Ministerial offices

Leader of the House of Commons
In office 8 April 1976 – 4 May 1979
Prime Minister	James Callaghan
Preceded by	Edward Short
Succeeded by	Norman St John-Stevas
Lord President of the Council
In office 8 April 1976 – 4 May 1979
Prime Minister	James Callaghan
Preceded by	Edward Short
Succeeded by	Christopher Soames
Secretary of State for Employment
In office 5 March 1974 – 8 April 1976
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	William Whitelaw
Succeeded by	Albert Booth

Parliamentary offices

Member of Parliament for Blaenau Gwent Ebbw Vale (1960–1983)
In office 18 November 1960 – 16 March 1992
Preceded by	Aneurin Bevan
Succeeded by	Llew Smith
Member of Parliament for Plymouth Devonport
In office 5 July 1945 – 6 May 1955
Preceded by	Leslie Hore-Belisha
Succeeded by	Joan Vickers

Personal details

Born

Michael Mackintosh Foot

23 July 1913
Plymouth, England

Died

3 March 2010 (aged 96)
London, England

Resting place

Golders Green Crematorium, London

Political party

Labour

Spouse

Jill Craigie

(m. 1949; died 1999)

Parent

Isaac Foot (father)

Relatives

Sir Dingle Foot (brother)
The Lord Caradon (brother)
The Lord Foot (brother)
Paul Foot (nephew)
Sarah Foot (niece)
Oliver Foot (nephew)

Education

Plymouth College
Forres School
Leighton Park School

Alma mater

Wadham College, Oxford

Signature

Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 1913 – 3 March 2010) was a British politician. He led the Labour Party and was the Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983.

Foot started his career as a journalist for newspapers like Tribune and the Evening Standard. In 1940, he secretly co-wrote a book called Guilty Men. This book strongly criticised the policy of appeasement towards Hitler.

He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for many years. He was an MP from 1945 to 1955, and again from 1960 until he retired in 1992. Michael Foot was known for his powerful speeches. He was often linked to the left-wing side of the Labour Party.

Foot strongly supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). This group wanted Britain to get rid of its nuclear weapons. He also believed Britain should leave the European Economic Community (EEC). In 1974, he joined the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Employment. Later, he was Leader of the House of Commons from 1976 to 1979. He also served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980.

Michael Foot became Labour leader in 1980. He was chosen as a compromise candidate to unite the party. However, his strong left-wing views and leadership style were sometimes criticised. He was even nicknamed "Worzel Gummidge" because of his often untidy appearance. In 1981, some members left the Labour Party to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Foot led Labour into the 1983 general election. The party received its lowest share of votes since 1918. They also won very few parliamentary seats. After this defeat, he resigned as leader. Neil Kinnock took over from him.

Michael Foot also wrote several books. These included Guilty Men and biographies of Jonathan Swift and Aneurin Bevan.

Michael Foot's Family Life
Michael Foot's Early Years and Education
Michael Foot's Journalism Career
Michael Foot as a Member of Parliament
- Serving in Government
Michael Foot's Labour Leadership
The 1983 General Election
Life After Leadership and Retirement
Michael Foot and Plymouth Argyle Football Club
Michael Foot's Personal Life
Michael Foot's Health
Michael Foot's Death
Images for kids
See also

Michael Foot's Family Life

Foot was born in Plymouth, England, on 23 July 1913. He was the fifth of seven children. His father, Isaac Foot, was a lawyer and a Liberal Party politician. Isaac Foot was an MP and also the Lord Mayor of Plymouth.

Michael Foot had several siblings who also became well-known.

Dingle Foot was an MP for both the Liberal and Labour parties.
Hugh Foot, Baron Caradon was the Governor of Cyprus. He also represented the UK at the United Nations.
John Foot, Baron Foot was another Liberal politician.

Michael Foot was also the uncle of the journalist Paul Foot.

Michael Foot's Early Years and Education

Foot went to several schools, including Plymouth College Preparatory School. His headmaster once wrote that he was "the leading boy in the school in every way." He then studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Wadham College, Oxford. While at Oxford, he became president of the Oxford Union, a famous debating society.

After university in 1934, he worked as a shipping clerk. He saw a lot of poverty and unemployment in Liverpool. This experience deeply affected him. It made him change his political views from Liberal to socialist.

Foot joined the Labour Party. He first tried to become an MP in 1935, at age 22. He spoke out against rearmament, which meant building up military weapons. He believed that the arms race in Europe needed to stop. He also supported getting rid of nuclear weapons on one side, even if other countries didn't.

