Patrick Duffy (British politician) facts for kids

Sir Albert Edward Patrick Duffy KCSG (born 17 June 1920) is a British economist and Labour Party politician. He is also known as Patrick Duffy. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for two different areas. First, he was the MP for Colne Valley from 1963 to 1966. Later, he represented Sheffield Attercliffe from 1970 to 1992.

Beyond being an MP, Duffy held important roles. He was a Minister of the Navy in the 1970s. In the 1980s, he became president of the NATO Assembly. After another former MP, Ronald Atkins, passed away in 2020, Sir Patrick Duffy became Britain's oldest living former MP.

Patrick Duffy's Early Life and Education

Patrick Duffy was born in Wigan, Lancashire, England, in June 1920. His parents, James and Margaret Duffy, were Irish Catholic immigrants. They came from a village called Raith in County Mayo, Ireland.

His father, James, and grandfather, also named Patrick, moved to England to work on farms. Later, James worked as a miner in Wigan. In 1925, his family moved to Rossington, a mining village near Doncaster in South Yorkshire. As of 2020, Patrick Duffy still lives in Doncaster.

Serving in World War II

Duffy joined the Fleet Air Arm during World War II. This was a part of the Royal Navy that operated aircraft. He left the military in 1946. By then, he had reached the rank of Commanding Officer at the Naval School of Air Radar.

Studying at University

Patrick Duffy became interested in politics while studying at the London School of Economics. He earned his degree and a Doctorate of Law there. He also studied at Columbia University in New York.

After his studies, he became a professor at Leeds University. He taught there from 1950 to 1963 and again from 1967 to 1970. He took a break from teaching when he first became an MP. He also worked as a visiting professor at other universities, including Drew University in New Jersey. Later, he taught at the Thunderbird School of Global Management and Wheaton College in Illinois.

Patrick Duffy's Political Journey

Duffy first tried to become an MP in 1950 for the area of Tiverton. This was while he was finishing his studies. Tiverton was a very safe seat for the Conservative Party. Despite this, he ran for the seat two more times, in 1951 and 1955.

Becoming an MP for Colne Valley

In 1963, Duffy moved to the area of Colne Valley. This seat was more likely to be won by the Labour Party. He won the election there in 1963. He remained the MP for Colne Valley until the 1966 general election. In that election, he lost to Richard Wainwright from the Liberal Party.

Representing Sheffield Attercliffe

In 1970, Duffy was chosen to run for the Sheffield Attercliffe seat. This was a very safe seat for the Labour Party. He won the election and became the MP for Sheffield Attercliffe. He kept this seat in every election he fought until he stepped down in 1992. He always won with a large number of votes.

Roles in Government and Opposition

From 1974 to 1976, Duffy was a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence. This meant he helped the Defence Secretary. From 1976 to 1979, he was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the Royal Navy. This was under Jim Callaghan's government.

After the Labour Party lost the 1979 election, Duffy became an Opposition Spokesman on Defence. This meant he spoke for the Labour Party on defence issues. He held this role from 1979 to 1981, and again from 1983 to 1984.

Political Views and Retirement

Patrick Duffy was known as a "moderate" within the Labour Party. He strongly supported Britain being part of Europe. He also opposed getting rid of nuclear weapons without other countries doing the same. He supported Britain leaving the European Union in 2016. He felt that the creation of the Eurozone made the European Union less practical.

In 1981, an IRA hunger striker named Bobby Sands died in prison. Patrick Duffy was the only British MP to speak out against Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher about this. This caused a lot of discussion. However, Duffy and Thatcher later became friends.

Duffy decided to leave Parliament in 1992. He had hoped to join the House of Lords, which is another part of the UK Parliament. However, the Labour Party leader at the time, Neil Kinnock, did not support this.

Contributions Outside Parliament

Patrick Duffy was the president of the North Atlantic Assembly. This is the parliamentary part of NATO. During his time, delegations from Warsaw Pact nations (countries that were rivals of NATO) visited for the first time.

Leading International Efforts

In 1991, he led the first Western parliamentary group to visit the Kremlin in Russia. That same year, Queen Elizabeth II made him a knight. This was to recognize his important work with NATO and his help in strengthening the Western Alliance.

Duffy was president of the NATO Assembly when the Cold War was ending in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Many believe he played a big part in bringing the Cold War to an end. He even had a private meeting with Pope John Paul II in 1989.

Continuing Academic and Advisory Roles

In 1993, he received an honorary degree from Dominican University in Illinois. He also served as the Deputy Chair of the Atlantic Council of the UK.

As of 2017, he was still involved with several universities. He was a member of advisory boards for defence and international security studies at Hull University, Lancaster University, and York University. He also lectured at Azusa Pacific University in 2007.

In 2020, Duffy said he would "never leave Labour." At 100 years old, he was interested in the political competition between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Keir Starmer. He thought Starmer was much better than the previous leader, Jeremy Corbyn. In 2024, he confirmed he was still a strong Labour supporter.

Patrick Duffy's Personal Life

In 2014, Patrick Duffy wrote his autobiography called Growing Up Irish in Britain, British in Ireland and in Washington, Moscow, Rome and Sydney. In 2024, he published a second book, From Wigan to Westminster: Hot Wars, Cold Wars and the Carrier Strike Groups.

Faith and Longevity

Duffy is a practicing Catholic. In his 80s, he completed the El Camino Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage for six years in a row. This involved walking 25 kilometers (about 15.5 miles) a day for 35 days. In 2017, at age 96, he was honored as a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (KCSG).

He has never married. He turned 100 on 17 June 2020 and celebrated his birthday at his home in Doncaster. He also has a home in County Roscommon in Ireland, where he spends a lot of time. When asked about the secret to his long life, he said, "I never smoked, I never used my ministerial car when I could walk – I never used any such transport when I could avoid doing so – and I read."

In December 2020, after his former colleague Ronald Atkins passed away, Patrick Duffy became the oldest living former MP in Britain.