Gordon James Oakes was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 politician.

Oakes was educated at Wade Deacon grammar school, Widnes

Widnes

Widnes is an industrial town within the borough of Halton, in Cheshire, England, with an urban area population of 57,663 in 2004. It is located on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. Directly to the south across the Mersey is the town of Runcorn...

 and at Liverpool University. A solicitor

Solicitor

Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...

 by profession, he became a councillor on Widnes Borough Council in 1952, serving as Mayor in 1964.

Oakes unsuccessfully contested Bebington

Bebington (UK Parliament constituency)

Bebington was a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, which existed from 1950 to 1974. The constituency was centred on the town of Bebington on the Wirral Peninsula, England.-History:...

 in 1959 and Manchester Moss Side

Manchester Moss Side (UK Parliament constituency)

Manchester Moss Side was a parliamentary constituency in the Moss Side area of the city of Manchester. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system....

 at a 1961 by-election.
He served as Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Bolton West

Bolton West (UK Parliament constituency)

Bolton West is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

 from 1964 to 1970 and for Widnes

Widnes (UK Parliament constituency)

Widnes was a county constituency in England, based on the town of Widnes, in Lancashire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.-History:...

 from a 1971 by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 until 1983, and for Halton

Halton (UK Parliament constituency)

Halton is a county constituency in Cheshire, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-History:The constituency was created in 1983...

 from 1983 until 1997.

Oakes served as Parliamentary Private Secretary

Parliamentary Private Secretary

A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...

 to the Home Secretary

Home Secretary

The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...

 from 1966, and in the government of Harold Wilson

Harold Wilson

James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...

 as a junior minister and as a Minister of State under James Callaghan

James Callaghan

Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...

. He was made a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in 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".

He died of cancer in 2005.

External links

• Obituary in The Guardian
  The Guardian
  The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...