2020-04-01. Lord Graham of Edmonton obituary. 2022-01-18. The Guardian. Langdon . Julia . Julia Langdon.
  2. Graham, Thomas Edward [Ted], Baron Graham of Edmonton (1925–2020), politician and co-operative movement activist. Langdon. Julia. Julia Langdon. 2024. 10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000381629.
  3. Book: Dod's Parliamentary Companion. London. Dod's. 2008. 978-0-90570-272-8. 662.
  4. Arabella. Thorp. Gillian. Allen. The Local Government Bill [HL]: the ‘Section 28’ debate. Library Research Papers. 00/47. London. House of Commons Library. 1368-8456. 8.
  5. Web site: How is it for you? . Paul . Geoffrey. 21 January 2010 . The Jewish Chronicle. 2020-06-19.