John Diamond
 John Diamond    (politician) | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 30 April 1907 |
| Died | 3 April 2004 (Age 96) |
| Alma mater | Leeds Grammar School |
Not to be confused with Jack "Legs" Diamond, an Irish American gangster.
John Diamond, Baron Diamond, commonly known as Jack Diamond, was a British Labour Party politician. After being chief secretary to the Treasury in Harold Wilson's Labour administrations from 1964 to 1970, becama a Lord, then went on to become a leader in the well funded Social Democratic Party (designed to spoil the chances of a Labour victory), from 1982 to 1988, and then, in 1995, a year after Tony Blair became Labour leader, quietly rejoined his old party.[1]
Early Life
Diamond was born in 1907 into the Jewish community in Leeds, the son of a rabbi, Solomon Diamond. After an education for which throughout his life he expressed gratitude, at the rigorous Leeds Grammar School, he qualified in 1931 as a chartered accountant and practised in the firm John Diamond and Company.[2] He was elected Member of Parliament in 1945 for the Blackley division of Manchester, but lost it in 1951. In 1946 and 1947, he was parliamentary private secretary to the Ministry of Works. He returned to the House of Commons in a 1957 by-election for Gloucester, caused by the death of its Labour MP, Moss Turner-Samuels.
He was Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 1964, a cabinet position from 1968, and Privy Councillor from 1965. He represented Gloucester until his surprise defeat in 1970 by the Conservative candidate, Sally Oppenheim-Barnes.
Diamond was appointed to the Privy Council in the 1965 Birthday Honours,[3] and was created a life peer as Baron Diamond of the City of Gloucester on 25 September 1970.[4] In 1981 he left the Labour Party for the new Social Democratic Party. He led the SDP in the House of Lords from 1982 to 1988 but opposed its merger with the Liberals and rejoined Labour in 1995.
He made little impact in the Lords, except most notably, a continued try to get equality for daughters of hereditary peers.[5]
Family
Diamond was first married in 1932 and had two sons and a daughter. He had a daughter, Joan, by his second wife, Julie Goodman, whom he married in 1948. They separated in 1966 and divorced 10 years later. Upon his death at 96, he was survived by his children and by his third wife, Barbara Kagan, whom he had married in 1976.
References
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/apr/06/guardianobituaries.obituaries,
- ↑ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lord-diamond-549710.html
- ↑ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/43667/supplement/5471
- ↑ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/45207/page/10875
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/apr/06/guardianobituaries.obituaries
