Foot, Michael (1913-2010), served as the leader of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party from 1980 to 1983. He was a member of the party’s left wing. The left wing supports government-sponsored social welfare programs and government ownership of some businesses.
Foot was born on July 23, 1913, in Plymouth, England, and attended Oxford University. He became a newspaper columnist and editor and a forceful left-wing critic of British government policies. From 1945 to 1955, Foot represented a district of Plymouth in the House of Commons. He represented the Ebbw Vale district of Wales from 1960 to 1983 and Blaenau Gwent from 1983 to 1992.
In 1976, James Callaghan was elected as Labour Party leader and prime minister. Foot received the second largest number of votes and became deputy prime minister and leader of the House of Commons. His term in the offices ended in 1979, when the Conservative Party won control of the government. Callaghan resigned as Labour Party leader in 1980, and party members elected Foot to succeed him. Foot resigned as party leader in 1983 after the Labour Party suffered its worst election defeat since 1918. Foot died on March 3, 2010.
See also Labour Party .
