| Gordon James Oakes | |
| Constituency Mp: | Bolton West |
| Parliament: | United Kingdom |
| Term Start: | 15 October 1964 |
| Term End: | 29 May 1970 |
| Predecessor: | Arthur Holt |
| Successor: | Robert Redmond |
| Constituency Mp2: | Halton |
| Parliament2: | United Kingdom |
| Term Start2: | 23 September 1971 |
| Term End2: | 8 April 1997 |
| Predecessor2: | James MacColl |
| Successor2: | Derek Twigg |
| Birth Date: | 1931 12, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Widnes, England |
| Party: | Labour |
| Alma Mater: | Liverpool University |
| Profession: | Solicitor |
| Children: | 3 |
Gordon James Oakes (22 December 1931 - 14 August 2005)[1] was a British Labour Party politician.
Oakes was born in Widnes, Cheshire, and was educated at Wade Deacon Grammar School, in Widnes and at Liverpool University.[2] A solicitor by profession, he became a councillor on Widnes Borough Council in 1952, serving as Mayor in 1964.[2]
Oakes unsuccessfully contested Bebington in 1959 and Manchester Moss Side at a 1961 by-election.
He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolton West from 1964 to 1970, when he was beaten by the Conservative Robert Redmond by 1,244 votes. He was re-elected for Widnes from a 1971 by-election until 1983, and for Halton from 1983 until 1997.
Oakes served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Home Secretary from 1966, and in the government of Harold Wilson as a junior minister and as a Minister of State under James Callaghan. He was made a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 1979. He left the Opposition front bench in 1983.
He was one of the MPs approached in the 1994 Cash-for-Questions affair, to which he responded "That is not how we do things here".
Oakes was married to the former Esther O'Neill from 1952 until her death in 1998; they had three sons.[2] He died on 14 August 2005, at the age of 74.[1]