Tom Pendry

The Right Honourable The Lord Pendry PC
Official portrait, 2020
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office 11 November 1978 – 4 May 1979
Prime Minister	James Callaghan
Sec. of State	Roy Mason
Preceded by	Raymond Carter
Succeeded by	The Lord Elton
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office 8 March 1974 – 11 January 1977
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson James Callaghan
Chancellor	Denis Healey
Preceded by	Marcus Fox
Succeeded by	Tom Cox
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 11 July 2001 – 26 February 2023 Life peerage
Member of Parliament for Stalybridge and Hyde
In office 18 June 1970 – 14 May 2001
Preceded by	Fred Blackburn
Succeeded by	James Purnell
Personal details
Born	(1934-06-10)10 June 1934 Broadstairs, Kent, England
Died	26 February 2023(2023-02-26) (aged 88)
Political party	Labour

Thomas Pendry, Baron Pendry, PC (10 June 1934 – 26 February 2023) was a British Labour politician and member of the House of Lords. He was previously the Labour member of parliament for Stalybridge and Hyde from 1970 to 2001. In 2000, prior to his retirement as an MP he was made a member of the Privy Council on the recommendation of Tony Blair. After the 2001 election he was elevated to the peerage on 4 July as Baron Pendry, of Stalybridge in the County of Greater Manchester. He was president of the Football Foundation Ltd and was formerly sports advisor to Tameside District Council Sports Trust.

Early life

Pendry was born in Broadstairs, Kent on 10 June 1934. In an article in Cheshire Life magazine in June 2004, Pendry revealed that he was born in relatively comfortable circumstances, attending school at St Augustine's Abbey and, later, Plater College. He worked as a trade union officer for NUPE, and as an engineer.

Political career

Pendry was a councillor on Paddington Borough Council in London from 1962 to 1965 (when the borough was abolished), representing Harrow Road South. He was elected to Parliament in 1970 for Stalybridge and Hyde, which at the time covered areas in Cheshire and Lancashire, and subsequently became part of Greater Manchester. He served as an opposition whip between 1971 and 1974.

Callaghan government

In James Callaghan's administration between 1976 and 1979 Pendry served as a junior Lord Commissioner of the Treasury (assistant government whip) and subsequently as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Opposition

In 1979 he returned to the backbenches, until he was appointed to the post of Shadow Minister for Sport and Tourism by John Smith, a position he held until 1997. When the Labour government came to power in 1997, Pendry was the only member of the shadow team not to be appointed to a government post.

Sport

Lord Pendry had a love of sport that he developed during National Service with the Royal Air Force. He was appointed President of the Football Foundation in February 2003 and continued to serve in this capacity up until his death in 2023. A young Pendry learnt boxing at the hands of a Benedictine monk, becoming an Oxford Blue and boxing for the RAF.

Other interests

Pendry was a member of the Lords and Commons Cigar Club. From June to September 2018, he sat on the Regenerating Seaside Towns and Communities Committee. His memoir, Taking It on the Chin, was published in 2016.

Death

Pendry died on 26 February 2023, at the age of 88.

Honours and arms

On 21 July 1995, the Labour-controlled Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, the local authority which had administered the area covered by the Stalybridge and Hyde constituency since 1974, made Pendry an honorary freeman of the borough. At the same time, the council granted him the lordship of the manor of Mottram in Longdendale. Tameside Council have also named part of Trinity Street in front of the old Stalybridge market hall, Lord Pendry Square. A local football club, Stalybridge Celtic, have named one of their stands The Lord Tom Pendry Stand.

Coat of arms of Tom Pendry

Crest A demi Chinese unicorn maned tufted unguled queued attired holding in the mouth by a string Gules a cinquefoil pierced per chevron reversed Gules and Vert. Escutcheon Or a chevron engrailed per chevron Vert and Gules between three rustres those in chief Gules and that in base Vert. Supporters On either side a ram Argent collared Sable supporting with the exterior forefoot a cornucopia Vert replenished Proper. Motto Pugilice Prorsum (In God Is My Trust)

External links

• The Stamford Group
• Arrowcroft plc
• The Football Foundation
• Tameside Sports Trust
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Tom Pendry