Geoffrey Dickens

Geoffrey Kenneth Dickens (26 August 1931 – 17 May 1995) was a British Conservative politician. He was MP for Huddersfield West from 1979 until the seat was abolished in 1983. He was then elected for Littleborough and Saddleworth and held the seat until his death in 1995.

Dickens is known for his anti-paedophile work, including the naming of diplomat Sir Peter Hayman as a paedophile in the House of Commons.

Early life Geoffrey Kenneth Dickens was born on 26 August 1931 in London and fostered until he was eight years old. He never had contact with his mother afterwards. He was educated at schools at East Lane in Wembley and at Acton Technical College. He contracted polio when he was 13, for which he had to spend two years in hospital.

During his youth Dickens became a heavyweight boxer, sparring with Don Cockell and Henry Cooper. He had 60 bouts, of which he won 40. and for Ealing North in October 1974 (finishing second of three, with 39.7%). He won Huddersfield West in 1979 but this seat was abolished after boundary reviews. He was selected as the Conservative candidate for Littleborough and Saddleworth, which he won in 1983. and opposed the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) and ordination of gay priests. He once held a press conference announcing an affair without, apparently, warning his wife. He served on the Commons Energy Select Committee. In 1981, Dickens named the former British High Commissioner to Canada, Sir Peter Hayman, as a paedophile in the House of Commons, using parliamentary privilege so he could not be sued for slander. Dickens asked why he had not been jailed after the discovery on a bus of violent pornography.

In 1983, Dickens alleged there was a paedophile network involving "big, big names – people in positions of power, influence and responsibility" and threatened to name them in the Commons.

The Labour MP Tom Watson asked the Home Office for Dickens' dossier in February 2013.

After the issue had been raised again by Labour MP Simon Danczuk in July 2014, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, Lord Macdonald, said the circumstances in which the dossier had gone missing were alarming, and recommended an inquiry into the fate of the dossier.

Prime Minister David Cameron asked the Home Office Permanent Secretary to investigate what had happened to the missing dossier. Danczuk responded that another internal inquiry was merely trying to limit damage, and that a public inquiry was necessary to retain public confidence. The missing dossier has been linked with investigations into the Elm Guest House child abuse scandal.

In 2015, a file from 1981 was released into the National Archives titled SECURITY. Sir Peter Hayman: allegations against former public official of unnatural sexual proclivities; security aspects, showing that the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had been briefed on the matter before the allegations were made public by Dickens.

Legacy The journalist Patrick Cosgrave said of Dickens in his obituary: "Nobody thought more highly of his capacities than Dickens himself." Controversially, his Liberal Democrat successor, Chris Davies, openly campaigned for election during Dickens's illness.