Popular MP steeped in ‘Old Labour’
FRANK Dobson was the York-born son of a railwayman who rose to become Labour’s health secretary under Tony Blair’s government. Warm-hearted and amiable, with a fondness for filthy jokes, he was a popular grassroots figure firmly entrenched in “Old Labour” values.
His party popularity secured him a 36-year reign as MP for Holborn and St Pancras from 1979 to 2015, while he also held four shadow cabinet posts.
But he was no Blairite and remained his leader’s Secretary of State for just two years after Labour’s landslide 1997 win.
Pressurised into running for the first London Mayoral race in 2000, his campaign was a failure landing him in third place behind winning independent Ken Livingstone and Tory runner-up Steve Norris.
He retreated to the backbench where he became an outspoken critic of several Blair policies on the Iraq War, part-privatisation of the NHS and student top-up fees.
Dobson’s early life saw him attend Archbishop Holgate Grammar School, York, before earning an Economics degree at LSE. Upon graduation, he spent the first few years of his career in the state-run electricity sector.
After securing a seat on Camden Council in 1971, he became its leader two years later.
He campaigned hard to prevent designated housing land being sold off to businesses, a passion he later termed an “obsession”.
A new council block, Dobson Court, was named in his honour last year on the Bourne estate in Holborn.
After resigning from his council post in 1975, Dobson spent four years as assistant secretary to his local ombudsman before becoming an MP. He supported Tony Benn initially but became increasingly critical of party extremists and chose to align with the “sane left”.
His jovial personality won him many friends across different political parties including Tory stalwart Kenneth Clarke.
The devout West Ham fan had battled a long-running illness since his retirement from politics in 2015. Current Health Secretary Matt Hancock was among the
many politicians paying tribute to their long-serving colleague following his death.
Speaking about his predecessor, he thanked him for his “years of service and devotion to our health service”.
Dobson is survived by his wife Janet and their three children.