Denis Healey passes away aged 98

Denis Healey, who served the Labour Party as both Chancellor and deputy leader, has died at the age of 98. He was an MP for forty years, having being elected as the member for Leeds South East in 1952 and Leeds East in 1955, and standing down in 1992. He then became a peer later that year.

Throughout his forty-year career as an MP, Healey served as Secretary of State for Defence (1964-1970) under Harold Wilson, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1974-79) also under Wilson, Shadow Foreign Secretary on three consecutive occasions (1959-1961, 1970-72, 1980-1987) and he was Deputy Leader to party Leader Michael Foot for three years (1980-1983).

Dubbed by some as “the best prime minister we never had”, Healey was known not only for his politics but also his sense of humour. Talking about being attacked by his friend Geoffrey Howe – a Conservative MP who holds the record of being Margaret Thatcher’s longest-serving minister – Healey said it was “like being savaged by a dead sheep.”

Speaking about the possibility of life after death in an interview with the Telegraph, Healey looked back over his own life, most of which he spent with his wife Edna until her death in 2010, with fondness: “I am not a theological Christian but I am a great believer in the life of the spirit. Whether life is possible after death, I haven’t a clue. But life on earth has been very pleasant.”

Healey was a strong supporter of the UK possessing a nuclear deterrent. During a Commons debate in 1969, when he was Defence Secretary, he commented: “Once we cut defence expenditure to the extent where our security is imperilled, we have no houses, we have no hospitals, we have no schools. We have a heap of cinders.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was an MP at the same time as Healey following his election in 1983, reacted to the news, saying:

“Denis Healey was a giant of the Labour Party whose record of service to his party and his country stands as his testament.

“He distinguished himself with his military service during the Second World War and continued that commitment to the British people as a Labour politician at the highest levels of government. His wit and personality transcended politics itself, making him one of the most recognisable politicians of his era.

“Speaking personally, we had many interesting conversations when I was first elected to Parliament in 1983 and I found him a decent and very knowledgeable man who I enjoyed engaging with, particularly in his work as Shadow Foreign Secretary.

“Labour is built on people with the commitment of those who devote their lives to public service, as Denis Healey did. 

“The thoughts of everyone in the Labour Party are with his family at this time.”