Frank Field: a Labour MP who dedicated his life to fighting poverty and epitomised the politics of character

By Oliver Gough, DPhil Candidate, Faculty of History, University of Oxford

In polarising political times, the death of Frank Field at the age of 81 seems to speak to the death of a certain kind of politician. Gracious, impeccably polite, unwaveringly principled and driven by an unmistakable moral conviction, few politicians today seem to fit the mould from which he was cast.

One theme emerges above all others in the tributes made to Field: that the man who served as MP for Birkenhead for 40 years offers an exemplary case of “good character”.

These words are not cheap clichés. The idea of good character was fundamental to Field’s vision of politics…

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