13 Facts About Dennis Turner

Dennis Turner, Baron Bilston was a British Labour Co-operative politician who served as Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South East from 1987 to 2005.

Dennis Turner was the son of Thomas Herbert Turner and Mary Elizabeth Peasley.

Dennis Turner was educated at Stonefield Secondary Modern School on Prosser Street in Bilston and Bilston College of Further Education, worked as a market trader and steelworker, and later ran a social club.

Dennis Turner was one of the youngest-ever councillors on Wolverhampton Council from 1966, rising through the ranks to become deputy leader for seven years.

Dennis Turner contested Halesowen and Stourbridge in the February and October general elections in 1974.

Dennis Turner was elected member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South East at the 1987 general election.

Dennis Turner never held high office, serving as an opposition whip then as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Clare Short at the Department for International Development.

Dennis Turner campaigned on issues of Fairtrade and further education, and chaired the Commons Catering Committee.

Dennis Turner chaired the Co-op Parliamentary Group for two years and the West Midlands group of Labour MPs.

Dennis Turner once introduced a private member's bill seeking to make clear in law the correct amount of froth at the top of a pint of beer.

Dennis Turner stepped down from Parliament at the 2005 general election; he announced his retirement at a very late stage, citing an impending lung operation on a collapsed diaphragm.

Dennis Turner later revealed that this choice of title was a mistake, and he had intended to take the title Baron Dennis Turner of Bilston.

Dennis Turner married Patricia Narroway in 1976 and had a son and a daughter.