A Working Class Beast

Born 11 February 1932 Dennis Skinner is a British former politician who served as Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolsover for 49 years, from 1970 to 2019.

Picture from Dennis Skinner's Facebook Page

He worked as a coal miner for 20 years and in 1964, at the age of 32 he became the youngest-ever president of the Derbyshire region of the National Union of Mineworkers.

Being a no-nonsense former miner he became known for his strong opinions and and speaking out. Because of his formidable approach to the House of Commons, he was nicknamed “The Beast Of Bolsover”

During his parliamentary career, Skinner was “named” (suspended from Parliament by the Speaker) on at least ten occasions, usually for unparliamentary language when attacking opponents.

Notable infractions included:

• In 1981, accusing Speaker Thomas (a former Labour MP) of attending functions to raise funds for the governing Conservative Party.
• In 1984, once for accusing Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of “bribing judges” after a court case that prevented GCHQ staff from being trade union members.
• Again in 1984 for calling SDP leader David Owen a “pompous sod” (and only agreed to withdraw “pompous”).
• In 1987, for accusing former cabinet minister Norman Tebbit of ‘lining his pockets’ and being ‘dishonourable’. Tebbit was a director of and had a large shareholding in British Telecom (BT). BT was privatized when he was Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Labour MPs saw this as a conflict of interest.
• In 1992, referring to the Minister of Agriculture John Gummer as “a little squirt of a Minister” and “a slimy wart on Margaret Thatcher’s nose”.
• In 1995, accusing John Major’s government of a “crooked deal” to sell off Britain’s coal mines.
• In 2005, when referring to the economic record of the Conservatives in the 1980s, making the remark, “The only thing that was growing then were the lines of coke in front of ‘Boy George’ and the rest of the Tories”. A reference to allegations originally published in the Sunday Mirror of cocaine use by the newly appointed Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne
• In 2006, he accused Deputy Speaker Alan Haselhurst of leniency towards remarks made by opposition frontbencher and future Prime Minister Theresa May “because she’s a Tory”.
• In 2016, for referring to Prime Minister David Cameron as “dodgy Dave” in relation to the Greensill scandal.

Dennis Skinner was also known for heckling Black Rod when he came into the House of Commons chamber as part of the pageantry of the State Opening of Parliament. Part of the ceremony is for Black Rod to summon the MPs to the King’s/Queen’s speech in the House of Lords. Dennis Skinner never attended the Queen’s Speech so he played his heckles in part as if the message was to be passed on to the Queen.

Some of those heckles follow:

• 1987: “Tell her to sell up!” A reference to the financial situation in the United Kingdom.
• 1988: “Ey up, here comes Puss In Boots!” To Black Rod, Sir John Gingell.
• 1989: “Oh, it’s a good outfit!” To Black Rod, Sir John Gingell.
• 1990: “I bet he drinks Carling Black Label.” A line from a well-known advertisement at the time.
• 1992: “Tell her to pay her tax!” In reference to the calls for the Queen to pay income tax.
• 1993: “Back to Basics with Black Rod.” A reference to the Back to Basics campaign by the then Conservative government of John Major.
• 1995: “New Labour, New Black Rod!” A reference to Labour’s election campaign slogan, “New Labour, New Britain” and to the new Black Rod, Sir Edward Jones.
• 1997: “Do you want to borrow a Queen’s Speech?”
• 2000: “Tell her to read The Guardian!” The Guardian newspaper was campaigning at the time to abolish the monarchy.
• 2001: “You’re nowt but a midget!” Told to new Black Rod Sir Michael Willcocks to much laughter in the chamber.
• 2005: “Has she brought Camilla with her?” Of the Queen referencing Charles, Prince of Wales’ recent wedding.
• 2006: “Have you got Helen Mirren on standby?” Reference to the portrayal by Mirren of Elizabeth II in the 2006 film, The Queen.
• 2007: “Who shot the harriers?” Referring to a recent event in Sandringham, where two protected hen harriers had been shot near a royal property. Prince Harry and a friend had been questioned by police over the incident.
• 2009: “Royal Expenses are on the way.” Reference to the parliamentary expenses scandal.
• 2012: “Jubilee Year, double-dip recession, what a start!” Referring to the Queen’s Jubilee year and claims that the United Kingdom had just entered into a second recession. This quip was responded to by a mixture of laughter and shouts of “Shame” and “Absolute disgrace”.
• 2013: “Royal Mail for sale. Queen’s head privatized.” With reference to the coalition government’s proposed privatization of the Royal Mail. This went against the recently deceased Margaret Thatcher’s promise that she was “not prepared to have the Queen’s head privatized”.
• 2016: “Hands off the BBC!”Referencing the government’s white paper on the BBC.
• 2017: “Get your skates on, the first race is half past two!” Referencing the Queen’s attendance at Royal Ascot later that day.
• 2019: “No, I’ll not be going.” As custom, Skinner did not attend the Queen’s Speech.

Other Skinner memorable moments include:

• Skinner, to Tory MP Jeremy Hunt after his special adviser ‘resigned’: “When posh boys are in trouble, they sack the servants.”
• Skinner: “Half the Tory members opposite are crooks”
  House of Commons Speaker: “The honourable member MUST withdraw that remark”
  Skinner: “OK, half the Tories are not crooks”
• (Note that there is no recording of this exchange on the internet. Older people claim to have heard it on the radio and that it was on YouTube but removed a few years ago. Others claim if no recording can be found then it didn’t happen)
• I remember arguing with kids on the street who were talking about Santa Claus. I said don’t be so daft — Santa Claus doesn’t come down our chimney. He’s an economic Santa Claus; he goes down chimneys where they’ve got money.

Dennis Skinner’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease before she died in the 1980s. Skinner sang to his late mother when she was diagnosed with the disease and was inspired by her ability to recall old songs.

Since 2008, he has visited care homes in Derbyshire to sing to elderly patients with dementia.