He became a journalist, working for the New Statesman and then Tribune. He left Tribune briefly in 1938 over disagreements about political strategy. Foot described himself as a libertarian socialist. This means he believed in both freedom and socialist ideas.

Foot was also strongly against imperialism. He was very involved with the India League. This group worked for India's freedom from British rule. After India became independent in 1947, he became the chairman of the India League.

Michael Foot's Journalism Career

Michael Foot's signature

With the help of Aneurin Bevan, Foot started working for Lord Beaverbrook's Evening Standard newspaper. When World War II began, Foot tried to join the military. However, he was not accepted because he had severe asthma.

In 1940, Foot and two other journalists wrote a book called Guilty Men. They used the pen-name "Cato." The book criticised the British government's policy of appeasement towards Hitler. It also criticised the slow pace of re-arming Britain. The book became a huge bestseller.

Lord Beaverbrook made Foot the editor of the Evening Standard in 1942. Foot was only 28 years old at the time. During the war, Foot defended the Daily Mirror newspaper. The Daily Mirror had criticised the government's handling of the war.

After the war in 1945, Foot left the Standard. He became a columnist for the Daily Herald, which was linked to the Labour Party. He later returned to Tribune as editor from 1948 to 1952, and again from 1955 to 1960. Throughout his life, he often spoke out against large companies controlling the news.

Michael Foot as a Member of Parliament

Foot first became an MP for Plymouth Devonport in the 1945 general election. He held this seat until 1955. He was a close ally of Aneurin Bevan, a key figure on the Labour Party's left wing. Foot encouraged Bevan to resign from the Cabinet. This was in protest against charges for prescriptions in the National Health Service.

Before the Cold War started, Foot supported a "third way" foreign policy for Europe. However, after communist governments took power in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, he became strongly anti-communist. He eventually supported NATO, a military alliance.

Foot was a critic of how Western countries handled the Korean War. He also opposed West Germany re-arming in the 1950s. In 1957, he helped found the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). Under his leadership, Tribune opposed both the Suez Crisis and the Soviet Union's actions in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

Foot returned to Parliament in 1960. He won a special election in Ebbw Vale. He lost the Labour Party's support briefly in 1961. This was because he voted against the party leadership. He rejoined the Labour group in Parliament in 1963.

Harold Wilson, who became Labour leader, offered Foot a position in his government. But Foot turned it down. He preferred to be a leading voice of the Labour left from the back benches. He opposed the government's plans to limit immigration. He also opposed joining the Common Market (now the European Union). Foot was against the Vietnam War and Rhodesia's independence. He also spoke out against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.

Serving in Government

After 1970, the Labour Party shifted more to the left. When Labour returned to power in 1974, Harold Wilson made Foot the Secretary of State for Employment. This role was meant to please the left wing of the party and the trade unions. He worked to keep the trade unions' support for the government.

Foot was responsible for important laws. These included the Health and Safety at Work Act. He also helped pass laws that protected workers' rights. These laws included protections against being fired for pregnancy. They also introduced maternity pay.

Foot was a main leader of the "no" campaign in the 1975 referendum. This vote was about whether Britain should stay in the European Communities. When Wilson retired in 1976, Foot ran for party leader. He won the first round of voting but was defeated by James Callaghan.

Later that year, Foot was elected Deputy Leader. In Callaghan's government, Foot became Leader of the House of Commons. His job was to guide government proposals through Parliament. He managed to pass many laws, often by very small majorities. These included increases in pensions and benefits. He also helped create the Police Complaints Board. The government also expanded comprehensive schools.

Foot helped establish a legal duty to provide housing for homeless people. He also supported universal Child Benefit. He oversaw the nationalisation of shipbuilding. This meant the government took control of shipbuilding companies. He also helped abolish private pay beds in NHS hospitals. The government fell in 1979 by just one vote.

Michael Foot's Labour Leadership

Michael Foot as Labour leader in 1981

After Labour lost the 1979 election, James Callaghan resigned as party leader. Michael Foot was elected Labour leader on 10 November 1980. He won against Denis Healey in the second round of voting. Foot was seen as a candidate who could unite the party. At the time, the party was divided by left-wing members.

These left-wing members wanted big changes. They called for MPs who supported Callaghan's policies to be replaced. They wanted new MPs who would support getting rid of nuclear weapons. They also wanted Britain to leave the European Communities. And they wanted more industries to be owned by the government.

