Passing of member of 1945 parliamentary intake
It was only on reading his obituary in today's Guardian that I noticed that the former Labour MP Francis Noel-Baker died last week.
He was the youngest MP in 1945, the son of the famous peace campaigner Philip Noel- Baker, and was one of the last three surviving members of the 1945 parliamentary intake.
So only Michael Foot and John Freeman are still alive from the 625 or so MPs elected in 1945.
And they have a fair bit in common. Both were early TV stars, both edited left-wing weeklies (Tribune and the New Statesman respectively), and both were extremely close friends of Barbara Castle.
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Comment number 1.
At 3rd Oct 2009, leftieoddbod wrote:Ah, the intake of 1945, principles, the birth of the NHS, the nationalisation of the railways, no expense fiddles, no quangoes, ration books, austerity...and we were all the better for it...
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Comment number 2.
At 4th Oct 2009, MacScroggie wrote:It's amazing how time softens the memories about old politicians. ( I will not call them senior statemen. )
The name Michael Foot, now brings a smile of old-time nostalgia to my gaunt physionomy. At the time, I dreaded the prospect of living in a country with such an extreme Lefty as M Foot at the realm's tiller.
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