Michael O'Halloran (British politician)

Michael O'Halloran
Michael O'Halloran
Member of Parliament; for Islington North
	In office; 30 October 1969 – 9 June 1983
Preceded by	Gerry Reynolds
Succeeded by	Jeremy Corbyn
Personal details
Born	20 August 1933; County Clare, Ireland
Died	29 November 1999 (aged 66); County Wexford, Ireland
Political party	Labour (Before 1981); Social Democratic (1981–1983); independent Labour (1983–1999)

Michael Joseph O'Halloran (20 August 1933 – 29 November 1999) was a British politician. He was brought up in County Clare, Ireland, and, finding no employment, he "drifted to London" in 1948, aged 15, and worked as a railwayman until he entered politics.

He was elected Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North in a by-election in 1969 following the death of sitting MP Gerry Reynolds. He had previously been the secretary of the Constituency Labour Party. His selection over Keith Kyle was the subject of an investigation in the early 1970s by The Sunday Times newspaper. They highlighted his background with a local building company and the local Irish community and questioned the propriety of the tactics of his supporters during his selection as candidate. Regarding Northern Ireland he was staunchly pro-Nationalist and anti-Partition.^{[citation needed]} In his 14 years in parliament, O'Halloran only contributed twice to parliamentary debates.^[1]

O'Halloran was among the Labour MPs who defected to the new Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981. However, in 1983, the SDP chose John Grant, the MP for Islington Central (which was being abolished in boundary changes), to be its candidate in Islington North. O'Halloran left the SDP to stand as an independent Labour candidate in the 1983 general election. The official Labour candidate Jeremy Corbyn won while O'Halloran came in fourth with 11% of the vote. Grant came third with 22% of the vote.

He retired to County Wexford with his wife, and lived there until his death at age 66.

References

^ Bush, Stephen (4 February 2016). "Comrade Corbyn: a morality tale, of sorts". New Statesman. Retrieved 4 February 2016.

Times Guide to the House of Commons 1983
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Michael O'Halloran

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gerry Reynolds	Member of Parliament for Islington North 1969–1983	Succeeded by Jeremy Corbyn

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[1] Bush, Stephen (4 February 2016). "Comrade Corbyn: a morality tale, of sorts". New Statesman. Retrieved 4 February 2016.

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