Geoffrey Dickens

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Geoffrey Dickens
MP
File:Geoffreydickens.jpg
Member of Parliament
for Littleborough and Saddleworth
In office
9 June 1983 – 17 May 1995
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byChris Davies
Member of Parliament
for Huddersfield West
In office
3 May 1979 – 13 May 1983
Preceded byKenneth Lomas
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born
Geoffrey Kenneth Dickens

(1931-08-26)26 August 1931
London, England
Died17 May 1995(1995-05-17) (aged 63)
Hertfordshire, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Norma Boothby
​
(m. 1956)​
Children2

Geoffrey Kenneth Dickens (26 August 1931 – 17 May 1995) was a British Conservative politician. He was MP for Huddersfield West from 1979 until the seat was abolished in 1983. He was then elected for Littleborough and Saddleworth and held the seat until his death in 1995. Dickens is known for his anti-paedophile work, including the naming of diplomat Sir Peter Hayman as a paedophile in the House of Commons.

Early life

Dickens was born in London and fostered until he was eight years old. He never had contact with his mother afterwards.[1] He was educated at schools at East Lane in Wembley and at Acton Technical College. He contracted polio when he was 13, for which he had to spend two years in hospital. During his youth Dickens became a heavyweight boxer, sparring with Don Cockell and Henry Cooper. He had 60 bouts, of which he won 40.[1] He worked as an Aviation Design Draughtsman at BSP Industries in Borehamwood, Herts, whom he represented as a talented goalkeeper; he became a member of St Albans Rural District Council from 1967 to 1974, and was its chairman in 1970–71. He also was a member of Hertfordshire County Council in 1970–1975.[1] In 1972 Dickens was awarded the Royal Humane Society's Testimonial on Vellum after he saved two boys and a man from drowning in the sea off Majorca.[1]

Member of Parliament

Paedophile ring investigation

Main article: Westminster paedophile dossier

In 1983, Dickens claimed there was a paedophile network involving "big, big names – people in positions of power, influence and responsibility" and threatened to name them in the Commons.[2] The next year, he successfully campaigned for the banning of the Paedophile Information Exchange organisation, of which Hayman was a closet member. Dickens had a thirty-minute meeting with the Home Secretary, Leon Brittan, after giving him a dossier containing the child abuse allegations. Although Dickens said he was "encouraged" by the meeting, he later expressed concern that PIE had not (by then) been banned; though it was disbanded in 1984.[3] The Labour MP Tom Watson asked the Home Office for Dickens' dossier in February 2013.[3] A Home Office review that year concluded that any information requiring investigation was referred to the police, but revealed that Mr Dickens' dossier was "not retained".[2][4] After the issue had been raised again by Labour MP Simon Danczuk in July 2014, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, Lord Macdonald, said the circumstances in which the dossier had gone missing were alarming, and recommended an inquiry into the fate of the dossier.[5] Prime Minister David Cameron asked the Home Office Permanent Secretary to investigate what had happened to the missing dossier. Danczuk responded that another internal inquiry was merely trying to limit damage, and that a public inquiry was necessary to retain public confidence.[6] The missing dossier has been linked with ongoing investigations into the Elm Guest House child abuse scandal.[7][8] In 2015, a file from 1981 was released into the National Archives titled SECURITY. Sir Peter Hayman: allegations against former public official of unnatural sexual proclivities; security aspects, showing that the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had been briefed on the matter before the allegations were made public by Dickens.[9][10]

Legacy

The journalist Patrick Cosgrave said of Dickens in his obituary: "Nobody thought more highly of his capacities than Dickens himself."[1] Michael Brown, who had been his whip, remembered "a superb constituency man who held down a Tory majority in difficult northern, working-class seats..."[1] Tristan Garel-Jones wrote that "Despite the conscious self-deprecation, he was shrewder than he let on."[1]

Personal life and death

Dickens married Norma Boothby in 1956 and the couple had two children. He died from liver cancer in Hertfordshire on 17 May 1995, at the age of 63.[1][11] Controversially, his Liberal Democrat successor, Chris Davies, openly campaigned for election during Dickens's illness.[12]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "OBITUARIES Geoffrey Dickens". The Independent. 18 May 1995. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Home Office under fire over lost paedophile dossier". BBC News. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Ind2
  4. ↑ Rowena Mason (2 July 2014). "Ex-minister Lord Brittan under scrutiny over 1980s dossier of sex abuse claims". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  5. ↑ Georgia Graham and James Kirkup (2 July 2014). "Launch formal investigation into the lost paedophile dossier, says former DPP". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Rajeev Syal (4 July 2014). "David Cameron asks top civil servant to look into Westminster child abuse claims". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  7. ↑ Whitehead, Tom (6 July 2014). "Westminster paedophile ring allegations: timeline". The Sunday Telegraph. London. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  8. ↑ Boffey, Daniel (5 July 2014). "Edwardian house at heart of a long-simmering sex scandal". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "Westminster 'paedophile ring' investigation: Ex-MI6 spy Sir Peter Hayman named in dossier". The Independent. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "Diplomat Sir Peter Hayman 'engaged in sexual perversion'". BBC News. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  12. ↑ "The Economist". Charles Reynell. 16 March 1995 – via Google Books.

Sources

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Huddersfield West
1979–1983 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Littleborough and Saddleworth
1983–1995 		Succeeded by
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