IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0097 ORME
Held at: British Library of Political and Economic Science
Title: Orme, Stanley (1923-2005), Lord Orme of Salford, politician
Date(s): 1974-2004
Level of description: collection
Extent: 6 boxes
Name of creator(s): Orme | Stanley | 1923-2005 | Baron Orme of Salford | politician
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Orme, Stanley (1923-2005) Lord Orme of Salford, was born on April 5th 1923 in Sale, Cheshire. He left school at 15 to work as an engineer at Trafford Park. Orme continued his education at the National Council of Labour Colleges and the Workers' Education Association, and became an active member of the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU). Orme joined the RAF in 1942 and served an navigator in the Pathfinder Force of Bomber Command. He was demobilized in 1947 and returned to work at Budenberg Gauge Company, Broadheath. Orme had joined the Labour Party in 1944, and on return to civilian life, became an important shop steward in the AEU. He married Irene Mary Harris in 1951. Orme served on Sale Borough Council between 1958-1965, and fought unsuccessfully the Parliamentary seat of Stockport South in 1959. He was elected to the Parliamentary seat of Salford West in 1964. Orme was an important member of the Tribune Group, and its chairman during the late 1960s. Orme was made Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office in 1974 and was involved in passing a bill against religious discrimination in the Province. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1975, and then made Minister of Social Security in the Cabinet in 1976. Following the Labour election defeat in 1979 Orme took up the post of Opposition Spokesman on Trade and Industry, before moving to shadow the Minister for Energy in 1983.
Orme was very closely involved with the miners' strike of 1984-1985, and was praised widely for his persistent efforts to encourage a negotiated settlement between the National Union of Mineworkers and the National Coal Board. Following the end of the strike, Orme campaigned against privatizations, increased nuclear power supply, and the closure of collieries. Orme increased his majority in the 1987 election, and was subsequently elected chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party. He retired as a Member of Parliament at the 1997, and was made a life peer, taking the title Lord Orme of Salford. He died on April 28th 2005.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Political papers of Stanley Orme, 1974-2004, comprise papers relating to his work as a government minister in the Northern Ireland Office and subsequently the Department for Health and Social Security (1974-1979), Labour Party Opposition Spokesman on Trade and Industry (1979-1983), Energy (1983-1987), and Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party (1987-1992). Papers from Orme's period in the Northern Ireland Office are related mainly to his work on industrial democracy in Harland and Wolff shipyard, and also contains reports of visits to USA to meet politicians to discuss Northern Ireland politics. Section 2 contains many articles and speeches by Orme relating to health and social security. Section 3 consists mainly in correspondence, and includes discussions of industrial policy and unemployment. Orme's role as Opposition Spokesman on Energy has been divided into two sections. Section 4 covers the general policy area of energy, dealing with such issues as fuel poverty, nuclear power, and industrial relations in the energy sector, whilst Section 5 is devoted to the significant amount of material relating to the 1984-1985 miners' strike. Section 6 contains material from Orme's Chairmanship of the Parliamentary Labour Party, and Section 7 contains articles and speeches written throughout Orme's career.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
The collection is organized in the following sections: Section 1: Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office,1974-1976; Section 2: Department of Health and Social Security, 1976-1980; Section 3: Opposition Spokesman on Trade and Industry, 1980-1983; Section 4: Opposition Spokesman on Energy, 1983-1987; Section 5: Opposition Spokesman on Energy: Miners' Strike 1984-1985; Section 6: Chairman, Parliamentary Labour Party, 1987-1992; Section 7: Speeches and Addresses, 1978-1987.
Conditions governing access:
Open
Conditions governing reproduction:
No material may be published without the prior permission of both the copyright holder and the Library. All applications for publication must be made to the Archivist in the first instance, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user.
Finding aids:
Online catalogue available.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Deposited by the family in 2005.
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note: Sources: Copied from LSE Archives CALM database by Anna Towlson.
Date(s) of descriptions: Apr 2008