Denis Healey

Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey CH, MBE, PC (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour politician. He was Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979.

The Right Honourable The Lord Healey CH MBE PC FRSL
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
In office 4 November 1980 – 2 October 1983
Leader	Michael Foot
Preceded by	Michael Foot
Succeeded by	Roy Hattersley
Shadow Foreign Secretary
In office 8 December 1980 – 13 July 1987
Leader	Michael Foot Neil Kinnock
Preceded by	Peter Shore
Succeeded by	Gerald Kaufman
In office 20 June 1970 – 19 April 1972
Leader	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	Sir Alec Douglas-Home
Succeeded by	James Callaghan
In office 11 October 1959 – 2 November 1961
Leader	Hugh Gaitskell
Preceded by	Aneurin Bevan
Succeeded by	Harold Wilson
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 5 March 1974 – 4 May 1979
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson James Callaghan
Preceded by	Anthony Barber
Succeeded by	Sir Geoffrey Howe
Secretary of State for Defence
In office 16 October 1964 – 19 June 1970
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	Peter Thorneycroft
Succeeded by	The Lord Carrington
Member of Parliament for Leeds East
In office 26 May 1955 – 9 April 1992
Preceded by	Constituency Created
Succeeded by	George Mudie
Member of Parliament for Leeds South East
In office 14 February 1952 – 26 May 1955
Preceded by	James Milner
Succeeded by	Alice Bacon
Personal details
Born	(1917-08-30)30 August 1917 Mottingham, Kent, England
Died	3 October 2015(2015-10-03) (aged 98) Alfriston, East Sussex, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Edna Edmunds (m. 1945–2010; her death)
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford
Military service
Branch/service	British Army • Royal Engineers
Years of service	1940–1945
Rank	Major
Battles/wars	World War II • North African Campaign • Italian Campaign • Battle of Anzio

Early life

Healey was born in Mottingham, Kent, and moved with his family to Keighley in the West Riding of Yorkshire when he was five years old.^[1] He was given the middle name "Winston" after Winston Churchill, who was an important politician at the time Denis was born.^[2] Healey was one of three children. Their father was an engineer who had worked his way up by taking extra lessons at night school.

Healey went to Bradford Grammar School, and in 1936 he won a type of scholarship known as an "exhibition", which gave him enough money to take a degree at Balliol College, Oxford. At Oxford University he got involved in politics, and he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1937. In 1939, not liking the party's policies, he changed his mind. From that time on, he supported the Labour Party, even though one of his best friends at university, Edward Heath, supported the Conservative Party.

Political career

After getting his degree, Healey joined the Royal Engineers, and served in the British forces in several countries during World War II. He took an important part in the Battle of Anzio, towards the end of the war. After the war, he joined the Labour Party, and made an important speech to the Labour Party conference in 1945, shortly before the United Kingdom general election, 1945.

In February 1952, Healey became the Member of Parliament for Leeds South East. He supported Hugh Gaitskell, the leader of the Labour Party. When Gaitskell died in 1963, Healey became a supporter of Harold Wilson. When Labour won the 1964 election Healey was given the job of Secretary of State for Defence. Labour lost power in 1970, but Healey was given the job of Shadow Chancellor in April 1972.

When Labour won a general election in March 1974 and came back into power, Healey became Chancellor of the Exchequer in March 1974. When Harold Wilson resigned as Prime Minister in 1976, Healey was one of those who hoped to take over, but he was not chosen. He continued in the job of Chancellor of the Exchequer when James Callaghan took over as Prime Minister.

Personal life

Healy married Edna Edmunds in 1945. Together, they had three children. They lived in Alfriston, Sussex. Edna died in 2010.

On 14 June 1978, Healey likened being attacked by the mild-mannered Geoffrey Howe in the House of Commons to being "savaged by a dead sheep".^[3] Nevertheless, Howe appeared and paid warm tribute when Healey was featured on This Is Your Life in 1989. The two remained friends for many years, with Howe dying only a few days after Healey, in 2015.

Healy died at his home in Alfriston, Sussex on 3 October 2015 from a short-illness, aged 98..^[4]