Gordon James Oakes
Member of Parliament
for Bolton West
In office
15 October 1964  29 May 1970
Preceded byArthur Holt
Succeeded byRobert Redmond
Member of Parliament
for Halton
Widnes (1971-1983)
In office
23 September 1971  8 April 1997
Preceded byJames MacColl
Succeeded byDerek Twigg
Personal details
Born(1931-06-22)22 June 1931
Widnes, England
Died15 August 2005(2005-08-15) (aged 74)
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Esther O'Neill
(m. 1952; died 1998)
Children3
Alma materLiverpool University
ProfessionSolicitor

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

Early life

Oakes was born in Widnes, Cheshire, and was educated at Wade Deacon Grammar School, in Widnes and at Liverpool University.[1] A solicitor by profession, he became a councillor on Widnes Borough Council in 1952, serving as Mayor in 1964.[1]

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".

Personal life and death

Oakes was married to the former Esther O'Neill from 1952 until her death in 1998; they had three sons.[1] He died on 15 August 2005, at the age of 74.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Gordon Oakes - Obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 16 August 2005. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
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