Kenneth Marks Explained

Kenneth Marks
Honorific-Suffix:MP
Office1:Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister
Primeminister1:Harold Wilson
Predecessor1:William Hamling
Successor1:John Tomlinson
Term Start1:April 1975
Term End1:December 1975
Office:Member of Parliament
for Manchester Gorton
Term Start:2 November 1967
Term End:13 May 1983
Predecessor:Konni Zilliacus
Successor:Gerald Kaufman
Majority:557 (1.3%)
Birth Name:Kenneth Marks
Birth Date:15 June 1920
Education:Central High School, Manchester
Manchester Academy (secondary school)
Party:Labour
Occupation:Head teacher

Kenneth Marks (15 June 1920 – 13 January 1988) was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.

Marks was Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester Gorton from a 1967 by-election to 1983. From 1975 to 1979, he was a junior Environment minister.

He was educated at the Central High School, Manchester and Manchester Academy (secondary school). In 1955 he unsuccessfully contested Manchester Moss Side at the general election.[1]

Before his by-election success, Marks served as a Labour councillor on the Denton Urban District Council, representing Denton West. Prior to entering parliament he was a secondary school head teacher.[2] He was also a member of the National Union of Teachers and served on its advisory committee for secondary schools.[1] In parliament he was chairman of the Labour Party's social security group and vice chairman of its education group, as well as serving on the Select committee on Education and Science.[1] From 1970 to 1971 he served as a whip.[1]

Although Marks was reselected to fight Manchester Gorton some time before the 1983 general election, subsequent changes (the Third Periodic Review) implemented shortly before the election substantially altered the boundaries of the constituency; its largest part, Denton and Audenshaw in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, merged with Reddish in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport to form a new Denton and Reddish constituency. Gorton was included with much of the former Manchester Ardwick constituency, which was renamed Manchester Gorton.

As there were potentially three Labour MPs contesting two new seats, Marks, who was the senior of the three, stood down, allowing Andrew Bennett of Stockport North to inherit Denton and Reddish, and Gerald Kaufman to move across from Ardwick to the new Gorton seat.

References

Notes and References

  1. Book: The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1974 . Times Newspapers Ltd . London . 1974 . 181 . 0-7230-0115-4.
  2. Hansard, House of Commons, Vol. 796, Col. 1464, 26 February 1970.