John Silkin

Silkin was born in London. He was the third son of Lewis Silkin, 1st Baron Silkin, and a younger brother of Samuel Silkin, Baron Silkin of Dulwich. He was educated at Dulwich College, the University of Wales and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Silkin served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve from 1942 to 1946. He was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant in 1943, serving in the East Indies Fleet, Eastern Fleet and Pacific Fleet aboard and , and ashore at Anderson, Ceylon (FECB). He was later promoted lieutenant. He was demobilised in 1946 and returned to Cambridge. Silkin was admitted as a solicitor in 1950 and worked for his father's law practice in London. ==Parliamentary career==

He contested the seat of St Marylebone for the Labour Party at the 1950 general election, West Woolwich in 1951 and South Nottingham in 1959. He served as Opposition Spokesman on Industry (1979–1980), Shadow Leader of the House of Commons (1980–1983), Shadow Defence Secretary (1981–1983) and the Dairy Industry Arbitrator (1986–1987). Silkin's publication Changing Battlefields: The Challenge to the Labour Party appeared posthumously. His widow gave his papers to the Churchill Archives Centre in February 1990. These cover his parliamentary and ministerial career, as well as his other public interests, such as the Channel Tunnel, the European Economic Community and the dairy industry. There is material of particular interest concerning his relationship with his Constituency Labour Party in Deptford and on the Labour Party's 1980 leadership and 1981 deputy leadership elections. ==Personal life==

In 1950, Silkin married actress Rosamund John. On 26 April 1987, Silkin died from a heart attack at his home in London. A by-election was not held due to the 1987 general election being called soon after Silkin’s death. == External links ==