Doug Hoyle, Baron Hoyle

Eric Douglas Harvey Hoyle, Baron Hoyle, (17 February 1926 – 6 April 2024) was a British politician and life peer who was chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party from 1992 to 1997 and a lord-in-waiting from 1997 to 1999. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Nelson and Colne from 1974 to 1979 and Warrington North from 1981 to 1997.

Early life, education and career Eric Douglas Harvey Hoyle was born in Coppull, near Chorley, in Lancashire, on 17 February 1926 to William Hoyle and Leah Hoyle . His father was a shop assistant at a Co-op and a social member of the local Conservative club.

House of Lords Hoyle stepped down from the House of Commons at the general election of 1997, and on 14 May 1997, he was created a life peer as Baron Hoyle, of Warrington in the County of Cheshire in the 1997 Dissolution Honours. He retired from the Lords on 25 July 2023.

Other interests Hoyle served as chairman of Warrington Wolves Rugby League Club from 1999 to 2009. He was also a non-executive director of the major local employer Debt Free Direct. In 1957 he helped found Labour Friends of Israel. Hoyle received the Freedom of the Borough of Warrington on 11 November 2005.

Hoyle was awarded the Freedom of the City of Gibraltar, and in July 2008 received the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour (GMH).

In November 2010, Hoyle was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Chester for his 'outstanding contribution to the Borough of Warrington'.

Personal life and death Hoyle was married to Pauline Spencer from 1953 until her death in 1991.

Hoyle died on 6 April 2024, at the age of 98.