Lord Hoyle, JP 1930-2024

 The Lord Hoyle, JP, life peer and former Labour MP, died 6 April, 2024, aged 94.

Eric Douglas Harvey Hoyle, Baron Hoyle was born 17 February, 1930. He was chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party from 1992 to 1997 and a lord-in-waiting from 1997 to 1999. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Nelson and Colne from 1974 to 1979 and Warrington North from 1981 to 1997.

Doug Hoyle first stood for Parliament at Clitheroe in 1964, but came second. In 1970, he first fought Nelson and Colne, and was defeated by the Conservative incumbent David Waddington by 1,410 votes. He fought the seat again in February 1974, and reduced Waddington's margin to 177. He was finally elected at the general election of October 1974 for Nelson and Colne by 669 votes; this was the first Labour gain to be announced on election night. Hoyle narrowly lost his seat at the general election of 1979, but returned to Parliament in 1981 when he saw off a strong challenge from Roy Jenkins in a traditionally safe Labour seat. This was a notable by election in Warrington when enthusiasm for the newly created Social Democratic Party was at its peak. Constituency boundaries were redrawn for the general election of 1983, when he became MP for Warrington North.

Hoyle retired from the House of Commons at the general election of 1997, and on 14 May 1997, he was created a life peer as Baron Hoyle, of Warrington in the County of Cheshire. He retired from the Lords on 25 June 2023.

Lord Hoyle was a son of William Hoyle and his wife Leah Ellen. He married in 1953, Pauline Spencer (who died in 1991). His only son is Sir Lindsay Hoyle, MP (born 10 June, 1957), who has been Member of Parliament for Chorley since 1997 and Speaker of the House of Commons since 2019.

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