Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman (21 June 1930 – 26 February 2017) was a British politician and author who served as a minister throughout the Labour government of 1974 to 1979. Elected as a member of parliament (MP) at the 1970 general election, he became Father of the House in 2015 and served until his death in 2017.
Born in Leeds to a Polish Jewish family, Kaufman was secretary of the Oxford University Labour Club while studying philosophy, politics and economics at The Queen's College, Oxford. After graduating from Oxford, he worked as a journalist at the Daily Mirror and the New Statesman and as a writer at BBC Television. Again becoming active in the Labour Party, he served as an adviser to Harold Wilson during Wilson's first tenure as Prime Minister before being elected to the House of Commons himself at the 1970 general election to represent Manchester Ardwick.
Kaufman served as a junior minister throughout the 1974–1979 Labour government, holding office successively in the Department of the Environment and the Department of Industry. After the government was defeated at the 1979 general election, he was a member of the Shadow Cabinet in the 1980s. When the Manchester Ardwick constituency was abolished in boundary changes, he successfully contested Manchester Gorton at the 1983 general election. Later in his career he served as an influential backbencher as chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee from 1992 to 2005, and was knighted in 2004. Despite being criticised during the 2009 parliamentary expenses scandal, when he was found to have made excess claims to the parliamentary fees office, he continued to serve in the House of Commons and was the UK's eldest sitting MP at the time of his death in February 2017.
Known for his forthright views expressed over his political career, Kaufman was an outspoken opponent of fox hunting, an advocate of Palestinian statehood, and is said to have described his party's 1983 general election manifesto as "the longest suicide note in history". A strong critic of the state of Israel, he called for economic sanctions against the state and denounced the state for committing atrocities (which he phrased as war crimes) against the Palestinian people and their nation.
Kaufman was born in Leeds, the youngest of seven children of Louis and Jane Kaufman. His parents were both Polish Jews who moved to England before the First World War.
After being educated at Leeds Grammar School, Kaufman studied at the University of Oxford (Queen's College), graduating with a degree in philosophy, politics and economics. During his time there he was secretary of the Oxford University Labour Club, where he prevented Rupert Murdoch from standing for office because he broke the society's rule against canvassing.
Kaufman was assistant general secretary of the Fabian Society from 1954 to 1955, a leader writer on the Daily Mirror from 1955 to 1964 and a journalist on the New Statesman from 1964 to 1965. During his time as a journalist, he also worked as a television writer, contributing to BBC Television's satirical comedy programme That Was the Week That Was in 1962 and 1963, where he was most remembered for the "silent men of Westminster" sketch. He appeared as a guest on its successor, Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life. Becoming active again in politics, he was Parliamentary Press Liaison Officer for the Labour Party from 1965 to 1970 and eventually became a member of Prime Minister Harold Wilson's informal "kitchen cabinet".
Ministerial and shadow ministerial career: 1970–1992
At the 1955 general election Kaufman unsuccessfully contested the Conservative-held seat of Bromley (the seat of Foreign Secretary Harold Macmillan), and at the 1959 general election, he contested Gillingham. He was elected MP for Manchester Ardwick at the 1970 general election; he switched constituency to Manchester Gorton at the 1983 election, following the major changes in parliamentary boundaries in that year. He remained MP for Gorton until his death, notwithstanding considerable demographic changes that resulted in Muslim voters becoming an influential segment of the electorate.
Kaufman was a junior minister throughout Labour's time in power from 1974 to 1979, initially as Parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department of the Environment from 1974 to 1975 under Anthony Crosland. Kaufman supported the UK leaving the European Communities in the 1975 referendum, after which he was made Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Industry under Eric Varley. Kaufman worried that his support for leaving the EC in the referendum had led to a demotion by Harold Wilson. However, he was quickly promoted to Minister of State at the department in December 1975. Kaufman served in the role until the Labour government was defeated at the 1979 general election; during his time in office, he represented the UK in talks with the United States over allowing Concorde to land on US soil, and steered through legislation nationalising the aircraft and shipbuilding industries. Kaufman was made a member of the Privy Council in 1978.
In opposition, Kaufman served in the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Environment Secretary from 1980 to 1983, Shadow Home Secretary from 1983 to 1987 and Shadow Foreign Secretary from 1987 to 1992. He dubbed the Labour Party's left-wing 1983 general election manifesto "the longest suicide note in history".
Early backbench career: 1992–2005
In 1992, Kaufman went to the backbenches and became chair of the National Heritage Select Committee and chaired the committee (later the Culture, Media and Sport Committee) from 1992 to 2005. He was also a member of the Parliamentary Committee of the Parliamentary Labour Party from 1980 to 1992, the Labour Party National Executive Committee from 1991 to 1992, and the Royal commission on House of Lords Reform in 1999. In 1997, he criticised the then chief executive of the Royal Opera House Mary Allen over alleged financial misconduct, which ultimately contributed to her tendering her resignation.
Kaufman very rarely voted against the Labour Party whip and therefore voted with the government on the 2003 invasion of Iraq, saying in Parliament "Even though all our hearts are heavy, I have no doubt that it is right to vote with the Government tonight".
Kaufman was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2004 Birthday Honours for services to Parliament.
Kaufman was honoured with the Hilal-e-Pakistan by the Government of Pakistan.
An outspoken opponent of hunting with hounds, Kaufman was assaulted in 2004 by a group of pro-fox hunting campaigners and said that he was subjected to antisemitic taunts. These he said he found ironic as he had recently been accused of being a self-hating Jew by a member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
Parliamentary expenses scandal and later career: 2005–2017