Gordon Oakes

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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(1931-12-22)22 December 1931
Widnes, England
Died14 August 2005(2005-08-14) (aged 74)
PartyLabour
Spouse
Esther O'Neill
​
​
(m. 1952; died 1998)​
Children3
Alma materLiverpool University
ProfessionSolicitor

Gordon James Oakes (22 December 1931 – 14 August 2005)[1] was a British Labour Party politician.

Early life

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Oakes was born in Widnes, Cheshire, and was educated at Wade Deacon Grammar School, in Widnes and at Liverpool University.[2] A solicitor by profession, he became a councillor on Widnes Borough Council in 1952, serving as Mayor in 1964.[2]

Parliamentary career

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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 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

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Oakes was married to the former Esther O'Neill from 1952 until her death in 1998; they had three sons.[2] He died on 14 August 2005, at the age of 74.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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