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Denis Healey RIP

edited October 2015 in Not Sports Related
Well, given my username I had to start this!

RIP Denis.

Edit. For all you under 40s, Mike Yarwood did a famous Healey impersonation when he always said "you silly billy".
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Comments

  • Beach master at the Anzio landings.

    Labour MP of the old school.

    RIP
  • RIP. From a time when MP's were respectful and respected...
  • Old school politics. RIP
  • edited October 2015
    Boysie said:

    RIP. From a time when MP's were respectful and respected...

    I'm a big Healey fan, but I'm not sure your characterisation of the man or the era is entirely accurate ...

    Think he compared an attack by Geoffrey Howe to being "savaged by a dead sheep". He was a bit of a bruiser, which he often needed to be to deal with some of the people in his own party, never mind the other lot.
  • RIP Dennis. How he was never elected as leader of the Labour Party is a mystery really.
  • Had a lot of time for him

    RIP
  • At one time the owner of England's most famous eyebrows .. A Labour party old school toughie .. R I P
  • edited October 2015

    Well, given my username I had to start this!

    RIP Denis.

    Edit. For all you under 40s, Mike Yarwood did a famous Healey impersonation when he always said "you silly billy".

    "Denis Stealey" (when he was Chancellor)

    RIP
  • RIP Dennis. How he was never elected as leader of the Labour Party is a mystery really.

    He was beaten by a left winger, who brought in a very left wing manifesto and got slaughtered at the next election. Of course the Labour party would never make the same mistake...
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  • edited October 2015
    RIP - Great respect for him AND I like my socialists spit roasted over a burning fire or tied to a lampost outside of Eton and made to watch terrible Tories walk in and out all day!
  • Mottingham boy too
  • RIP

    Respected as an MP as many have mentioned.
  • Can't be too many people who have packed so much in to a wonderful, long life. Could even have been more, including Prime Minister, if he had beaten Michael Foot to the Labour leadership.

    Rest In Peace Mr Healey.
  • RIP , much respected politician.
  • RIP

    I love this quote from Denis Healey, describing David Owen. “The good fairy gave him thick dark locks, matinee idol features and a frightening intellect. Unfortunately, the bad fairy also made him a shit.”
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  • edited October 2015

    RIP Dennis. How he was never elected as leader of the Labour Party is a mystery really.

    Because he fought a pathetic campaign against Foot, he tried to be all things to all men (Andy Burnham's error too) rather than be himself and preach what he actually believed in. If he had won, as a man of his standing should have done, there would have been no SDP. He may not have won the '83 Election but David Owen may well have won the '87 one and almost definitely 1992. The Labour Party would not have lost the brilliant Shirley Williams and New Labour may never have happened.
  • A respected politician and man. Compared to most present day politicians, Healey was an intellectual giant - indeed, 'Darling Harold's' cabinet of the 1960s had a huge amount of intellectual firepower compared to later models.

    Healey also, of course, came from an era where politicians had a bit of life experience (in his case, rather a lot), rather than pursuing a pre-determined path from public/private school to Oxbridge to a career in politics, as is now the norm.
  • Great political character from my youth. Great eyebrows too. RIP.
  • 98 a good age. He was a good egg and even had a catchphrase - 'who's a silly billy then'. Well he wasn't a comedian! R.I.P.
  • edited October 2015
    Riviera said:

    RIP Dennis. How he was never elected as leader of the Labour Party is a mystery really.

    Because he fought a pathetic campaign against Foot, he tried to be all things to all men (Andy Burnham's error too) rather than be himself and preach what he actually believed in. If he had won, as a man of his standing should have done, there would have been no SDP. He may not have won the '83 Election but David Owen may well have won the '87 one and almost definitely 1992. The Labour Party would not have lost the brilliant Shirley Williams and New Labour may never have happened.
    Agree with everything apart from the comparison to Burnham and that he fought a bad campaign. Part of the reason Denis lost was because he didn't try to build bridges.

    Foot was the last leader to be solely elected by MP's and it was once said that Denis didn't suffer wise men let alone fools gladly.

    In my view there were two reasons why some moderate MP's voted against him.

    The first group did it to keep the peace. Foot promised to support them in reselection battles with left wing activists.

    The second group were already planning to defect and voted for Foot as a way of quickening the process and give their new project some impetus.

    Unlike Burnham and for that matter Cooper and Kendall, Denis did well when the franchise extended. Forget the rhetoric but Tony Benn and his people fought against OMOV. Every Union bar the NUM who balloted their members voted for Healey. Most local Labour members did as well.

    The only reason Benn got so close was that the T&G choose to ignore the view of their members and 80% of constituency parties refused to extend the franchise.

    I really wish moderate Labour had such an obvious big fish now.
  • Riviera said:

    RIP Dennis. How he was never elected as leader of the Labour Party is a mystery really.

    Because he fought a pathetic campaign against Foot, he tried to be all things to all men (Andy Burnham's error too) rather than be himself and preach what he actually believed in. If he had won, as a man of his standing should have done, there would have been no SDP. He may not have won the '83 Election but David Owen may well have won the '87 one and almost definitely 1992. The Labour Party would not have lost the brilliant Shirley Williams and New Labour may never have happened.
    Who are you and what have you done with Chirpy?
  • My favourite politician. He would have been a great PM, but as Richard said, he wasn't good at building factions or sucking up to people he didn't like or respect.
  • RIP

    Whatever one's own views undeniably a major political influence for most of the second half of the 20th Century and recalling him emphasises how incredibly lightweight the majority if not all of today's politicians, of all colours, really are
  • As this is a Charlton forum it is interesting to note that there were Charlton fans prominent in both the Benn and Healey camps in the 1981 Deputy Leadership contest .

    Current MP Roger Godsiff supported Denis and Nigel Williamson who I understand used to post on here was in the Benn Campaign .
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