When Foot became leader, he was 67 years old and somewhat frail. Britain was in a recession in 1980. This was blamed on the Conservative government's economic policies. As a result, Labour was ahead of the Conservatives in opinion polls. After Foot became leader, polls showed Labour with a big lead. This gave him hope of becoming Prime Minister.

When Foot became leader, a Conservative politician called him "Worzel Gummidge". This nickname stuck, especially after a public event in 1981. He wore a coat that some people said looked like a "donkey jacket." This led to criticism in some newspapers. Later, a puppet show called Spitting Image often showed him as a scarecrow.

Soon after he became leader, a major crisis hit. On 25 January 1981, four senior Labour politicians left the party. They formed the Social Democratic Party (SDP). This split happened because the Labour Party was moving further to the left. The SDP gained a lot of support from the media. For a while, polls suggested the SDP could even win a general election.

Foot struggled to make a strong impact. He was often criticised for being ineffective. However, his speeches in the House of Commons were respected. Especially during the Falklands War in 1982. Some on the left criticised him for supporting Margaret Thatcher's decision to use military action.

The SDP's formation caused Labour's support to drop. Labour briefly regained a lead in early 1982. But when Britain won the Falklands War in June 1982, the Conservatives took a strong lead in the polls. It seemed certain that the Conservatives would win the next election.

There was talk that Labour MPs might replace Foot with Healey. This talk grew after Labour lost a special election in Bermondsey in 1983. However, Labour held onto another seat in Darlington. So, Foot remained leader for the 1983 general election.

The 1983 General Election

The Labour Party, led by Michael Foot, lost the 1983 general election. The Conservatives won by a large margin. This result had been widely expected. The only good news for Labour was that they remained the main opposition party. The SDP–Liberal Alliance got a similar number of votes. But they won far fewer parliamentary seats than Labour. Foot strongly criticised the Alliance. He said they took votes away from Labour, helping the Conservatives win more seats.

Foot resigned a few days after the election defeat. Neil Kinnock succeeded him as leader on 2 October 1983.

Life After Leadership and Retirement

After 1983, Foot took a less active role in Labour politics. He retired from the House of Commons in 1992. This was the year Labour lost to the Conservative Party for the fourth time in a row. However, Foot remained active in politics.

From 1987 to 1992, he was the oldest MP in Britain. He remained a well-known member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). He also wrote several books. These included highly praised biographies of Aneurin Bevan and H. G. Wells. Many of his friends believed he should have focused more on writing.

In the 1990s, Michael Foot became a supporter of pro-Europeanism. This meant he supported closer ties with Europe. He was also an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society. He was a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association. In 1988, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

In a poll of Labour Party members, he was voted the worst post-war Labour leader. However, he is remembered fondly in Parliament. He was liked and admired for his honesty, politeness, and kindness. A portrait of Foot now hangs in Portcullis House, Westminster.

Michael Foot and Plymouth Argyle Football Club

Foot was a very passionate supporter of Plymouth Argyle Football Club. He supported them since he was a child. He once joked that he would not die until he saw them play in the Premier League.

He served as a director of the club for several years. During his time, the club was promoted twice. For his 90th birthday, Foot was registered as an honorary player. He was given the shirt number 90. This made him the oldest registered professional player in football history.

Michael Foot's Personal Life

Foot was married to Jill Craigie from 1949 until her death in 1999. She was a film-maker, author, and historian. They did not have any children.

On his 93rd birthday in 2006, Michael Foot became the longest-lived leader of a major British political party. He passed Lord Callaghan's record.

Foot was a strong republican. This means he believed Britain should not have a monarch. However, he was well-liked by the Royal Family personally. He turned down honours from the Queen and the government several times. These included a knighthood and a peerage.

He was also an atheist. As of 2021, he was one of four Labour Party leaders to state they did not follow any religion.

Michael Foot's Health

Foot suffered from asthma and eczema. His asthma prevented him from serving in World War II.

In October 1963, he was in a car crash. He suffered serious injuries, including broken ribs and a broken leg. Foot used a walking stick for the rest of his life. After the accident, he stopped chain-smoking. His wife, Jill Craigie, also injured her hand in the crash.

In October 1976, Foot became blind in one eye. This was due to an attack of shingles.

Michael Foot's Death

Michael Foot died at his home in Hampstead, London, on 3 March 2010. He was 96 years old. The House of Commons was told the news later that day. Justice Secretary Jack Straw said the news would be received with great sadness. Foot's funeral was a non-religious service. It was held on 15 March 2010 at Golders Green Crematorium.

Images for kids

Michael Foot's signature

Michael Foot facts for kids

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