12 Facts About Brian Sedgemore

Brian Charles John Sedgemore was a British politician who served as a Labour Member of Parliament from 1974 to 1979, and again from 1983 to 2005.

Brian Sedgemore defected to the Liberal Democrats shortly after standing down from Parliament just before the 2005 general election.

Brian Sedgemore was born in Exmouth, Devon, and with his two siblings was raised by his mother; his father, a stoker in the Royal Navy, died during active service in the Second World War.

Brian Sedgemore did RAF national service from 1956 to 1958.

Brian Sedgemore read PPE at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and graduated in 1962.

Brian Sedgemore wrote a number of books including The Secret Constitution and a novel, Power Failure.

Brian Sedgemore returned to Parliament at the 1983 general election, as the MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, and stood down at the 2005 general election.

Brian Sedgemore succeeded Ronald Brown, who had defected from Labour to the Social Democratic Party, as the member for Shoreditch.

Brian Sedgemore was later one of only five Labour MPs to vote for the Third Reading of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, defying his party Whip, which was to abstain.

Brian Sedgemore was an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association.

Brian Sedgemore married Audrey Reece, a fellow barrister, in 1964; they had a son.

Brian Sedgemore died in 2015 after a fall in hospital while recovering from kidney surgery.