Frank Field, Baron Field of Birkenhead explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Lord Field of Birkenhead
Office:Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee
Term Start:18 June 2015
Term End:6 November 2019
Predecessor:Anne Begg
Successor:Stephen Timms
Office1:Minister for Welfare Reform
Primeminister1:Tony Blair
Term Start1:2 May 1997
Term End1:27 July 1998
Predecessor1:Peter Lilley
Successor1:John Denham
Office3:Member of the House of Lords
Status3:Lord Temporal
Term Start3:11 September 2020
Term End3:23 April 2024
Term Label3:Life peerage
Parliament4:United Kingdom
Constituency Mp4:Birkenhead
Predecessor4:Edmund Dell
Successor4:Mick Whitley
Term Start4:3 May 1979
Term End4:6 November 2019
Term Start5:7 May 1964
Term End5:9 May 1968
Birth Name:Frank Ernest Field
Birth Date:16 July 1942
Birth Place:Edmonton, Middlesex, England
Death Place:London, England
Nationality:British
Party:Crossbench[1]
Alma Mater:University of Hull

Frank Ernest Field, Baron Field of Birkenhead, (16 July 1942 – 23 April 2024) was a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birkenhead for 40 years, from 1979 to 2019, serving as a Labour MP until 2018 and thereafter sitting as an independent. In 2019, he formed the Birkenhead Social Justice Party and stood unsuccessfully as its sole candidate in the 2019 election. After leaving the House of Commons, he was awarded a life peerage in 2020 and sat in the House of Lords as a crossbencher.

From 1997 to 1998, Field served as Minister of Welfare Reform in Tony Blair's first government. Field resigned following differences with Blair; as a backbencher, he soon became one of the Labour government's most vocal critics.

Field was elected chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee in 2015, and was re-elected unopposed following the 2017 general election.

In 2018, Field resigned the Labour whip citing antisemitism in the party, as well as a "culture of intolerance, nastiness and intimidation" in parts of the party, including in his own constituency.[2] Field lost a confidence vote in his constituency party a month before his resignation, after siding with the government in Brexit votes. His resignation of the whip also led to his departure from the wider membership of the Labour Party, according to the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party, although Field disputed this.[3]

Early life

Field was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, on 16 July 1942, the second of three sons. His father was a labourer at the Morgan Crucible Company's factory in Battersea and his mother a primary school welfare worker at Belmont Primary School in Chiswick. His parents were Conservatives "who believed in character and pulling oneself up by one's own bootstraps".[4]

Field was educated at St Clement Danes Grammar School, at that time in Hammersmith, before studying Economics at the University of Hull. In his youth he was a member of the Conservative Party, but left in 1960 because of his opposition to apartheid in South Africa[5] [6] and joined the Labour Party.[7] In 1964, he became a further education teacher in Southwark and Hammersmith.[8]

Field served as a Labour councillor for Turnham Green on Hounslow London Borough Council from 1964 until 1968, when he lost his seat.[9] He was Director of the Child Poverty Action Group from 1969 to 1979, employing Virginia Bottomley (now Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone) on long-term research into income and expenditure for families below the poverty line, and the Low Pay Unit from 1974 to 1980.[10]

Political career

Field unsuccessfully contested the constituency of South Buckinghamshire at the 1966 general election, where he was defeated by the sitting Conservative MP Ronald Bell.[11] He was selected to contest the safe Labour seat of Birkenhead at the 1979 general election on the retirement of the sitting MP Edmund Dell. Field held the seat with a majority of 5,909 and remained the constituency's MP until November 2019.[12]

In Parliament, Field was made a member of the Opposition frontbench by the Labour leader Michael Foot as a spokesman on Education in 1980, but was dropped a year later. Following the appointment of Neil Kinnock as the Labour leader in 1983, Field was appointed as a spokesman on Health and Social Security for a year. He was appointed the chairman of the Social Services Select Committee in 1987, becoming the chairman of the new Social Security Select Committee in 1990, a position he held until the 1997 election.[13]

Two nights before the Conservative leadership election in November 1990, he visited Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at 10 Downing Street. He advised her that her time as Prime Minister was drawing to a close and that she should back John Major to take over the role. His reason for doing so was that he felt her Conservative colleagues would not tell her straight that she could not win a leadership contest. Following this meeting, he was smuggled out of Downing Street's back door. Two days later Thatcher supported John Major for the post and Major became Prime Minister.[14]

Minister for Welfare Reform

Following the 1997 election, with Labour now in power, Field joined the government led by Tony Blair as its Minister for Welfare Reform, working in the Department of Social Security (DSS). Blair has said Field's mission was to "think the unthinkable".

