Albert Edward Booth (28 May 1928 – 6 February 2010) was a British left-wing Labour Party politician and cabinet minister.

Early life

Booth was born in Acomb, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, in 1928. He was raised in Hampshire and South Shields, and educated at Marine School, South Shields, and Rutherford College of Technology (now Northumbria University). He was a design draughtsman. He served as a councillor on Tynemouth Council 1962–65.

Parliamentary career

Booth contested Tynemouth in 1964. He was Member of Parliament for Barrow-in-Furness from 1966 to 1983, and was Secretary of State for Employment from 1976 to 1979 serving under James Callaghan. He also acted as the Labour Party's national Treasurer between 1983 and 1984. After boundary changes, his seat was renamed Barrow and Furness, for the 1983 General Election but despite a 1979 majority of 7,741 he lost it to the Conservative Cecil Franks. This has often been attributed to Labour's unilateralist policy of nuclear disarmament, and Booth himself identified with that, leading a CND march through his constituency. However, his constituents were reliant on the defence industries, particularly shipbuilding, and this led to one of Labour's most unexpected defeats of the election. However, a campaign against him centred in a local Catholic church, highlighting his record of voting in favour of women's right to choose to have an abortion, was also a significant factor. (Booth was a lay preacher in the Methodist Church.)

Later career

Booth made it through to the final round in the Labour selection for Sunderland South ahead of the 1987 election, but lost out by four votes to Chris Mullin. He unsuccessfully contested Warrington South in 1987.

Personal life and death

In 1957, Booth married Joan Atkinson (née Amis); they had three sons and were married until her death in 2008. Booth died at the Princess Royal University Hospital in Locksbottom, London, on 6 February 2010, at the age of 81; his health had been in decline due to a series of illnesses, including prostate cancer.