James Lamond
Encyclopedia
James Alexander Lamond was a British
Labour
politician. He was a Member of Parliament
for 22 years, representing Oldham East
from 1970 to 1983 and then Oldham Central and Royton from 1983
until he retired at the 1992 general election
.
, Perthshire
. His father worked for the London and North Eastern Railway
. He was educated at schools in Burrelton and Coupar Angus
, before becoming an apprentice draughtsman
at the Hall and Company shipyard in Aberdeen in 1942, aged 14. He could not afford the fees to study naval architecture
in Newcastle
, and worked as a draughtsman for the North-east Scotland Regional Hospital Board.
He was an active member of the Draughtsmen's and Allied Technicians' Association (Data; later successively renamed as AUEW-Tass
, MSF
, Amicus
and Unite). He joined the Labour party in 1950, and was elected to Aberdeen City Council
in 1959, serving as a councillor until 1971. He became leader of the local Labour group in 1967, and served as Lord Provost
and Lord Lieutenant
of Aberdeen in 1970-71. After he failed to be selected for the safe Labour seat of Aberdeen North
, losing out to Robert Hughes
, he found favour instead in Oldham East
, where he was elected in June 1970.
He stood on the left wing of the Labour party, alongside Tony Benn
, Eric Heffer
and Arthur Latham
. He opposed the plans for devolution
in Scotland
, voting against the Scotland Bill in 1977. Also in 1977, he was upbraided by the Speaker after making some forthright remarks about Prince Philip
. Lamond supported Tony Benn in his unsuccessful bid to become the Labour party's deputy leader in 1980.
He was a vice-president of the World Peace Council
, president of the British Peace Assembly, founder chairman of the British-East German Society. In the 1980s, he was criticised as an apologist of the Communist regime in the Soviet Union, particularly after he provided justifications for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. In a debate in the House of Commons in July 1980, the World Peace Council was criticised by Conservative Foreign Office minister Peter Blaker as a "disguised instrument of Soviet policy", a charge that Lamond rejected (although he later accepted that much of its funding did indeed come from the Soviet Union).
After constituency boundaries were redrawn in 1983, he moved to the new seat of Oldham Central and Royton, selected ahead of Joel Barnett
. He opposed the location of US cruise missile
s and Pershing missile
s in the UK in December 1983.
Despite his controversial political views, he was respected as a parliamentarian. He supported the declining textile industry in his constituency. He served on the Public Accounts Committee from 1975 to 1983, and served on the Speaker's panel from 1979 until he retired at the general election in 1992.
of Aberdeen in 1995. He rejoined Aberdeen City Council in 1995, serving alongside his wife, before both retired in May 2007. He was chairman of the Royal Aberdeen Workshops for the Blind and Disabled from 2002 to 2004.
He married June Wellburn 1954. He suffered from pneumonia in later life. He was survived by his wife and their three daughters.
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
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. He was a 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,...
for 22 years, representing Oldham East
Oldham East (UK Parliament constituency)
See also: current constituency Oldham East and SaddleworthOldham East was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Oldham in the north-east of Greater Manchester...
from 1970 to 1983 and then Oldham Central and Royton from 1983
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
until he retired at the 1992 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
.
Biography
Lamond was born in BurreltonBurrelton
Burrelton is a small village in Scotland about 12 miles outside Perth and 15 miles outside Dundee. It is joined onto another smaller village, Woodside. It is 2 miles from Coupar Angus and 5 miles from Balbeggie...
, Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
. His father worked for the London and North Eastern Railway
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
. He was educated at schools in Burrelton and Coupar Angus
Coupar Angus
Coupar Angus is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, situated eight kilometres south of Blairgowrie.The name Coupar Angus serves to differentiate the town from Cupar, Fife...
, before becoming an apprentice draughtsman
Technical drawing
Technical drawing, also known as drafting or draughting, is the act and discipline of composing plans that visually communicate how something functions or has to be constructed.Drafting is the language of industry....
at the Hall and Company shipyard in Aberdeen in 1942, aged 14. He could not afford the fees to study naval architecture
Naval architecture
Naval architecture is an engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction, maintenance and operation of marine vessels and structures. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation and calculations during all stages of the life of a...
in Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, and worked as a draughtsman for the North-east Scotland Regional Hospital Board.
He was an active member of the Draughtsmen's and Allied Technicians' Association (Data; later successively renamed as AUEW-Tass
Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section
The Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section was a British trade union.In 1970, the Draughtsmen's and Allied Technicians' Association , Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers and Constructional Engineering Union amalgamated to form the Amalgamated Union of Engineering...
, MSF
Manufacturing, Science and Finance
Manufacturing, Science and Finance was a trade union in Britain...
