Henry Hodge

Born in Peterborough, Hodge was educated at Chigwell School and read law at Balliol College, Oxford, graduating in 1965. ==Career==

Hodge qualified as a solicitor in 1970. He then joined the Child Poverty Action Group, working as its solicitor and deputy director until 1977. In the 1990s, he and his wife persuaded Tony Blair and his wife Cherie to move to the London Borough of Islington, with the couple eventually buying the house next to the Hodges'. During this period, Hodge and his wife assisted Blair and his team to formulate New Labour. As a result, Hodge became a member of the "1,000 Club" of leading Labour party donors. ==Personal life and honours==

Hodge married first, in 1971, Miranda Tufnell; they divorced in 1975. He married Labour politician and fellow Islington borough councillor Margaret Watson (née Oppenheimer) in 1978, with whom he had two daughters. Hodge was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the Social Security Advisory Committee in the 1993 Birthday Honours, and was knighted in 2004. Hodge enjoyed motorcycling, and supported Arsenal. ==Death==

Having suffered a series of heart problems from 2007 which had required regular hospitalisation, ==References==