Eric Heffer

Eric Heffer
Shadow Secretary of State for Housing and Construction
In office 31 October 1983 – 26 October 1984
Leader	Neil Kinnock
Preceded by	Post created
Succeeded by	Post abolished
Chairman of the Labour Party
In office 31 October 1983 – 26 October 1984
Leader	Neil Kinnock
Preceded by	Sam McCluskie
Succeeded by	Alan Hadden
Shadow Minister for Europe
In office 24 November 1981 – 31 October 1983
Leader	Michael Foot
Succeeded by	Robin Cook
Minister of State for Industry
In office 7 March 1974 – 9 April 1975
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	Tom Boardman
Succeeded by	Gerald Kaufman
Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton
In office 16 October 1964 – 27 May 1991
Preceded by	Kenneth Thompson
Succeeded by	Peter Kilfoyle
Personal details
Born	12 January 1922 Hertford, England, UK
Died	27 May 1991 (aged 69) Liverpool, England, UK
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour

Eric Samuel Heffer (12 January 1922 – 27 May 1991) was a British socialist politician. He was Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton from 1964 until his death. His working-class background and consciousness fed into his left-wing politics, but to an extent disguised the depth of his knowledge: with 12,000 books in his home, he admitted to being a bibliophile. Due to his experience as a professional joiner, he made a speciality of the construction industry and its employment practices, but was also concerned with trade union issues in general. He changed his view on the European Common Market from being an outspoken supporter to an outspoken opponent, and served a brief period in government in the mid-1970s. His later career was dominated by his contribution to debates within the Labour Party and he defended the far left-dominated Liverpool City Council.

Heffer was born in Hertford into a working-class family. His grandfather was a bricklayer and later a railway signalman, and his father was a boot-maker and repairer, although he owned his own business. In later life Heffer proudly declared "I am therefore completely proletarian in background". Heffer's family were members of the High church tendency of the Church of England, and Heffer himself was a choirboy in the local church: it was there that Heffer led his first strike at the age of 8, and, he said, first experienced victimisation by his employer. Despite growing up in the 1930s, his family did not experience much of the economic privations common in other parts of the country. Typically for a working-class boy he attended school at Longmore Senior School, Hertford, only until the age of 14.

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