| Honorific-Prefix: | The Right Honourable |
| The Lord Glenamara | |
| Office1: | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party |
| Leader1: | Harold Wilson |
| Term Start1: | 25 April 1972 |
| Term End1: | 8 April 1976 |
| Predecessor1: | Roy Jenkins |
| Successor1: | Michael Foot |
| Office: | Leader of the House of Commons Lord President of the Council |
| Primeminister: | Harold Wilson |
| Term Start: | 5 March 1974 |
| Term End: | 8 April 1976 |
| Predecessor: | Jim Prior |
| Successor: | Michael Foot |
| Leader2: | Harold Wilson |
| Term Start2: | 6 December 1972 |
| Term End2: | 4 March 1974 |
| Predecessor2: | Michael Foot |
| Successor2: | Jim Prior |
| Office3: | Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science |
| Leader3: | Harold Wilson |
| Term Start3: | 20 June 1970 |
| Term End3: | 6 December 1972 |
| Predecessor3: | Margaret Thatcher |
| Successor3: | --> |
| Office4: | Secretary of State for Education and Science |
| Primeminister4: | Harold Wilson |
| Term Start4: | 6 April 1968 |
| Term End4: | 20 June 1970 |
| Predecessor4: | Patrick Gordon Walker |
| Successor4: | Margaret Thatcher |
| Office5: | Postmaster General |
| Primeminister5: | Harold Wilson |
| Term Start5: | 4 July 1966 |
| Term End5: | 6 April 1968 |
| Predecessor5: | Tony Benn |
| Successor5: | Roy Mason |
| Office6: | Government Chief Whip in the House of Commons Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury |
| Primeminister6: | Harold Wilson |
| Term Start6: | 16 October 1964 |
| Term End6: | 4 July 1966 |
| Predecessor6: | Martin Redmayne |
| Successor6: | John Silkin |
| Office8: | Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central |
| Term Start8: | 25 October 1951 |
| Term End8: | 12 October 1976 |
| Predecessor8: | Lyall Wilkes |
| Successor8: | Harry Cowans |
| Office7: | Member of the House of Lords |
| Status7: | Lord Temporal |
| Term Label7: | Life peerage |
| Term Start7: | 28 January 1977 |
| Term End7: | 4 May 2012 |
| Birth Name: | Edward Watson Short |
| Birth Date: | 1912 12, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Warcop, England |
| Death Place: | Hexham, England |
| Party: | Labour |
| Children: | 2 |
| Alma Mater: | College of the Venerable Bede |
| Profession: | Teacher |
| Rank: | Captain |
| Unit: | Durham Light Infantry |
| Battles: | Second World War |
Edward Watson Short, Baron Glenamara, (17 December 1912 – 4 May 2012) was a British Labour Party politician and deputy leader of the Labour Party. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and served as a minister during the Labour governments under Harold Wilson, before being appointed to the House of Lords shortly after James Callaghan became Prime Minister.
Following the death of James Allason on 16 June 2011, Short was the oldest living former member of the British House of Commons. He died just under a year later, aged 99. At the time of his death he was the oldest member of the House of Lords.[1]
Short was born in Warcop, Westmorland. His father Charles Short, a draper, was married to Mary. Short qualified as a teacher at College of the Venerable Bede, Durham University, before completing a second degree, in law, at London University. He taught on Tyneside until enlisting in 1939.[2] He served as a Captain in the Durham Light Infantry of the British Army during the Second World War.[3] After leaving the army, he returned to teaching, becoming Newcastle branch secretary of the National Union of Teachers and in 1947, head of Princess Louise Boys' School, Blyth. He married Jennie Sewell in 1941, and they had two children.[4]
Short joined the Labour Party in 1942 and was elected a councillor on Newcastle City Council in 1948, where he led the Labour Group within two years.[4] He was first elected to Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central at the 1951 general election.[4] He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1964, and was made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1976.
Short was responsible for the outlawing of pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline. Following the government campaign against the pirates previously led by Tony Benn, his predecessor in the post of Postmaster-General (then the minister with responsibility for broadcasting), Short was responsible for introducing the bill[5] which became the Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967. In a 1982 interview for BBC Radio's The Story of Pop Radio, Short admitted having enjoyed listening to some of those stations, particularly Radio 390.
As Postmaster General, Short ordered the creation of the 1966 England Winners stamp to celebrate England's victory in the 1966 FIFA World Cup.
He subsequently served as Education Secretary 1968–70, and became Labour's deputy leader on 25 April 1972 after Roy Jenkins resigned over differences on European policy.[6] Short was seen at the time as a "safe pair of hands". His main rival for the job was the left-winger Michael Foot who was viewed by many on the centre and right of the party as a divisive figure. Short defeated Foot and Anthony Crosland in the same vote.
Short's new seniority was reflected in 1974 as his appointment as Lord President of the Council – though not Deputy Prime Minister. While he stood in for Wilson at cabinet meetings and prime minister's questions, he did not have the stature to mount a leadership bid himself upon the prime minister's retirement in 1976.[4] He was not offered a Cabinet post on James Callaghan's election as Prime Minister. His resignation letter said that the time had come for him to step aside for a younger man; this was sarcasm, as he was replaced by Michael Foot, who was only seven months younger than himself. Short was also nine months younger than Callaghan, who had dropped him from the cabinet. Barbara Castle made similar remarks, having also been dropped from the cabinet.
He was made a life peer as Baron Glenamara, of Glenridding in the County of Cumbria on 28 January 1977, a few months after he had left the Commons. One year before, he was appointed Chairman of Cable and Wireless Ltd, which was at the time a nationalised industry. He served in that post until 1980.
As a life peer he was a member of the House of Lords, although he stopped attending regularly a few years before his death.
His name lives on in the House of Commons with the term "Short Money". This refers to funds paid by the Government to help run the Parliamentary office of the Leader of the Opposition. The then Mr Short pioneered this idea during his time in the House.[4]
He was made a Freeman of the City of Newcastle in 2001 "in recognition of his eminent and outstanding public service" and served as Chancellor of the University of Northumbria, a post he retired from in 2005. Short died in Hexham on 4 May 2012, at the age of 99.[4]
| Escutcheon: | Sable four Portcullises each dimidiating a Covered Cup two in chief one in base that in fess between two Bars Gemel Gold; |
| Crest: | Out of the Top of a Tower proper two Trefoils Vert volant therefrom a Bee proper; |
| Supporters: | Dexter: a Stag guardant proper the dexter foreleg supporting a Board Vert; Sinister: a Sea-Horse proper; |
| Motto: | Levavi Oculos Meos (I have lifted up mine eyes) [7] |
|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-