Preston-born peer who served all three political parties dies after fall on way home from House of Lords
Peer was an MP for Labour, the SDP and Conservatives during long political career
A Grimsargh-born peer who served as an MP for both Labour and the Conservatives has died at the age of 87, his family has announced.
Former minister John Horam died at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London, after falling on the way home from a day working at the House of Lords on July 2.
Despite receiving care from paramedics and hospital staff, he did not regain consciousness, his family said.
Born in Grimsargh, his first job was working on developing the After Eight mint for Rowntree before a stint in journalism.
He was the Labour and later Social Democratic Party (SDP) MP for Gateshead between 1970 and 1983, and Conservative MP for Orpington from 1992 to 2010, serving as a minister in Labour and Conservative governments.
He was created a working life peer as Baron Horam of Grimsargh in 2013.
“John’s widow Judith and stepsons Fraser and Lincoln Jopp would like to thank the paramedics, police and all the staff at St Mary’s for the immaculate care John received,” a family statement said.
Horam served under former Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan and ex-Tory PM John Major.
He was also an MP for the Social Democratic Party (SDP) the forerunners of the Liberal Democrats.
As a boy, he attended a private school in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, where he was head boy before going on to study economics at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge.
He went to work for sweet makers Rowntree where he was in charge of the market research for the newly-created After Eight mints.
He then went into journalism, working at the Financial Times and the Economist, before a career in politics beckoned.
He was elected as Labour MP for Gateshead West at the 1970 general election and served in the Callaghan government.
In 1981, he was one of the first Labour rebels to join the splinter SDP party and was their spokesman for economic affairs, In 1983 he lost his Gateshead seat.
Shortly before the 1987 general election, Horam joined the Conservatives and in 1992 was elected to the seat of Orpington in Kent.
Despite his constituency being only a short train journey from the House of Commons, Horam claimed expenses for the second home that he maintained there.