Geoffrey Lofthouse

{{Short description|British Labour politician, MP and life peer}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable

| name = The Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract

| honorific-suffix = JP

| image = Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract 2008.png

| caption = Lofthouse speaking in the House of Lords, 2008

| office1 = Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means

| term_start1 = 27 April 1992

| term_end1 = 14 May 1997

| 1blankname1 = Speaker

| 1namedata1 = Betty Boothroyd

| predecessor1 = Sir Paul Dean

| successor1 = Michael Martin

| office3 = Member of Parliament
for Pontefract and Castleford

| term_start3 = 26 October 1978

| term_end3 = 8 April 1997

| predecessor3 = Joseph Harper

| successor3 = Yvette Cooper

| birth_date = {{birth date|1925|12|18|df=y}}

| birth_place = Featherstone, West Riding of Yorkshire, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2012|11|1|1925|12|18|df=y}}

| death_place =

| party = Labour

| spouse = {{marriage|Sarah Lofthouse|1946|1985|reason=died}}

| otherparty =

| nationality = British

}}

Geoffrey Lofthouse, Baron Lofthouse of Pontefract, JP (18 December 1925 – 1 November 2012), popularly known in his former constituency as Geoff Lofthouse, was a British Labour politician, MP and life peer.

Early life

He was born in Featherstone, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of Ernest Lofthouse, a farm labourer in Micklefield, and Emma (née Fellows). His father died at the age of 35. At the age of 14, Geoff Lofthouse went to work at Ackton Hall Colliery in Featherstone. At age 29, he was the president of the local branch of the NUM. He went to the University of Leeds, gaining a BA in Political Studies in 1957, when he was 32 years old. In 1962, he became a councillor on Pontefract Borough Council. He was mayor of Pontefract in 1967, and leader of the council from 1969 to 1973.

Parliamentary career

He was MP for Pontefract and Castleford from a 1978 by-election until his retirement at the 1997 general election. In the House of Commons, he served from 1992 until his retirement as a Deputy Speaker of the House to Betty Boothroyd. In the Queen's Birthday Honours 1995 Lofthouse was appointed a Knight Bachelor.{{London Gazette |issue=54066 |date=16 June 1995 |pages=1–32 |supp=1}} In the Queen's Birthday Honours 1997 Lofthouse was made a life peer as Baron Lofthouse of Pontefract, of Pontefract, in the county of West Yorkshire.{{London Gazette |issue=54807 |date=16 June 1997 |page=1}}{{London Gazette |issue=54812 |date=20 June 1997 |page=1}}

Publications

His autobiography, A Very Miner MP,{{cite book|title=A Very Miner MP.|last=Lofthouse|first=Geoff|date=1986|publisher=Yorkshire Arts Circus|isbn=9780947780159|edition=First |location=Pontefract}} is available from Yorkshire Art Circus Publishers. He also wrote a further autobiography, From Coal Sack to Woolsack.{{cite book|title=From Coal Sack to Woolsack|last=Lofthouse|first=Geoff|date=December 1999|publisher=Pontefract Press|isbn=9781900325172|location=Pontefract}}

Personal life

He married when he was 20 years old; he and his wife Sarah had a daughter.

Death

Lord Lofthouse died on 1 November 2012, aged 86.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-20171838|title=Former Pontefract MP Geoffrey Lofthouse dies|date=1 November 2012|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|accessdate=1 November 2012}} His funeral service was held at St Giles' Church, Pontefract.

Arms

{{Infobox COA wide

|image = File:Coronet of a British Baron.svg File:Lofthouse of Pontefract Escutcheon.png

|escutcheon = Azure on a pale between and conjoined to two grilles throughout Or the whole surmounted by three chevronels Argent over all on a pale Sable three ellipses palewise.

|crest = A canary Or holding in the dexter foot a miner's lamp Sable glazed Proper.

|supporters = On either side a mole sejant erect holding in the mouth a rose Argent barbed and seeded slipped and leaved Or.

|motto = Stick And Lift{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage |date=2003 |page=993}}}}

References

External links

Times Guide to the House of Commons, Times Newspapers Limited, 1992 and 1997 editions.
{{Rayment|external links=y|date=February 2012}}
{{Rayment-hc|external links=y|date=March 2012}}
{{Hansard-contribs|mr-geoffrey-lofthouse|Geoffrey Lofthouse}}
[http://www.ety2004.co.uk/Wakefield07/54-56.html Wakefield Education Yearbook 2004]{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{succession box

| title = Member of Parliament for Pontefract and Castleford

| years = 1978–1997

| before = Joseph Harper

| after = Yvette Cooper

}}

Category:1925 births

Category:2012 deaths

Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds

Category:Councillors in Wakefield

Category:Deputy speakers of the British House of Commons

Category:English justices of the peace