Strong association

The photograph on the right shows Sir Dingle Foot on the stage in the Caird Hall in 1974 at the ceremony where he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Dundee. Kenneth Baxter says: “As a former Member of Parliament for Dundee, Sir Dingle had a strong association with the city and had been an ex-officio governor of University College, Dundee.

“Dingle Mackintosh Foot (1905-1978) was born in Plymouth and was the son of Isaac Foot, a solicitor and Liberal politician who was MP for Bodmin (1922-24 and 19291935). Foot followed his father into politics and in the 1931 general election contested the two-member Dundee constituency for the Liberals. Elected along with the Unionist Florence Horsburgh, he would serve as one of Dundee’s MPs until his defeat at the 1945 general election.

“During the Second World War, he served as a minister in the coalition government and both he and Horsburgh were part of the British delegation to the San Francisco Conference that set up the United Nations.

“In 1956 he joined the Labour Party and was elected as MP for Ipswich at a by-election the following year. He became

Solicitor General in Harold Wilson’s first government, but his parliamentary career came to an end in 1970 when he lost Ipswich by just 13 votes.

“Sir Dingle’s political career was somewhat eclipsed by that of his brother Michael, who went on to be Labour leader as well as serving as a cabinet minister. His other siblings included Hugh Foot, Baron Caradon, a distinguished diplomat who also served in the first Wilson Government, and the Liberal peer John Foot, Baron Foot.”