, Amicus
Amicus
Amicus was the United Kingdom's second-largest trade union, and the largest private sector union, formed by the merger of Manufacturing Science and Finance, the AEEU agreed in 2001, and two smaller unions, UNIFI and the GPMU...
and Unite). He joined the Labour party in 1950, and was elected to Aberdeen City Council
Aberdeen City Council
Aberdeen City Council represents the Aberdeen City council area of Scotland.The council area was created in 1996, under the Local Government etc. Act 1994...
in 1959, serving as a councillor until 1971. He became leader of the local Labour group in 1967, and served as Lord Provost
Lord Provost
A Lord Provost is the figurative and ceremonial head of one of the principal cities of Scotland. Four cities, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, have the right to appoint a Lord Provost instead of a provost...
and Lord Lieutenant
Lord Lieutenant
The title Lord Lieutenant is given to the British monarch's personal representatives in the United Kingdom, usually in a county or similar circumscription, with varying tasks throughout history. Usually a retired local notable, senior military officer, peer or business person is given the post...
of Aberdeen in 1970-71. After he failed to be selected for the safe Labour seat of Aberdeen North
Aberdeen North (UK Parliament constituency)
Aberdeen North is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and it elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
, losing out to Robert Hughes
Robert Hughes, Baron Hughes of Woodside
Robert Hughes, Baron Hughes of Woodside is a British Labour politician.Educated at Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen and in South Africa where he lived 1947–1954, he worked as a draughtsman...
, he found favour instead in Oldham East
Oldham East (UK Parliament constituency)
See also: current constituency Oldham East and SaddleworthOldham East was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Oldham in the north-east of Greater Manchester...
, where he was elected in June 1970.
He stood on the left wing of the Labour party, alongside Tony Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
, Eric Heffer
Eric Heffer
Eric Samuel Heffer was a British socialist politician. He was Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton from 1964 until his death. His working-class background and consciousness fed in to his left-wing politics, but to an extent disguised the depth of his knowledge: with 12,000 books in...
and Arthur Latham
Arthur Latham
Arthur Charles Latham is a British Labour Party politician.Latham was elected Member of Parliament for Paddington North in a 1969 by-election, which he served until 1974 when the seat was abolished in boundary changes...
. He opposed the plans for devolution
Devolution
Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. Devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly administered by central government...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, voting against the Scotland Bill in 1977. Also in 1977, he was upbraided by the Speaker after making some forthright remarks about Prince Philip
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
. Lamond supported Tony Benn in his unsuccessful bid to become the Labour party's deputy leader in 1980.
He was a vice-president of the World Peace Council
World Peace Council
The World Peace Council is an international organization that advocates universal disarmament, sovereignty and independence and peaceful co-existence, and campaigns against imperialism, weapons of mass destruction and all forms of discrimination...
, president of the British Peace Assembly, founder chairman of the British-East German Society. In the 1980s, he was criticised as an apologist of the Communist regime in the Soviet Union, particularly after he provided justifications for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. In a debate in the House of Commons in July 1980, the World Peace Council was criticised by Conservative Foreign Office minister Peter Blaker as a "disguised instrument of Soviet policy", a charge that Lamond rejected (although he later accepted that much of its funding did indeed come from the Soviet Union).
After constituency boundaries were redrawn in 1983, he moved to the new seat of Oldham Central and Royton, selected ahead of Joel Barnett
Joel Barnett, Baron Barnett
Joel Barnett, Baron Barnett, PC , is a Labour Party member of the House of Lords.Barnett was educated at Manchester Central High School. He worked as an accountant...
. He opposed the location of US cruise missile
Cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...
s and Pershing missile
Pershing missile
Pershing was a family of solid-fueled two-stage medium-range ballistic missiles designed and built by Martin Marietta to replace the PGM-11 Redstone missile as the United States Army's primary nuclear-capable theater-level weapon. The Pershing systems lasted over 30 years from the first test...
s in the UK in December 1983.
Despite his controversial political views, he was respected as a parliamentarian. He supported the declining textile industry in his constituency. He served on the Public Accounts Committee from 1975 to 1983, and served on the Speaker's panel from 1979 until he retired at the general election in 1992.
Local politics again
Unusually, he returned to local politics after leaving Parliament, serving as a member of Grampian Regional Council from 1994 to 1996. He became a Deputy LieutenantDeputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
of Aberdeen in 1995. He rejoined Aberdeen City Council in 1995, serving alongside his wife, before both retired in May 2007. He was chairman of the Royal Aberdeen Workshops for the Blind and Disabled from 2002 to 2004.
He married June Wellburn 1954. He suffered from pneumonia in later life. He was survived by his wife and their three daughters.