View source for Denis Healey

{{Short description|British politician (1917–2015)}}
{{For|the Irish politician|Denis Healy (Irish politician)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name             = The Lord Healey
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CH|MBE|PC|FRSL}}
| image            = Denis Healey.jpg
| caption          = Healey in 1974
| office           = [[Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK)|Deputy Leader of the Labour Party]]<br>[[Deputy Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Deputy Leader of the Opposition]]
| leader           = [[Michael Foot]]
| term_start       = 13 November 1980
| term_end         = 2 October 1983
| predecessor      = Michael Foot
| successor        = [[Roy Hattersley]]
| office1          = [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
| primeminister1   = {{ubl|[[Harold Wilson]]|[[James Callaghan]]}}
| term_start1      = 4 March 1974
| term_end1        = 4 May 1979
| predecessor1     = [[Anthony Barber]]
| successor1       = [[Geoffrey Howe]]
| office2          = [[Secretary of State for Defence]]
| primeminister2   = Harold Wilson
| term_start2      = 16 October 1964
| term_end2        = 19 June 1970
| predecessor2     = [[Peter Thorneycroft]]
| successor2       = [[The Lord Carrington]]
{{Collapsed infobox section begin |cont = yes |[[Shadow Cabinet]] posts
| titlestyle       = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder | embed = yes
| office           = [[Shadow Foreign Secretary]]
| term_start       = 8 December 1980
| term_end         = 13 July 1987
| leader           = {{ubl|Michael Foot|[[Neil Kinnock]]}}
| predecessor      = [[Peter Shore]]
| successor        = [[Gerald Kaufman]]
| term_start1      = 22 July 1970
| term_end1        = 19 April 1972
| leader1          = Harold Wilson
| predecessor1     = [[Michael Stewart, Baron Stewart of Fulham|Michael Stewart]]
| successor1       = James Callaghan
| term_start2      = 7 July 1960
| term_end2        = 30 November 1961
| leader2          = [[Hugh Gaitskell]]
| predecessor2     = [[Aneurin Bevan]]
| successor2       = Harold Wilson
| office3          = [[Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
| term_start3      = 4 May 1979
| term_end3        = 8 December 1980
| leader3          = James Callaghan<br>Michael Foot
| predecessor3     = Geoffrey Howe
| successor3       = Peter Shore
| term_start4      = 19 April 1972
| term_end4        = 4 March 1974
| leader4          = Harold Wilson
| predecessor4     = [[Roy Jenkins]]
| successor4       = [[Robert Carr]]
| office5          = [[Shadow Secretary of State for Defence]]
| term_start5      = 19 June 1970
| term_end5        = 22 July 1970
| leader5          = Harold Wilson
| predecessor5     = [[Geoffrey Rippon]]
| successor5       = [[George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth|George Thomson]]
| term_start6      = 22 February 1963
| term_end6        = 16 October 1964
| leader6          = Harold Wilson
| predecessor6     = [[Patrick Gordon Walker]]
| successor6       = Peter Thorneycroft
| office7          = [[Shadow Secretary of State for the Colonies]]
| term_start7      = 30 November 1961
| term_end7        = 22 February 1963
| leader7          = [[Hugh Gaitskell]]<br>[[George Brown, Baron George-Brown|George Brown]]
| predecessor7     = [[James Callaghan]]
| successor7       = [[Arthur Bottomley]]

{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
}}
{{Collapsed infobox section begin |cont = yes |Parliamentary offices
| titlestyle       = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder | embed = yes
| office           = Member of the [[House of Lords]]
| status           = [[Lord Temporal]]
| termlabel        = [[Life peer]]age
| term_start       = 29 June 1992
| term_end         = 3 October 2015
| parliament1      = United Kingdom | constituency_MP1 = [[Leeds East]]
| term_start1      = 26 May 1955
| term_end1        = 16 March 1992
| predecessor1     = ''Constituency established''
| successor1       = [[George Mudie (politician)|George Mudie]]
| constituency_MP2 = [[Leeds South East]]
| term_start2      = 7 February 1952
| term_end2        = 6 May 1955
| predecessor2     = [[James Milner, 1st Baron Milner of Leeds|James Milner]]
| successor2       = [[Alice Bacon, Baroness Bacon|Alice Bacon]]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
}}
| birth_name       = Denis Winston Healey
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1917|8|30|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Mottingham]], Kent, England
| death_date       = {{death date and age|2015|10|3|1917|8|30|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[Alfriston]], [[East Sussex]], England
| resting_place    = [[St Andrew's Church, Alfriston|St Andrew's Church]]
| party            = [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
| spouse           = {{Marriage|[[Edna Healey|Edna Edmunds]]|21 December 1945|21 July 2010|reason=her death}}
| children         = 3
| alma_mater       = [[Balliol College, Oxford]]
| branch           = [[British Army]]
| unit             = [[Royal Engineers]]
| serviceyears     = 1940–1945
| rank             = [[Major (United Kingdom)|Major]]
| battles          = {{tree list}}
* [[Second World War]]
** [[North African campaign]]
** [[Italian campaign (World War II)|Italian campaign]]
** [[Battle of Anzio]]{{tree list/end}}
| mawards          = [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]]
}}
'''Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey'''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-healey/979 |title=House of Lords, Official Website – Lord Healey |access-date=5 July 2013}}</ref> (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] politician who served as [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] from 1974 to 1979 and as [[Secretary of State for Defence]] from 1964 to 1970; he remains the longest-serving Defence Secretary to date. He was a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] from 1952 to 1992, and was [[Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK)|Deputy Leader of the Labour Party]] from 1980 to 1983. To the public at large, Healey became well known for his bushy eyebrows, his avuncular manner and his creative turns of phrase.

