Former Harlow MP Stan Newens added to Oxford Dictionary of Biography

History / Fri 13th Jun 2025 at 05:58am

THE lives of prominent Essex people – including MP Sir David Amess, footballer Jimmy Greaves and Labour politician Stan Newens – are to be detailed in a long-running reference book of noteworthy British individuals reports the BBC.

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) is updated each year to reflect the lives of historical figures who have died in a certain period.

Click below for more details.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3v5qx914l1o

3 Comments for Former Harlow MP Stan Newens added to Oxford Dictionary of Biography:

Colleen Morrison

2025-06-14 23:17:34

Stan Newens had a remarkable life, well worth recording. He started out as a Bevan Boy, worked as a miner and then a teacher before becoming Harlow's Labour MP and eventually an MEP and a Labour party grandee. He played a key role in the early years of Harlow had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the history of Harlow New Town and of Old Harlow. Stan also wrote the definitive history of North Weald and its people. Stan was a life long campaigner and the Chair of Harlow Civic Society, among the many campaigns we was involved with were the HOOP! (Hands Off Our Park!) campaign and the campaign for a traffic bypass for Harlow. Well done and thank you, Stan.

David Forman

2025-06-14 23:47:05

Well deserved for a politician who was an ardent anti-colonialist having done good work for the organisation Liberation, formerly known as the Movement for Colonial Freedom. See Jeremy Corbyn's wonderful tribute to Stan on the Liberation YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/GiFR_yAkyV0?si=-uBtGcHFnDIjTnjQ

David Forman

2025-06-14 23:50:03

Stan Newens was also a good friend to the Chagos Islanders who were forcibly removed to make way for an American airbase. This book review states his repeated interventions in parliament: https://liberationorg.co.uk/book-review/the-last-colony-a-tale-of-exile-justice-and-britains-colonial-legacy-book-review/