Field thought that the state should play only a small direct role in the provision of welfare and he disliked means-testing and non-contributory entitlement to benefits, which he believed should only be received after claimants had joined Continental-style social insurance schemes or mutual organisations such as friendly societies. There were clashes with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, and the Secretary of State for Social Security, Harriet Harman – the Treasury was concerned about costs, while Brown himself was in favour of the poor being entitled to working-age benefits without having first paid National Insurance contributions, later established as the Working Families Tax Credit.[15] According to The Guardian, Field resigned his ministerial position in July 1998 rather than accept a move away from the DSS as part of a wider reshuffle; the newspaper suggested at the time that Blair had been "disappointed" by Field's ideas for welfare reform.[16] Harriet Harman also returned to the backbenches. In his autobiography, Blair wrote about Field:

The following year, Downing Street briefed the press that "harsh and authoritarian" measures were in store for welfare recipients and plans were made to abolish the DSS.

At the end of Blair's second term of office, the BBC reviewed his record on welfare reform up to that point:

The welfare reform most closely associated with Blair was not introduced for a further three years: the replacement of Incapacity Benefit (IB) by Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). The think-tank Reform, on whose advisory board Field used to sit, said in its 2016 report on changes to out-of-work sickness benefits that ESA had "replicated many of the problems of IB" and had therefore "failed to achieve its objective".[17]

Return to the backbenches

After leaving ministerial office, Field continued with his duties as an MP and joined the Ecclesiastical and the Public Accounts Select Committees in the House of Commons.

From the backbenches, he was a vocal critic of the government, criticising in 1999 the new Working Families Tax Credit as an approach which could not survive in the long term,[18] and voting against foundation hospitals in November 2003. In May 2008, he was a significant critic of the abolition of the 10p tax rate[19] and this led to Field describing Prime Minister Gordon Brown as "unhappy inside his own body".[20] He later apologised in parliament for the personal attack.[21] In June 2008, Field joined calls for the establishment of a devolved parliament for England.[22]

On 8 June 2009, Field wrote in his blog that he believed that the Labour Party would not win the next election with Gordon Brown as leader. On 6 January 2010, Field was one of the few Labour MPs to back Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt's calls for a secret ballot of the Parliamentary Labour Party on the leadership of Gordon Brown. The ballot could have led to a leadership contest.[23]

In May 2009, Field announced his candidature for Speaker of the House of Commons, but later withdrew his candidature, citing lack of support from within his own party.[24] John Bercow was elected as the new Speaker.

In the 2010 general election Field retained his Birkenhead seat with an increased majority. In June 2010 he was appointed by David Cameron's coalition government to head an independent review into poverty,[25] which proposed adopting a new measure centred around life-chance indicators and increasing funding for early years education.[26] [27] [28] In an interview in September 2012, Field considered the government to have ignored his report, saying "nothing had been done about it" and that it was "very disappointing".[29] In October 2013, along with Laura Sandys, Field established the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Hunger and Food Poverty, which he went on to chair. He also chaired a parliamentary inquiry into hunger commissioned by the APPG which reported in December 2014.[30] [31] Field became the chair of trustees of Feeding Britain, a charitable organisation set up in October 2015 to implement the recommendations made by the APPG.[32]

Following the 2015 general election, it was announced in June 2015 that he had been elected to the chairmanship of the Work and Pensions Select Committee.[33] He was re-elected unopposed to the role following the 2017 general election.[34]

Field nominated Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015,[35] stating that while he did not think Corbyn could win a general election, he hoped his candidature would force the party to confront its 'deficit denial'.[36]

In June 2016, Field wrote in The Guardian that he supported Brexit, emphasising the need to control immigration due to it creating excessive demands on public services, roads and housing stock. He argued the EU model suited big businesses who wanted cheap labour, and supported agricultural interests creating high prices for food, rather than families.[37] The Liverpool Echo reported that Field was "a long-time Brexiteer".[38]

In December 2017, during a debate on Universal Credit, Field described the impact that Universal Credit changes had had on his constituents. His observations moved Work and Pensions Select Committee member Heidi Allen to tears. Field spoke of how he had talked a man out of suicide and how one claimant felt "lucky" his family was invited to eat food leftovers from a funeral.[39]

Resignation of the Labour whip

On 17 July 2018, a vote was held on a rebel amendment to a trade bill, which aimed to force the British government to join a customs union with the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Field, Kate Hoey, John Mann and Graham Stringer were the only Labour MPs to oppose the amendment, which was lost by 307 votes to 301.[38] [40] Field lost a confidence vote in his constituency, after siding with the government in these Brexit votes.[41] On 30 August 2018, Field resigned the Labour whip because, he said, Labour was "increasingly seen as a racist party" and due to the "culture of intolerance, nastiness and intimidation" in parts of the party, including his own constituency. Some commentators suggested that he had "jumped before he was pushed".[42] [43]

Field described himself as an "independent Labour MP".[44] [45] [46] In September 2018, he said he would not trigger a by-election and would remain an MP.[47] On 2 August 2019, he announced that he was forming a new party, the Birkenhead Social Justice Party.

