Michael Hugh Meacher was born on November 4, 1939, and passed away on October 20, 2015.
Michael was a British Labour politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1970 until his death, initially for Oldham West and then from 1997 for Oldham West and Royton.
On 22 February 2007 Michael declared that he would be standing for the Labour Leadership, challenging Gordon Brown and John McDonnell.
However, on 14 May, after talks with John McDonnell, he announced he would stand aside in order to back McDonnell as the “candidate of the left”.
Michael was born in Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, the son of an accountant and stock-broker, on 4 November 1939.
Michael was educated at Berkhamsted School, a boarding independent school for boys (now co-educational), followed by New College, Oxford and the London School of Economics, where he gained a Diploma in Social Administration.
Michael became a researcher and lecturer in social administration at the Essex and York universities and wrote a book about elderly people’s treatment in mental hospitals.
He was the Labour Party candidate for Colchester at the 1966 general election, and fought the 1968 Oldham West by-election after the resignation of Labour MP Leslie Hale but lost to Conservative candidate Bruce Campbell.
Michael died at age 75 in October 2015.