Roy Hattersley dead at 93: Tributes to former deputy leader and 'giant of the Labour movement'

By SHANNON MCGUIGAN, NEWS REPORTER Published: 22:33, 14 June 2026 | Updated: 22:59, 14 June 2026 Former Labour deputy leader Roy Hattersley has died at the age of 93. Born in Sheffield, West Riding, Yorkshire, to a working-class family, Hattersley would go on to forge a formidable career in politics after studying economics at the University of Hull, where he became involved in student politics. In 1964, he was voted into the House of Commons as the Labour MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook, sparking a career that would span over five decades. He held several ministerial positions during Harold Wilson's time at the helm of the UK, including employment minister, deputy defence minister and foreign minister. In James Callaghan's cabinet, he served as Secretary for Prices and Consumer Protection before becoming the party's deputy leader under Neil Kinnock's leadership after the party's devastating defeat to Margaret Thatcher in 1979. And while their work taking on the hard Left and confronting Militant Tendency did not result in victory against the Conservatives in 1987 or against John Major in 1992, he and Kinnock's work would serve as the building block for Tony Blair's 1997 victory. However, Hattersley was one of New Labour's biggest critics as he accused Blair of abandoning Labour's fundamental vow to take on inequality. In 1997, he left the House of Commons and was made Baron Hattersley of Sparkbrook, and retired to the House of Lords. Former Labour deputy leader Roy Hattersley (pictured) has died at the age of 93 But his career spanned beyond politics, appearing on Desert Island Discs in 1986. A puppet of Hattersley also appeared on Spitting Image, exaggerating his speech impediment.  However, he responded in good humour and is said to have praised the show for 'putting the spit in Spitting image'. Also a distinguished journalist and author, Hattersley released over 20 books, which included histories, memoirs and biographies. Hattersley left the House of Commons in 1997. In 1956, he married Molly Loughran, which later ended in 2013. According to court documents, the couple had split five years before their relationship had 'irretrievably broken down'. Neither attended, and neither had a desire to comment on the matter at the time. He then went on to wed Maggie Pearlstine, his literary agent, who survives him. He had no children. Former Labour strategist, Alastair Campbell paid tribute to Hattersley on X, writing: 'Very sad. Labour through and through, a fine mind and gifted writer, a loyal and hard working deputy to Neil at a vital time in Labour history, and a critical friend to New Labour. Sheffield Wednesday to the very end! RIP Roy…' Nigel Evans, ex-Conservative Tory MP, also paid a touching tribute to the former politician describing him as 'one of the genuine old Labour politicians', he added: 'Fiercely academic with his true roots in support of working people.' Sir Keir Starmer described him as a 'giant of the Labour movement'. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.