Field voted for Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal in the "meaningful vote" on 15 January 2019, which May lost.[48] Subsequently, Field voted for the Conservative Party-supported Brady amendment calling on the Government to renegotiate the Northern Ireland backstop part of the deal and abstained on the Labour party-supported Cooper-Boles amendment to prevent a no-deal Brexit.[49]

Birkenhead Social Justice Party

In August 2019, Field stated that he would stand in the next general election as a candidate for a newly-formed Birkenhead Social Justice Party.[50] The party stated that it would stand on a social justice, localist and pro-Brexit platform.[51]

In the December 2019 general election, he was beaten by the Labour Party candidate Mick Whitley, who polled 24,990 votes, compared to Field's 7,285, a winning margin of 17,705 votes.[52] The Party was de-registered with the Electoral Commission on 17 February 2020.[53]

Awards and honours

Field was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council in 1997. This gave him the honorific prefix "The Right Honorable" and, after ennoblement, the post nominal letters "PC" for life.

He was appointed as a deputy lieutenant for the county of Merseyside in October 2011. At the age of 75 he was moved to the retired list.[54] This gave him the Post Nominal Letters "DL" for Life.

In March 2015, Field was awarded the Grassroot Diplomat initiative honour for the co-founding of environmental organisation Cool Earth, a charity that works alongside indigenous villages to halt rainforest destruction as a bottom-up solution to an ageing problem.[55]

Field was awarded an honorary fellowship by Liverpool John Moores University on 12 July 2016.[56] [57]

In 2017, he was awarded the Langton Award for Community Service by the Archbishop of Canterbury "for sustained and outstanding commitment to social welfare".[58] Field was nominated for a life peerage in the 2019 Dissolution Honours.[59] He was created Baron Field of Birkenhead, of Birkenhead in the County of Merseyside, on 11 September 2020.[60]

Field was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2022 New Year Honours for political and public service. Field was awarded the freedom of the Borough of Wirral on 16 February 2022.[61] [62] [63] He was also a Companion of the Guild of St George.

Personal beliefs

Field had a reputation for being an intellectual, a free-thinker and a maverick in the Parliamentary Labour Party. Inspired by his Christianity, he took a socially conservative stance on various issues particularly on the family, antisocial behaviour, immigration and welfare reform. He also embraced calls for an English Parliament and called for a renegotiation of Britain's relationship with European Union, including changes to free movement of labour.[64] He voted for gay marriage and in favour of other gay rights legislation since 1997. He was a member of the advisory board of Reform and of the generally conservative but also "broad church" magazine Standpoint. In May 2008, he said that Margaret Thatcher "is certainly a hero" and that "I still see Mrs T from time to time – I always call her 'Mrs T', when I talk to her". He regarded Thatcher as a friend and believed in her self-help market philosophy.

In 1999, based on his belief that Britain should find a sustainable non-political way to fund retirement, Field helped set up the Pension Reform Group, which promotes the Universal Protected Pension as the best means to reform pensions.[65]

Although there were attempts to get him to defect to the Conservatives, they were without success.[66] In 2008, Field was named as the 100th-most-influential right-winger in the United Kingdom by The Daily Telegraph. Field supported the return of national service to tackle growing unemployment and instil "a sense of order and patriotism" in Britain's young men and women.[67] In May 2010, Field endorsed Ed Miliband to become leader of the Labour Party to replace Gordon Brown.

