Gordon Oakes

Gordon James Oakes (22 June 1931 – 15 August 2005) was a British Labour Party politician.

Early life

Oakes was educated at Wade Deacon grammar school, Widnes and at Liverpool University. A solicitor by profession, he became a councillor on Widnes Borough Council in 1952, serving as Mayor in 1964.

Parliamentary career

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".

Death

He died of cancer on 15 August 2005 at the age of 74.[1]

gollark: > I'm a very quiet polite person. I have agoraphobia, I never leave or bother anyone> Tbh I'm about to just beat him sensless.
gollark: Well, it might be rude, but it would be ruder and also probably a crime to break their camera.
gollark: Damaging people's things would be a crime. Also trespassing.
gollark: Trying to get revenge on them for... having a camera pointed at you... by breaking the camera probably would not work out very well for you.
gollark: CO isn't CO2.

References
  1. "Gordon Oakes - Obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 16 August 2005. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Arthur Holt		 Member of Parliament for Bolton West
1964–1970		 Succeeded by
Robert Redmond
Preceded by
James MacColl		 Member of Parliament for Widnes
1971–1983		 Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Halton
1983–1997		 Succeeded by
Derek Twigg


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