Alan Haselhurst obituary: The Yorkshire-born life peer who first became an MP in 1970
Alan Haselhurst, who has died at 88, was a Yorkshire-born former Conservative MP who served the Essex constituency of Saffron Walden from 1977 to 2017 after first being elected in Middleton and Prestwich in 1970.
The oldest Conservative to stand down at the 2017 general election, he was succeeded in his constituency by the current party leader Kemi Badenoch, after which he was created a life peer and took his seat in the Lords as Baron Haselhurst.
He was born in South Elmsall, West Yorkshire, and went to King Edward’s School, Birmingham, and Cheltenham College before going to Oriel College, Oxford, and working in management in the chemicals sector.
His first stint at Westminster began in 1970 when he defeated the sitting Labour MP Denis Coe by just over 1,000 votes to take Middleton and Prestwich in north Manchester.
Labour re-took the seat in February 1974 by 517 votes and Haselhurst served as chairman of the Manchester Youth and Community Service until 1977 when he re-entered the Commons via Saffron Walden, a seat he held for 40 years.
Following the 1997 election he was elected Deputy Speaker and remained in that post under successive Speakers Betty Boothroyd, Michael Martin, and John Bercow until May 2010.
Lord Haselhurst served as chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and chairman of the Commons Administration Committee.
He was also a member of Marylebone Cricket Club and wrote extensively on the game.
He married Angela Bailey in 1977. They had two sons and a daughter.