Field believed strongly in fighting climate change.[68] He co-founded the charity Cool Earth with Johan Eliasch. Cool Earth protects endangered rainforest and works with the local communities to combat climate change.[69] Field was the instigator of the idea of a global Commonwealth network of protected forests, though he failed to raise political interest for a number of years; according to Field, when Queen Elizabeth II was told about the idea, she supported it enthusiastically, and the initiative was launched as The Queen's Commonwealth Canopy in 2015.[70]

In 2010 he chaired the Liverpool City Region Poverty and Life Chances Commission to create a new strategy for the Government to abolish child poverty.[71]

Field believed in reducing the time-limit within which women can have an abortion,[72] and in stripping abortion providers such as Marie Stopes of their counselling role and handing it to organisations not linked to abortion clinics.[73] [74] With the Conservative MP Nadine Dorries, he was vocal in two defeated attempts to legislate for such a reform in Parliament.[75] He was a prominent Eurosceptic within the Labour Party and declared on 20 February 2016 that he would campaign to leave the EU.[76] In January 2019, the supporters page of the Labour Leave website listed only two MPs, Labour's Kate Hoey and Field.[77]

Personal life

Field was an active member of the Church of England, a former chairman of the Churches Conservation Trust and a member of the Church of England General Synod.[78] In 1983, while a member of General Synod, Frank responded to the plight of a number of divorced clergy wives and helped them found Broken Rites, a self help organisation that supports separated and divorced clergy spouses and civil partners and also lobbies for fair treatment for them. [www.brokenrites.org] Field's political and religious views were most clearly expressed in his book Neighbours From Hell where he discusses what might replace the "largely beneficial effect" of evangelical Christianity.[79] Between 2005 and 2015, Field was chairman of the Cathedral Fabrics Commission for England – the national body that controls the care, conservation and repair or development of cathedrals.[80]  In 2007 he was appointed chairman of the 2011 King James Bible Trust, which was established to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.[81]

Field was also a Vice President of the National Churches Trust.[82]

In an 2006 article in The Observer, the critic Jay Rayner noted that Field's unmarried status had led him to describe himself as "incomplete" but that those in his social circle suggested he enjoyed "a full life outside politics". From 1979 he lived in a postwar block half a mile from the House of Commons. In February 2023, his book Politics, Poverty and Belief was published, co-written with Brian Griffiths, Thatcher's former chief policy adviser, and Rachel Griffiths.[83] [84]

Illness and death

Field was admitted to hospital after collapsing during a meeting in March 2015.[85] [86]

On 22 October 2021, Field announced that he was terminally ill and had spent time in a hospice.[87] Baroness Meacher read out a statement from him in the House of Lords during a debate on the Assisted Dying Bill, which he supported.[88]

In a January 2023 interview with The Guardian, Field revealed he had been suffering from prostate cancer for ten years and it had spread to his jaw. He remarked: "It's a strange experience taking so long to die."[89]

Field died at a care home in London, on 23 April 2024, at the age of 81.[90] [91]

