Geoffrey Dickens
Geoffrey Kenneth Dickens (26 August 1931 – 17 May 1995) was a British Conservative politician. He was MP for Huddersfield West from 1979 until the seat was abolished in 1983. He was then elected for Littleborough and Saddleworth and held the seat until his death in 1995.
Geoffrey Dickens
New constituency
Constituency abolished
26 August 1931
London, England
17 May 1995 (aged 63)
Hertfordshire, England
2
Dickens is known for his anti-paedophile work, including the naming of diplomat Sir Peter Hayman as a paedophile in the House of Commons.
Early life[edit]
Dickens was born in London and fostered until he was eight years old. He never had contact with his mother afterwards.[1] He was educated at schools at East Lane in Wembley and at Acton Technical College. He contracted polio when he was 13, for which he had to spend two years in hospital.
During his youth Dickens became a heavyweight boxer, sparring with Don Cockell and Henry Cooper. He had 60 bouts, of which he won 40.[1] He worked as an Aviation Design Draughtsman at BSP Industries in Borehamwood, Herts, whom he represented as a talented goalkeeper; he became a member of St Albans Rural District Council from 1967 to 1974, and was its chairman in 1970–71. He also was a member of Hertfordshire County Council in 1970–1975.[1]
In 1972 Dickens was awarded the Royal Humane Society's Testimonial on Vellum after he saved two boys and a man from drowning in the sea off Majorca.[1]
Member of Parliament[edit]
A Conservative politician, Dickens stood unsuccessfully for Middlesbrough in February 1974 (coming second out of two, behind Labour, on 33.7%)[2] and for Ealing North in October 1974 (finishing second of three, with 39.7%).[3] He won Huddersfield West in 1979 but this seat was abolished after boundary reviews. He was selected as the Conservative candidate for Littleborough and Saddleworth, which he won in 1983.[1] Described as "Falstaffian" and "the original 'rent-a-quote' man",[1] over his time in parliament he campaigned for causes as diverse as the return of hanging and the banning of teddy bears.[1] He indicated in a 1987 BBC Heart of the Matter documentary that consideration should be given to re-criminalising homosexuality to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS,[4] and opposed the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) and ordination of gay priests.[5] He once held a press conference announcing an affair without, apparently, warning his wife.[6] He served on the Commons Energy Select Committee.[1]
Legacy[edit]
The journalist Patrick Cosgrave said of Dickens in his obituary: "Nobody thought more highly of his capacities than Dickens himself."[1] Michael Brown, who had been his whip, remembered "a superb constituency man who held down a Tory majority in difficult northern, working-class seats..."[1] Tristan Garel-Jones wrote that "Despite the conscious self-deprecation, he was shrewder than he let on."[1]
Personal life and death[edit]
Dickens married Norma Boothby in 1956 and the couple had two children. He died from liver cancer in Hertfordshire on 17 May 1995, at the age of 63.[1][18] Controversially, his Liberal Democrat successor, Chris Davies, openly campaigned for election during Dickens's illness.[19]