Ronald Atkins

Ronald Henry Atkins (13 June 1916 – 30 December 2020) was a British Labour politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Preston North for two terms: from 1966 until 1970, and from February 1974 until 1979. His career in British politics spanned nearly sixty years, from 1951 to 2010, including several decades as a councillor in local government, and nine years as a Member of Parliament.

A member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Atkins took part in the Aldermaston marches, opposed the American war in Vietnam, and was a member of the Tribune group of left-wing Labour MPs. He also supported the campaigns by Tony Benn and Jeremy Corbyn to lead the Labour Party. In the course of his career, Atkins helped bring a polytechnic educational facility to Preston, which later became the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).

From 2018 until his death, he was the oldest living former MP. He also became the longest-lived British MP with a registered date of birth, surviving to the age of 104.

In 1976, Wilson stood down as prime minister, and in the resulting leadership election, Atkins helped organise left-winger Tony Benn's campaign. At the time, the leadership was voted on solely by the Parliamentary Labour Party. Benn came fourth on the first ballot with 37 votes, and withdrew from the contest, which was won by the more moderate Jim Callaghan, who thus became prime minister. According to The Guardian, "Atkins never sought high political office and it was never offered – he settled for being a constituency MP." Despite his name being mentioned in connection to winnable seats, Ronald Atkins did not stand for election to Parliament again.

In August 2015, aged 99, during Jeremy Corbyn's leadership campaign, Atkins gave a speech introducing Corbyn at an event in Preston. Exclaiming "We love you!", he told the audience of several hundred people: "Jeremy Corbyn is not New Labour he is Real Labour." Atkins married his second wife, Elizabeth Alison Wildgoose in 2012, who was more than forty years his junior, shortly after she was elected to Ashton ward on Preston council. Atkins died at his home in Preston on 30 December 2020, at the age of 104. He was survived by Elizabeth, his daughters Charlotte and Liz, and his stepson Donald (from his first marriage). Upon his death, his widow Elizabeth, who was still a councillor, said "He was staunch Labour all his life and highly respected. He was a real guiding force; the Labour group in Preston called him 'the guru'."