Publications

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lord Field of Birkenhead: Parliamentary career . MPs and Lords . UK Parliament . 1 January 2022 . 1 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220101032544/https://members.parliament.uk/member/478/career . live .
  2. News: Frank Field Letter of Resignation. 30 August 2018. 30 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180831174927/https://e3.365dm.com/18/08/1600x1200/skynews-frank-field_4405810.jpg?bypass-service-worker&20180830162431. 31 August 2018. live.
  3. News: Frank Field has resigned from Labour, says general secretary . The Guardian . 11 September 2018 . 5 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190415084343/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/05/frank-field-resigned-labour-party-rules-disputes-panel . 15 April 2019 . live .
  4. News: Aida Edemariam . Frank Field: 'Labour has always been conservative' | Politics . The Guardian . 3 July 2010 . 25 August 2010 . London . https://web.archive.org/web/20140303025154/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/jul/03/frank-field-interview-labour . 3 March 2014 . live .
  5. News: Frank Field: Still thinking the unthinkable . Jay . Rayner . 2 July 2006 . The Observer . 30 July 2007 . London . https://web.archive.org/web/20161018165310/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2006/jul/02/publicservices.theobserver . 18 October 2016 . live .
  6. Book: https://books.google.com/books?id=M7M3DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 . Speaking of Faith . John . Miller . 8 December 2016 . Canterbury Press . 978-1-84825-920-1 . 20–39 . Frank . Field . 2: The Dangers of Forgetting.
  7. News: Profile: A holy man in a wicked world: Frank Field, maverick champion . The Independent . 30 August 2018 . en-GB . https://web.archive.org/web/20180830210204/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/profile-a-holy-man-in-a-wicked-world-frank-field-maverick-champion-of-the-poor-1471257.html . 30 August 2018 . live .
  8. News: Welfare Green Paper: Dogged crusader against poverty . The Independent . 30 August 2018 . en-GB . https://web.archive.org/web/20180901195501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/welfare-green-paper-dogged-crusader-against-poverty-1152621.html . 1 September 2018 . live .
  9. Web site: London Borough of Hounslow Election Results 1964–2010. Elections Centre. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180830210202/http://www.electionscentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Hounslow-1964-2010.pdf. 30 August 2018. 19 September 2019.
  10. Web site: About Frank Field MP . 30 April 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160317220905/http://www.frankfield.com/about-frank.aspx . 17 March 2016 . dead .
  11. British parliamentary election results, 1950–1973 by FWS Craig
  12. Web site: Frank Field: Reflecting on 40 years as Birkenhead's MP. 13 December 2019. Wirral Globe. 25 April 2024. 5 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200805080036/https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/18099928.frank-field-reflecting-40-years-birkenheads-mp/. live.
  13. Web site: About Frank Field. frankfield.co.uk. 25 April 2024. 4 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231204084105/https://www.frankfield.co.uk/about-frank. live.
  14. News: Thatcher joins Field's 30th bash . BBC News . 11 September 2009 . 10 September 2009 . Ben Wright . 25 April 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240425235213/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8248795.stm . live .
  15. Web site: Thatcherism, New Labour and the Welfare State. John Hills. August 1998. Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion: London School of Economics. 9 January 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150226075526/http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/5553/1/Thatcherism_New_Labour_and_the_Welfare_State.pdf. 26 February 2015.
  16. News: White. Michael. 1998-07-28. Blair balances the power. 2024-08-16. The Guardian. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  17. Web site: Reform. Working welfare: a radically new approach to sickness and disability benefits. February 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160208045449/http://www.reform.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/ESA-2-report.pdf. 8 February 2016.
  18. Web site: Frank Field . Social Security Committee (Fifth Report evidence) . UK Parliament . 2 November 1999 . 29 January 2023 . 29 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230129213029/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199899/cmselect/cmsocsec/485/9110303.htm . live .
  19. News: Frank Field: Frank – but so sorry. 18 May 2008. The Independent. 18 May 2008. London. https://web.archive.org/web/20080520044349/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/frank-field-frank-ndash-but-so-sorry-830365.html. 20 May 2008. live.
  20. News: Frank Field on Brown's 'rage' . BBC News . 6 June 2010 . 12 May 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080517085934/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7395677.stm . 17 May 2008 . live .
  21. News: Frank Field's apology to PM . BBC News . 6 June 2010 . 13 May 2008 . 15 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231015000426/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7399119.stm . live .
  22. News: Gordon Brown pressed on English parliament . The Times . 14 July 2008 . 3 June 2008 . Lorraine Davidson . London . https://web.archive.org/web/20100529115803/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article4061785.ece . 29 May 2010 . live .
  23. News: Where do Labour MPs stand on call for leadership ballot . 6 January 2010 . 7 January 2010 . BBC News . 25 April 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240425235326/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8444284.stm . live .
  24. News: Wirral MP Frank Field keen to lead reform as new Speaker . Bob . Merrick . . 21 May 2009 . 7 January 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090526003217/http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/2009/05/21/wirral-mp-frank-field-keen-to-lead-reform-as-new-speaker-92534-23678340/ . 26 May 2009 . live .
