Barry Porter

George Barrington "Barry" Porter (11 June 1939 – 3 November 1996) was a British lawyer and Conservative Party politician who was the MP for Bebington and Ellesmere Port from 1979 to 1983, and then for Wirral South from 1983 until his death.

Early life A native of Birkenhead, Porter was educated at Birkenhead School and went on to University College, Oxford, where he earned a degree in philosophy, politics and economics. He became a solicitor, working as a partner and later a consultant at Fanshaw Porter & Hazlehurst Solicitors in Birkenhead.

Political career Porter was elected to the Birkenhead Borough Council in 1967, which was subsumed into the Wirral Council after 1974. He remained a councillor until 1979. Instead, he was elected in 1979 as the MP for Bebington and Ellesmere Port. After boundary changes for the 1983 election, he was returned for the new constituency of Wirral South.

Personal life and death Porter married Susan James in 1965, and they had five children. died from throat cancer in London on 3 November 1996, at the age of 57. His death eliminated the majority of one enjoyed by the government of John Major in the House of Commons, and the consequent February 1997 by-election was won by Labour's Ben Chapman.

Legacy A caricature of Porter hangs in the lounge bar of the Cask and Glass Public House in Victoria, London.