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((Other people|Robert Edwards))
((More citations needed|date=December 2022))
((Use dmy dates|date=March 2018))
((Use British English|date=March 2018))

'''Robert Edwards''' (16 January 1905 – 4 June 1990) was a British [[trade union]]ist and an [[Independent Labour Party]] (ILP) and [[Labour Co-operative]] politician. He was a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) from 1955 to 1987.

==Early life==
Born in 1905, in The Dingle, Liverpool.  His mother was a  factory worker and his father was a harbour master. He had two brothers.  One died at sea in the great war and the other was a crane operator on the docks of Liverpool and a musician.  he was one of the youngest Labour councillors in Liverpool, becoming a councillor in 1927, aged 22. He also led an ILP Youth Delegation to the [[Soviet Union]], where he met [[Leon Trotsky]] and [[Joseph Stalin]]. During the [[1926 General Strike|General Strike in 1926]] he was a TUC messenger, delivering important messages to the [[Trades Union Congress]] from individual unions.

In the [[Spanish Civil War]], he led the [[ILP Contingent]] in the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification ([[POUM]]) on the [[Aragon]] front.<ref>Orwell biography by Michael Shelden, Minerva paperback 1992 page 282</ref> They left Spain in May 1937.

Edwards was a leading member of the ILP after it split from the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] in the 1930 and 1940s, serving as the party's Chairman from 1943 to 1948.

Between 1947 and 1971, he was the General Secretary of the [[Chemical Workers' Union (UK)|Chemical Workers' Union]], and was also a member of the [[Transport and General Workers' Union]].

==Soviet espionage==
Edwards was secretly the recipient of the Order of the People's Friendship from the Soviet Union, the third-highest Soviet medal, which was shown to him in [[Brussels]] by Leonid Zaitsev, the [[KGB]] [[Resident spy|resident]] (or ''rezident''), at [[Copenhagen]]. Former KGB officer, [[Oleg Gordievsky]], who defected to the UK in 1985, stated that Edwards had been a KGB agent for many years. Edwards had met [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] and [[Leon Trotsky|Trotsky]] while leading a youth delegation to the USSR in 1926. He became a "fully-paid-up KGB agent" providing "high-grade secrets", with [[MI5]] stating that he "would have passed on all he could get hold of".<ref>Macintyre, Ben (2019); ''The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War'', [[Penguin Books]] Ltd., ((ISBN| 0241972132))</ref><ref>Sanderson, David; [https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/veteran-mp-bob-edwards-was-honoured-by-the-soviet-union-hdxxx70gw "Veteran MP Bob Edwards was honoured by the Soviet Union"], ''[[The Times]]'', 15 September 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2023</ref><ref>[https://www.expressandstar.com/news/2016/06/08/black-country-mp-bob-edwards-did-spy-for-the-kgb-claims-new-book/ "Black Country MP Bob Edwards DID spy for the KGB, claims new book"], ''[[Express & Star]]'', 8 Jun 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2023</ref> 

==Parliamentary career==
As an ILP candidate, Edwards unsuccessfully contested [[Chorley (UK Parliament constituency)|Chorley]] at the [[1935 United Kingdom general election|1935 general election]], and [[Stretford (UK Parliament constituency)|Stretford]] at a [[by-election]] in 1939 and the [[1945 Newport by-election|Newport by-election in 1945]] (where he won 45.5% of the votes).

He was elected as Labour Co-operative MP for [[Bilston (UK Parliament constituency)|Bilston]] in the [[1955 United Kingdom general election|1955 general election]].  The constituency was abolished in 1974, so in the [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|February 1974 election]], he stood successfully for [[Wolverhampton South East (UK Parliament constituency)|Wolverhampton South East]] which covers a similar area.  In 1983, then 78, he became the oldest sitting MP.

Edwards stood down in 1987 aged 82, and was succeeded by [[Dennis Turner]].  The former Labour Party leader [[Michael Foot]] became the oldest sitting MP after Edwards' retirement.

==Death==
Edwards died in June 1990, aged 85, three years after his retirement from Parliament.

==Family==
His nephew [[Bert Edwards (speedway rider)|Bert Edwards]] was an international speedway rider.<ref>((cite news |title=Speedway team man and Individualist |work=Harrow Observer|date=20 September 1956 |access-date=15 November 2023 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002511/19560920/211/0014 | via = [[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription ))</ref>

== References ==
((Reflist))
* ((Rayment-hc|date=March 2012))

((s-start))
((s-par|uk))
((s-bef | before = [[Will Nally]] ))
((s-ttl
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Bilston (UK Parliament constituency)|Bilston]]
  | years  = [[1955 United Kingdom general election|1955]]–[[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|Feb 1974]]
))
((s-non | reason = Constituency abolished ))

((s-new | constituency))
((s-ttl
  | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Wolverhampton South East (UK Parliament constituency)|Wolverhampton South East]]
  | years  = [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|Feb 1974]]–[[1987 United Kingdom general election|1987]]
))
((s-aft | after = [[Dennis Turner]] ))
((s-hon))
((succession box
  | title  = Oldest sitting member<br /> ''(not  [[Father of the House]])''
  | years = 1979–[[1987 United Kingdom general election|1987]]
  | before = [[David Weitzman]]
  | after = [[Michael Foot]]
))
((s-ppo))
((succession box|title=Lancashire Division representative on the [[Independent Labour Party]] National Administrative Council|years=1934–1943|before=[[Elijah Sandham]]|after=[[Fred Barton (politician)|Fred Barton]]))
((succession box
  | title  = [[Independent Labour Party|Chairman of the Independent Labour Party]]
  | years  = 1943–1948
  | before = [[John McGovern (politician)|John McGovern]]
  | after  = [[David Gibson (UK politician)|David Gibson]]
))
((s-end))

((Independent Labour Party))

((Authority control))

((DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Bob))
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) councillors in Liverpool]]
[[Category:Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members]]
[[Category:Independent Labour Party parliamentary candidates]]
[[Category:Labour Co-operative MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:British trade union leaders]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1955–1959]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1959–1964]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1964–1966]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1966–1970]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1970–1974]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1974]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1974–1979]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1979–1983]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1983–1987]]
[[Category:MEPs for the United Kingdom 1973–1979]]

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