  25. News: Frank Field to lead independent review into poverty in Britain. Watt. Nicholas. 4 June 2010. The Guardian. 0261-3077. 30 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160403022721/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/jun/05/frank-field-review-poverty-cameron. 3 April 2016. live.
  26. News: Frank Field's poverty report challenges 'welfare state sacred cows'. Wintour. Patrick. 2 December 2010. The Guardian. 0261-3077. 30 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160403015449/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/dec/03/frank-field-welfare-sacred-cows. 3 April 2016. live.
  27. Web site: Review on Poverty and Life Chances. 30 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160424093436/http://www.frankfield.com/campaigns/poverty-and-life-changes.aspx. 24 April 2016. dead.
  28. Book: Field, Frank. The Foundation Years: preventing poor children becoming poor adults. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110120090128/http://povertyreview.independent.gov.uk/media/20254/poverty-report.pdf. dead. 20 January 2011. HM Government. 2010.
  29. News: Poverty tsar Frank Field plans own pilot project after coalition 'ignores report'. Gentleman. Amelia. 23 September 2012. The Guardian. 0261-3077. 30 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160603023852/http://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/sep/23/poverty-tsar-frank-field-ignored. 3 June 2016. live.
  30. News: 'Confront simple fact hunger stalks Britain' urges church-funded report. Butler. Patrick. 7 December 2014. The Guardian. 0261-3077. 1 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160411105221/http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/dec/08/welfare-confront-simple-fact-hunger-stalks-britain-church-report. 11 April 2016. live.
  31. Web site: Feeding Britain: A strategy for zero hunger in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. 2014. 1 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20151121055833/https://feedingbritain.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/food-poverty-feeding-britain-final-2.pdf. 21 November 2015. live.
  32. Web site: About us – Feeding Britain. Feeding Britain. 1 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160401093124/http://feedingbritain.com/about-us/. 1 April 2016. live.
  33. Web site: Winning candidates for select committee Chairs announced. 18 June 2015. 19 June 2015. UK Parliament. https://web.archive.org/web/20180802162923/https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2015/june/winning-candidates-for-select-committee-chairs-announced/. 2 August 2018. live.
  34. Web site: Chair nominations for Work and Pensions Committee. Parliament of the United Kingdom. 7 July 2017. 7 July 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20190525182320/https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/work-and-pensions-committee/chair-nominations-2017/. 25 May 2019. live.
  35. Web site: Who nominated who for the 2015 Labour leadership election?. New Statesman. 15 June 2015 . 8 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150705074349/http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/06/who-nominated-who-2015-labour-leadership-election. 5 July 2015. live.
  36. Web site: Jeremy Corbyn and the leadership contest. Field. Frank. 23 July 2015. 1 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160601224642/http://www.frankfield.com/latest-news/letters/news.aspx?p=1021012. 1 June 2016. dead.
  37. News: Brexit would help us control immigration. Like me, many Labour voters want out . Field . Frank . The Guardian . 14 June 2016 . 8 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124431/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/14/eu-immigration-control-labour-supporters-voters-party . 9 February 2019 . live .
  38. News: We asked a Merseyside Labour MP why he voted to help Theresa May stay in power . Thorp . Liam . Liverpool Echo . 18 July 2018 . 8 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190209180049/https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/asked-merseyside-labour-mp-voted-14923828 . 9 February 2019 . live .
  39. Web site: Tory MP Heidi Allen Moved To Tears After Heartbreaking Universal Credit Speech. Bowden. George. 5 December 2017. HuffPost. 6 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171206195458/http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/tory-mp-heidi-allen-universal-credit-debate_uk_5a26cabbe4b0f104475e240c. 6 December 2017. live.
  40. News: May sees off rebellion on customs union as amendment is defeated. Crerar. Pippa. 17 July 2018. The Guardian. 24 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180724183558/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jul/17/theresa-may-sees-off-rebellion-customs-union-amendment-defeated. 24 July 2018. live.
  41. News: Anti-Semitism row: Frank Field resigns Labour whip . BBC News . 31 August 2018 . 30 August 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180830224817/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-45359009 . 30 August 2018 . live .
  42. Web site: Antisemitism? No, Frank Field jumped before he was pushed. Owen. Jones. Owen Jones (writer). 31 August 2018. The Guardian. 31 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180831145311/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/31/antisemitism-frank-field-resign-jumped-mp-labour. 31 August 2018. live.
  43. News: Frank Field jumped before he was pushed and Corbyn isn't racist – but Labour's problems are about to get worse anyway. The Independent. 9 March 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190327114958/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/frank-field-resignation-corbyn-labour-whip-antisemitism-racism-party-row-a8516421.html. 27 March 2019. live.
  44. News: Frank Field resigns Labour whip over antisemitism crisis. Stewart. Heather. Walker. Peter. 30 August 2018. The Guardian. 30 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180830155838/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/aug/30/frank-field-resigns-labour-whip-over-antisemitism-crisis. 30 August 2018. live.
  45. Web site: Veteran MP Frank Field quits Labour whip . BBC News . 30 August 2018 . 30 August 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180830154922/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45359009 . 30 August 2018 . live .
  46. News: Frank Field may trigger by-election . BBC News . 31 August 2018 . 31 August 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180831051015/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-45364407 . 31 August 2018 . live .
