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Dennis skinner autobiography

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Dennis Skinner Memoir

Dennis Skinner, the famed Beast of Bolsover, is adored by legions of supporters and respected as well as feared by admiring enemies. Fiery and forthright, with a prodigious recall, Skinner is one of the best-known politicians in Britain. He remains as passionate and committed to the causes he champions as on the first day he entered the House of Commons back in 1970.

In an age of growing cynicism about politicians, the witty and astute Skinner is renowned as a brightly burning beacon of principle. He has watched Prime Ministers come and go - Heath, Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown - and yet remains uncorrupted by patronage and compromise. Cameron discovered Skinner's popularity when a public backlash forced the current PM to apologise in Parliament for calling Skinner a dinosaur who should be in a museum.

Skinner at eighty has a unique take on post-war Britain. A combatant in the great social, industrial and political upheavals of the last half century, he's resisted telling his extraordinary story. Until now.

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A socialist life of rare courage, experience and conviction

Sailing Close to the Wind: Reminiscences

by Dennis Skinner

(Quercus, £20)

THE unassuming title of Dennis Skinner’s autobiography perfectly reflects the man with its straight-talking, no-nonsense directness.

As he admits in his foreword, writing this book has been a reluctant undertaking. Skinner feels more at home on the platform of a local Labour Party rally or on a strike picket but not with the pen or computer. 

He probably also feels writing about himself smacks too much of the sort of vanity publishing in which so many so-called celebrities indulge.

Skinner is one of those extremely rare politicians who is working class and proud of it, remaining true to his principles throughout a lifetime in politics. 

He’s rejected the allure of playing courtier at the throne of the party leader, has had little ambition for high office for its own sake and has remained rooted in the small Derbyshire mining community where he grew up.

The son of a miner and trade union activist who was blacklisted for many years, he

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Dennis Skinner

British politician (born 1932)

Dennis Edward Skinner (born 11 February 1932) is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolsover for 49 years, from 1970 to 2019.[1] A member of the Labour Party, he is known for his left-wing views and republican sentiments.[2] Before entering Parliament, he worked for more than 20 years as a coal miner.

Nicknamed the "Beast of Bolsover", Skinner belonged to the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs.[3][4][5] He was a member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party, with brief breaks, for 30 years, and was the committee's chairman from 1988 to 1989.[6] He was one of the longest serving members of the House of Commons and the longest continuously serving Labour MP.[7] A lifelong Eurosceptic, Skinner voted for the UK to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum.[8] Skinner lost his seat to Mark Fletcher of the Conservative Party, and was succeeded as the Labour candidate for Bolsover by Natalie F

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