Latham worked as a methods consultant at an import-export firm. He became involved in politics whilst in his teenage years, joining the Labour Party in 1944, and was the party candidate in his school's mock election the following year. During the 1945 election campaign, he recruited 100 new members, and he later became Vice-Chairman of the National Committee for the Labour League of Youth in 1949, a position he held until 1953. In 1952, he was elected to
Romford Borough Council in Essex: at the age of 21, he was its youngest member. He served as councillor and then
alderman and was the last Leader of the Labour Group on the council. At the
1959 general election, Latham stood against the former
Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the
safe Conservative seat of
Woodford, in Essex, but was unsuccessful, despite increasing the Labour vote; it would turn out to be Churchill's last election. In
1979, Latham lost his Paddington seat to the Conservative
John Wheeler by 106 votes (0.3% of the total). It was so close that Latham asked for three recounts, and the result was not declared until late on the Friday morning. He was once again Leader of the Labour Group, holding this title from 1986 to 1998. From 1986 to 1990, he was Leader of the Opposition, and then, from 1990 to 1996,
Leader of the Council. Latham was also Vice-President of the
Association of Metropolitan Authorities. That month, rumours of an affair between Hurlstone and Latham were said to have led to other defections on the council, which eventually led to the end of the ruling Lib-Lab coalition. In December 1996, Terry Hurlstone, a former Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, was convicted of common assault, but cleared of theft, having been accused of stealing a notebook from Latham. Caroline was an English teacher who had won
Channel 4's
Fifteen to One quiz show twice, and appeared as a contestant on the
BBC's
Mastermind. In January 1997,
Hornchurch Constituency Labour Party passed a motion of no confidence in Latham; however, in May that year, the Labour Group voted him back in as Group Leader. Latham resigned as Group Leader in December 1997, leading to Labour regaining control of the council. Latham stood down as a councillor at the
1998 local elections. He later married Caroline, who had become known as Caroline Warren. At the
1998 elections, she stood for re-election as a Labour candidate in St Edward's ward, but was not elected. During his career, Latham was Vice-President of Labour Action for Peace, and a member of the
British Campaign for Peace in Vietnam and the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. In keeping with these left-wing stances, he resigned from the Labour Party in May 2003 over the
Iraq War (instigated by a
Labour government) and other issues. However, he rejoined the party in 2007. ==Personal life==