  47. Web site: Syal . Rajeev . Frank Field: I will not trigger a byelection . The Guardian . 3 September 2018 . 4 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180904034214/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/03/frank-field-i-will-not-trigger-a-byelection . 4 September 2018 . live .
  48. News: This is how your MP voted in crucial Brexit vote . Liverpool Echo . 15 January 2019 . 8 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124438/https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/how-your-mp-voted-crucial-15683929 . 9 February 2019 . live .
  49. News: How did your MP vote on the Brady and Cooper amendments? . The Guardian . 29 January 2019 . 8 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190208201950/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2019/jan/29/how-did-your-mp-vote-brady-cooper-amendments . 8 February 2019 . live .
  50. 1157244898803892226 . frankfieldteam . I will be standing at the next general election as the Birkenhead Social Justice candidate: http://birkenheadsocialjusticeparty.com . Frank . Field . 2 August 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190920204050/https://twitter.com/frankfieldteam/status/1157244898803892226 . 20 September 2019 . live.
  51. Web site: Veteran MP Frank Field creates his own party to stand for election. Thorp. Liam. 2 August 2019. liverpoolecho. 2 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190802135513/https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/veteran-merseyside-mp-frank-field-16687397. 2 August 2019. live.
  52. News: Birkenhead parliamentary constituency – Election 2019 – BBC News. 13 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191213143850/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000559. 13 December 2019. live.
  53. Web site: Registration summary: Birkenhead Social Justice Party . Electoral Commission . 11 November 2020 . 16 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220816101340/http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/api/pdf/Registrations/PP10337 . live .
  54. Web site: Retired List . Merseysidelieutenancy.weebly.com . 7 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190605022713/https://merseysidelieutenancy.weebly.com/retired-list.html . 5 June 2019 . live .
  55. News: Grassroot Diplomat Who's Who . 27 April 2015 . Grassroot Diplomat . 15 March 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150520125406/http://www.grassrootdiplomat.org/whoswho/ . 20 May 2015.
  56. Web site: Honorary Fellowship: Rt Hon Frank Field MP . Liverpool John Moores University . 31 December 2021 . en . 1 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220101010916/https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/about-us/news/articles/2016/7/12/honorary-fellow-frank-field . live .
  57. Web site: Rt Hon Frank Field MP . Liverpool John Moores University . 31 December 2021 . en . 1 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220101010914/https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/about-us/about-liverpool-john-moores-university/fellows/honorary-fellows-2016/frank-field . live .
  58. Web site: The Archbishop of Canterbury's Awards: Citations in Alphabetical Order. Archbishop of Canterbury. 14 July 2017. 9 June 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170619185947/http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/data/files/resources/5876/2017-Citations-Alphabetical.pdf. 19 June 2017. dead.
  59. Web site: Dissolution Peerages 2019 . Gov.uk . 1 August 2020 . 3 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210103021620/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/905975/Dissolution_Peerages_2019.pdf . live .
  60. Web site: Crown Office The Gazette. 23 October 2021. The London Gazette. 23 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211023170053/https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3632249. live.
  61. Web site: Terminally ill ex-MP Lord Frank Field awarded freedom of town he served for 40 years . Riches . Chris . 17 February 2022 . The Mirror . 18 February 2022 . 18 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220218024018/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/terminally-ill-ex-mp-lord-26261637 . live .
  62. Web site: Borough honours Frank Field with Freedom of Wirral . Morgan . George . 16 February 2022 . The Liverpool Echo . 18 February 2022 . 18 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220218211811/https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/borough-honours-frank-field-freedom-23123002 . live .
  63. News: Lord Field: Veteran politician awarded Freedom of Wirral . BBC News . 17 February 2022 . 17 February 2022 . en . 17 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220217095410/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-60401998 . live .
  64. News: Grice . Andrew . Former Labour minister Frank Field hits out at Ed Miliband for being soft on immigration . 31 August 2018 . The Independent . 22 October 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180901044349/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/former-labour-minister-frank-field-hits-out-at-ed-miliband-for-being-soft-on-immigration-9809122.html . 1 September 2018 . live .
  65. News: We need to take the politics out of pensions. Field. Frank. 14 January 2013. The Guardian. 13 December 2018. en-GB. 0261-3077. https://web.archive.org/web/20181216031126/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/14/sustainable-pension-plan. 16 December 2018. live.
  66. News: Iain . Dale . Iain Dale . Brian Brivati . Brivati . Brian . Top 100 right wingers: 100-76 . . 26 September 2008 . 31 August 2009 . London . https://web.archive.org/web/20100527123841/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/3086523/Top-100-right-wingers-100-76.html . 27 May 2010 . dead .
  67. Web site: Cure yob culture and bring back National Service. Metro. 9 November 2009 .
  68. News: How you can save the rainforest . The Times . 8 October 2006 . 2 May 2010 . London . https://web.archive.org/web/20080517091952/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article664544.ece . 17 May 2008 . live .
  69. http://www.coolearth.org/295/coolearth-31/who-we-are-153.html Who we are
