Respected Labour peer Lord Stanley Clinton-Davis dies, aged 94

Lord Stanley Clinton-Davis – one of the most influential and respected Labour peers both for his work in politics, law, and within the community – has passed away, aged 94.

Born in Hackney on 6 December 1928, the only child of Jewish parents Sidney and Lilly Davis, Lord Stanley went on serve as MP for Hackney Central in 1970 for thirteen years, and served as a minister under the government’s of Harold Wilson, James Callaghan and Tony Blair.

He was a European Commissioner in the Delors Commission between 1985 and 1989.

Educated at  Hackney Downs School, Mercers’ School, and King’s College London, where he graduated in Law in 1950, Stanley had joined the Labour Party aged 15, and prior to entering Westminster had been Mayor of Hackney, after a lengthy stint as a councillor in the borough.

In 1968 as part as mayor, Lord Stanley was responsible for the Hackney-Haifa Twin Cities Treaty. which paired the London borough with the Israeli city.

After Blair secured election victory for Labour in 1997, Clinton-Davis was appointed minister of state for trade, serving in the department of trade and industry.  He was appointed and sworn in as a member of the Privy Council in 1998.

His Commons career was cut short partly as a result of hard left activists targeted him for his vote for Denis Healey in the 1981 deputy leadership contest.

In  1990, he had become a life peer, sitting on the Labour benches in the House of Lords until his retirement in 2018.

A distinguished legal career saw Davis become a founding partner of Clintons, becoming head of its Hackney branch, Clinton Davis & Co. 

He also worked as consultant on European Law and Affairs for S. J. Berwin & Co.

Lord Stanley’s record on speaking out on communal affairs was just as impressive.   

He was vice president of the all-party parliamentary group against antisemitism and was a supporter of Labour Friends of Israel. 

He was also an executive member of the Institute of Jewish Affairs in the 1990s, and he became for a while a director of  the Jewish Chronicle newspaper and a member of the Board of Deputies.

Clinton-Davis was also an honorary fellow of the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, a fellow of King’s College London and an honorary fellow of Queen Mary University of London.

Following his death former JC editor Stephen Pollard tweeted:”Such sad news. Stanley was the most wonderful man – kind, generous and a real mensch.He wore his huge intellect lightly. The least pompous man imaginable. May his memory be a blessing.”

Jewish Labour Movement national secretary Adam Langleben also tweeted:”Very sad news that Lord Stanley Clinton-Davis z”l has passed away. 

“An extremely longstanding Jewish Labour/ Poale Zion member and distinguished parliamentarian. 

“His personal support to me and other JLM activists over the past decade was immeasurable. May his memory be a blessing”

Martin Sugarman chair of the Hackney Anglo-Israel Friendship Association and Hackney and Stamford Hill Associaton of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women (AJEX) added:”We at the Hackney Anglo Israel Friendship Association (HAIFA) are very sorry to hear of the passing of Stanley.

“He was our President for over 50 years and attended many of our meetings. He also aided our fund-raising to assist with the remarkable clinical staff exchanges we arrange every 2 years with the Rambam Hospital in Haifa , our twin Town with Hackney, and the Homerton Hospital.

“His good name and influence have been of significant assistance to our Twinning work and he will be sorely missed.”

In 1954 he married Frances Jane Lucas and the couple had a son and three daughters.