Patrick Duffy (British politician)

Sir Albert Edward Patrick Duffy (born 17 June 1920) is an economist and Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Member of Parliament for Colne Valley 1963-1966, and for Sheffield Attercliffe 1970-1992. He was a Minister of the Navy in the 1970s, and President of the NATO Assembly in the 1980s.

Early life

Duffy was educated at the London School of Economics and Columbia University, and served in the Fleet Air Arm in World War II.

Political career

He contested the Parliamentary seat of Tiverton in 1950, 1951 and 1955 before moving to the more promising seat of Colne Valley, which he won in a by-election in 1963, and held until the 1966 general election, when he was defeated by the Liberal Richard Wainwright, despite the national swing to Labour.

He was selected to stand for Sheffield Attercliffe at the 1970 UK general election following a close selection contest with George Caborn, father of Richard Caborn.

He was Opposition Spokesman on Defence 1979-1981 and 1983–1984, and Under Secretary of State for the Royal Navy in Jim Callaghan's Government 1976-1979. Duffy was on the Right of the Labour Party; a staunch pro-European and opponent of unilateral nuclear disarmament. He voted for John Silkin in the 1980 leadership campaign rather than Michael Foot, the successful candidate. Following the death of Bobby Sands in May 1981, Duffy was, according to The New York Times, the sole member of the British House of Commons to condemn Margaret Thatcher.

Duffy stood down from Parliament at the 1992 general election.

NATO career

Duffy was also president of the North Atlantic Assembly (the parliamentary arm of NATO) during the first-time delegations from the Warsaw Pact nations. In 1991, he served as leader of the first Western parliamentary delegation to the Kremlin and was knighted for his contribution to the Western Alliance.

Duffy also functioned as deputy chairman of the Atlantic Council of the UK. He currently serves as a member of the Advisory Boards of the Centre of Defence and International Security Studies, Hull University, and the Universities of Lancaster and York Defence Research Institute, and is an associate of the Centre for Defence and International Security Studies, Lancaster University, the International Business Institute, and Azusa Pacific University where he served as a guest lecturer during the fall semester of 2007 and keynote speaker for Azusa Pacific University's Economic Summit. In 2014 Duffy published his autobiography, Growing Up Irish in Britain, British in Ireland and in Washington, Moscow, Rome & Sydney.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

• https://www.apu.edu/articles/11368/
• http://www.labourlifegroup.co.uk/html/labour.html
• http://www.apu.edu/articles/sirpatrickduffy/
• http://www.macrothink.org/journal/index.php/jmr/article/viewFile/E6/4

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Patrick Duffy
• Azusa Pacific University's Economic Summit

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Glenvil Hall	Member of Parliament for Colne Valley 1963–1966	Succeeded by Richard Wainwright
Preceded by John Burns Hynd	Member of Parliament for Sheffield Attercliffe 1970–1992	Succeeded by Clive Betts