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The Right Honourable
Walter Harrison
The Right Honourable Walter Harrison
	Harrison when Deputy Chief Whip in the 1970s
Treasurer of the Household and Deputy Chief Whip
	In office; 4 March 1974 – 4 May 1979
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson ; James Callaghan
Member of Parliament ; for Wakefield
	In office; 15 October 1964 – 18 May 1987
Preceded by	Arthur Creech Jones
Succeeded by	David Hinchliffe
Personal details
Born	2 January 1921; Dewsbury, England
Died	19 October 2012 (aged 91); Wakefield, England
Political party	Labour
Spouses	Enid Coleman (m. 1948; died 1990); Jane Richards (m. 1991; died 2000);
Children	2

Walter Harrison PC (2 January 1921 – 19 October 2012) was a British Labour politician who was the Member of Parliament for Wakefield from 1964 to 1987.^[1]

Background

Harrison was born in Dewsbury in 1921, where he was educated at Dewsbury Technical College and School of Art.^[2] His parents were socialists who were politically active.^[2] He served as an electrician in the Royal Air Force during World War II.^[2]

After the war, Harrison worked as a foreman electrician and was active in the Electrical Trades Union.^[2] He served as a councillor on West Riding County Council and as an alderman of Castleford Borough Council.^[2]

Member of Parliament

Elected Labour MP for Wakefield in 1964, Harrison served as a Government whip from 1966 to 1970 and as deputy Chief Whip from 1974 to 1979.^[2] In the late 1970s, he was noted for his skill at helping preserve the Labour government as its small majority gradually vanished.^[2]^[3]

In 1968, Harrison was whipping on two bills simultaneously, trapping his leg in the door of a division lobby on the second vote; famously ruling that most of Harrison's body was in the lobby, the chairman of the bill committee declared the vote passed 22¾–22 in Labour's favour.^[3] In the Conservative landslide at the 1983 general election, he held his seat - which had undergone substantial boundary changes - with a majority of only 360 votes over the Conservative candidate.

Role in 1979 vote of no confidence

On 28 March 1979, Harrison played a critical role in the defeat of the Labour government in the vote of confidence. As the vote loomed, Harrison approached Conservative MP Bernard Weatherill to enforce the convention and "gentlemen's agreement" that if a sick MP from the Government could not vote, an MP from the Opposition would abstain to compensate. The Labour MP Sir Alfred Broughton was on his deathbed and could not vote, meaning the Government would probably lose by one vote.^[4]

Weatherill said that the convention had never been intended for Matter of Confidence and it would be impossible to find a Conservative MP who would agree to abstain. However, after a moment's reflection, he offered that he himself would abstain, because he felt it would be dishonourable to break his word with Harrison. Harrison was so impressed by Weatherill's offer – which would have effectively ended his political career – that he released Weatherill from his obligation and so the Government fell by one vote on the agreement of gentlemen.^[5]

This episode was dramatised in James Graham's 2012 play This House (which opened one month before Harrison's death). When the play was first performed at the National Theatre, the part of Harrison was played by Philip Glenister.^[6]^[7]

Personal life and death

In 1948, Harrison married Enid Coleman; they had two children and were married until her death in 1990.^[2] He was then married to Jane Richards, his former secretary, from 1991 until her death in 2000.^[2]

Harrison lived at Sandal Magna, near Wakefield, and died from heart failure at Pinderfields Hospital on 19 October 2012, aged 91.^[2]

References

^ "Former Labour whip Harrison dies". PoliticsHome. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Taylor, Ann (2016). "Harrison, Walter (1921–2012), electrician and politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/105678. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ ^a ^b "Walter Harrison". The Daily Telegraph. 22 October 2012. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
^ "Early election as Callaghan defeated". BBC News. 28 March 1979. Archived from the original on 27 June 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
^ The Night the Government Fell, BBC archive on the 1979 vote of confidence, audio interview of Weatherill and Harrison
^ Finnis, Alex (29 May 2020). "Everything you need to know about This House on National Theatre at Home". iNews. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
^ "Former Wakefield MP Walter Harrison dies aged 91". www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2020.

Sources

Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1966 & 1983
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Walter Harrison

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Arthur Creech Jones	Member of Parliament for Wakefield 1964 – 1987	Succeeded by David Hinchliffe
Political offices
Preceded by Bernard Weatherill	Treasurer of the Household 1974–1979	Succeeded by John Stradling Thomas