John Ernest Silkin was a British left-wing Labour politician and solicitor.
17 Facts About John Silkin
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John Silkin was the third son of Lewis Silkin, 1st Baron Silkin, and a younger brother of Samuel Silkin, Baron Silkin of Dulwich.
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John Silkin was educated at Dulwich College, the University of Wales and Trinity Hall, Cambridge.
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John Silkin was demobilised in 1946 and returned to Cambridge.
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John Silkin was admitted as a solicitor in 1950 and worked for his father's law practice in London.
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John Silkin contested the seat of St Marylebone for the Labour Party at the 1950 general election, West Woolwich in 1951 and South Nottingham in 1959.
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John Silkin served as a councillor in the Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone and was elected to the House of Commons for the first time in July 1963.
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John Silkin served as the Labour Member of Parliament for Deptford and for Lewisham, Deptford.
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John Silkin was appointed to the Privy Council in 1966.
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John Silkin served as a Government Chief Whip and as the deputy leader of the House of Commons.
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John Silkin was appointed as the Minister of Public Buildings and Works and the Minister for Planning and Local Government in the Department for the Environment.
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John Silkin served as the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
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In opposition, John Silkin was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1980 Labour leadership election following the resignation of James Callaghan, losing to Michael Foot, and in the deputy leadership election in 1981, losing to incumbent Denis Healey.
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John Silkin served as Opposition Spokesman on Industry, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, Shadow Defence Secretary and the Dairy Industry Arbitrator.
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John Silkin's publication Changing Battlefields: The Challenge to the Labour Party appeared posthumously.
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John Silkin's widow gave his papers to the Churchill Archives Centre in February 1990.
17.
On 26 April 1987, John Silkin died from a heart attack at his home in London.