Stan Orme, Baron Orme

The Right Honourable
The Lord Orme
PC
Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party
In office
13 July 1987  18 July 1992
Preceded by Jack Dormand
Succeeded by Doug Hoyle
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy
In office
2 October 1983  13 July 1987
Leader Neil Kinnock
Preceded by John Smith
Succeeded by John Prescott
Shadow Secretary of State for Industry
In office
4 November 1980  2 October 1983
Leader Michael Foot
Preceded by John Silkin
Succeeded by Peter Shore
Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Services
In office
14 June 1979  4 November 1980
Leader James Callaghan
Preceded by David Ennals
Succeeded by Gwyneth Dunwoody
Minister of State for Social Security
In office
8 April 1976  4 May 1979
Prime Minister James Callaghan
Preceded by Brian O'Malley
Succeeded by Reg Prentice
Member of Parliament
for Salford East
In office
9 June 1983  1 May 1997
Preceded by Frank Allaun
Succeeded by Constituency Abolished
Member of Parliament
for Salford West
In office
15 October 1964  9 June 1983
Preceded by Charles Royle
Succeeded by Constituency Abolished
Personal details
Born (1923-04-05)5 April 1923
Sale, United Kingdom
Died 27 April 2005(2005-04-27) (aged 82)
Political party Labour

Stanley Orme, Baron Orme, PC (5 April 1923 27 April 2005) was a British left-wing[1] Labour Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1964 to 1997, and served as a cabinet minister in the 1970s.

Early life

Stan Orme was born in Sale, Cheshire. He was educated at a technical school, which he left in 1938 to become an instrument maker's apprentice. He joined the RAF in 1942, becoming a bomber-navigator, serving in Canada and Egypt. He was demobilised in 1947 as a warrant officer.

Political career

Orme joined the Labour Party in 1944 and he became a Sale Borough Councillor in 1958. A committed Bevanite, he embraced many left-wing causes, including the Movement for Colonial Freedom and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

He first stood for Parliament in Stockport South at the 1959 general election, when he lost to the Conservative candidate. He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Salford West at the 1964 general election.

When Labour returned to office at the February 1974 general election, Orme was installed at Stormont as Minister of State for Northern Ireland. He made an impression in this role, before moving to the Department of Health and Social Security in March 1976. The Prime Minister James Callaghan promoted him to the Cabinet in September 1976 to sit alongside his departmental boss David Ennals. He remained in this role until 1979.

Orme joined the Shadow Cabinet in 1979 as chief health and social security spokesman, before later moving on to hold the Industry and Energy portfolios until 1987. After constituency boundary changes for the 1983 general election, he was elected for the redrawn seat of Salford East. He served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party (1987–1992). He retired from the House of Commons at the 1997 general election, and he was created a life peer as Baron Orme, of Salford in the County of Greater Manchester on 21 October 1997.[2]

Orme was a republican.[3] He made several unsuccessful attempts to be elected to Labour's National Executive Committee, without breaking through.

Lord Orme died in 2005. His funeral at Dunham Crematorium was attended by many family, friends and political colleagues. A memorial service was held in the House of Lords, with speeches from Neil Kinnock and Michael Foot. A very rare exception was made by the Lord Chancellor such that any Divisions were suspended during this evening service.

Private life

He married Irene Mary Harris in 1951. There were no children.

References

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Charles Royle
Member of Parliament for Salford West
19641983
Constituency abolished
Preceded by
Frank Allaun
Member of Parliament for Salford East
19831997
Political offices
Preceded by
Brian Kevin O'Malley
Minister of State for Social Security
1976–1979
Succeeded by
Reg Prentice
Party political offices
Preceded by
Jack Dormand
Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party
1987–1992
Succeeded by
Doug Hoyle
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