  70. News: Radio Times. 16 April 2018. Terry Payne. How the Queen is putting politicians to shame with her Commonwealth Canopy project. 19 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180420074009/http://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-04-16/the-queens-green-planet-itv-commonwealth-canopy-project/. 20 April 2018. live.
  71. Web site: New strategy for tackling child poverty in Liverpool City Region. champspublichealth.com. 20 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181220230406/http://www.champspublichealth.com/news/new-strategy-tackling-child-poverty-liverpool-city-region. 20 December 2018. live.
  72. News: Abortion and the 'Right to Know' – or, why we should link to our sources. The Daily Telegraph. 30 January 2013. London. 29 March 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085248/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomchiversscience/100081690/abortion-and-the-right-to-know-or-why-we-should-link-to-our-sources/. 4 March 2016. dead.
  73. Web site: Frank Field: Why I joined Nadine Dorries to reform abortion counselling laws. Liverpool Echo. 30 January 2013. 6 September 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111204120826/http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/in-the-mix/2011/09/06/frank-field-why-i-joined-nadine-dorries-to-reform-abortion-laws-100252-29369077/. 4 December 2011. live.
  74. News: Anti-abortion bid in disarray as critics rally . The Guardian . 30 January 2013 . London . Ben . Quinn . Polly . Curtis . Allegra . Stratton . 2 September 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131001015453/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/02/anti-abortion-critics-nadine-dorries . 1 October 2013 . live .
  75. News: Nadine Dorries bill debated . BBC . 7 September 2011 . 30 January 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110908171135/http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_9583000/9583537.stm . 8 September 2011 . live .
  76. Web site: A vote to leave is the only way to achieve major EU reform . 20 February 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160222190535/http://www.frankfield.co.uk/latest-news/press-releases/news.aspx?p=1021208 . 22 February 2016 . live .
  77. Web site: Supporters . Labourleave.org.uk . 5 January 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190106010237/https://www.labourleave.org.uk/supporters . 6 January 2019 . live .
  78. Book: https://books.google.com/books?id=Sq66BwAAQBAJ&q=why%20i%20am%20still%20an%20anglican&pg=PA57 . Why I am Still an Anglican . Continuum . 978-0-8264-8312-6 . Frank . Field . Caroline . Chartres . 6: Building on the Past . 10 May 2007.
  79. Neighbours from Hell, page 8
  80. Web site: Dame Fiona Reynolds to be Chair of the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England. Cross Keys Magazine. en-US. 17 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181217202315/https://crosskeysmag.org.uk/?p=172. 17 December 2018. live.
  81. Web site: Patron & Trustees of the King James Bible Trust : King James Bible Trust. beta.kingjamesbibletrust.org.websitelive.net. 17 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181217202313/http://beta.kingjamesbibletrust.org.websitelive.net/about-us/patron-and-trustees. 17 December 2018. live.
  82. Web site: Our Presidents and Patrons . 7 December 2023 . 8 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231208000208/https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/about-us/our-presidents-and-patrons . live .
  83. News: Frank Field: 'It's a strange experience taking so long to die' . Adams . Tim . The Observer . 29 January 2023 . 29 January 2023 . 29 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230129110534/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/29/frank-field-politics-poverty-belief-cancer-labour-interview . live .
  84. Book: Field, Frank . Politics, Poverty and Belief . Bloomsbury . 9781399408394 . 2023 . 29 January 2023 . 29 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230129210657/https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/politics-poverty-and-belief-9781399408394/ . live .
  85. News: Birkenhead MP Frank Field in hospital after collapse. 14 March 2015. BBC News. 22 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180418183541/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-31887193. 18 April 2018. live.
  86. News: Birkenhead MP Frank Field rushed to hospital after collapsing at public meeting. Lancashire Telegraph. 4 April 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170405170113/http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/11856801.Birkenhead_MP_Frank_Field_rushed_to_hospital_after_collapsing_at_public_meeting/. 5 April 2017. live.
  87. News: Ex-MP Frank Field announces he is terminally ill as he backs assisted dying law. Dan. Bloom. Aletha. Adu. 22 October 2021. Daily Mirror. 22 October 2021. 22 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211022121603/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/ex-mp-frank-field-announces-25275366. live.
  88. News: 22 October 2021. Ex-MP Frank Field reveals he is close to death. en-GB. BBC News. 23 October 2021. 23 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211023061419/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-59009053. live.
  89. News: Adams. Tim. 29 January 2023. Frank Field: 'It's a strange experience taking so long to die'. The Guardian. 11 September 2023. "It's a strange experience taking so long to die.". 12 May 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230512130856/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/29/frank-field-politics-poverty-belief-cancer-labour-interview. live.
  90. News: 24 April 2024 . Frank Field, former Labour minister and anti-poverty campaigner, dies aged 81 . 24 April 2024 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077 . 24 April 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240424073410/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/apr/24/frank-field-former-labour-minister-and-anti-poverty-campaigner-dies-aged-81 . live .
  91. News: Kettle . Martin . 25 April 2024 . Frank Field saw benefit in the Lib Dems. In this election year, Labour would be wise to do the same . 25 April 2024 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077 . 25 April 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240425072124/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/25/frank-field-lib-dems-progressive . live .

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