Healey attended the [[University of Oxford]] and served as a [[Major (United Kingdom)|Major]] in the [[Second World War]]. He was later an agent for the [[Information Research Department]] (IRD), a secret branch of the [[Foreign Office]] dedicated to spreading anti-communist propaganda during the early [[Cold War]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Lashmar|first1=Paul|title=Britain's Secret Propaganda War 1948–1977|last2=Oliver|first2=James|publisher=Sutton Publishing|year=1988|isbn=|location=Phoenix Mill|pages=43}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Defty|first=Andrew|title=Britain, America and Anti-Communist Propaganda 1945-1953: The Information Research Department|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|isbn=|location=E-book version|pages=3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shaw|first=Tony|date=1999|title=The Information Research Department of the British Foreign Office and the Korean War 1950–53|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/261219|journal=Journal of Contemporary History|volume=34|issue=2|pages=267|doi=10.1177/002200949903400206|jstor=261219|s2cid=159855506|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Healey was first elected to [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] in a [[1952 Leeds South East by-election|by-election]] in 1952 for the seat of [[Leeds South East]]. He moved to the seat of [[Leeds East]] at the [[1955 United Kingdom general election|1955 election]], which he represented until his retirement at the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992 election]].

After Labour's victory at the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 election]], he was appointed to the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] by Prime Minister [[Harold Wilson]] as Defence Secretary; he held this role until Labour's defeat at the [[1970 United Kingdom general election|1970 election]], making him the longest-serving Secretary of State for Defence to date. When Labour returned to power after the [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|1974 election]], Wilson appointed Healey [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]. He stood for the leadership of the Labour Party in the [[1976 Labour Party leadership election|election]] to replace Wilson in March 1976, but lost to [[James Callaghan]]; Callaghan retained Healey as Chancellor in his [[Callaghan government|new government]]. During his time as Chancellor, Healey notably sought an international loan from the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF) for the British economy, which imposed external conditions on public spending.<ref>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/osp9.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120044611/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/osp9.pdf|date=20 November 2007}}</ref><ref>[http://www.group30.org/pubs/pub_0634.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820045641/http://www.group30.org/pubs/pub_0634.pdf|date=20 August 2008}}</ref>

Healey stood a second time for the leadership of the Labour Party in [[1980 Labour Party leadership election (UK)|November 1980]], but narrowly lost to [[Michael Foot]]. Foot immediately chose Healey as his Deputy Leader, but after the Labour Party agreed a series of changes to the rules governing leadership elections, [[Tony Benn]] launched a [[1981 Labour Party deputy leadership election|challenge to Healey]] for the role; the election was bitterly contested throughout most of 1981, and Healey was able to beat the challenge by less than 1%. Standing down as Deputy Leader after Labour's landslide defeat at the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 election]], Healey remained in the Shadow Cabinet until 1987, and entered the [[House of Lords]] soon after his retirement from Parliament in 1992. Healey died in 2015 at the age of 98, having become the oldest sitting member of the House of Lords, and the last surviving member of Harold Wilson's first government formed in 1964.

== Early life ==
Denis Winston Healey was born in [[Mottingham]], Kent, son of William Healey (1886–1977) and Winifred Mary (1889–1988), née Powell. The family moved to [[Keighley]] in the [[West Riding of Yorkshire]] when he was five.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/features/Denis-Healey-The-best-Prime.4755451.jp | title = Denis Healey: 'The best Prime Minister we never had' | author = Hookham, Mark | date = 3 December 2008 | work = [[Yorkshire Evening Post]] | access-date = 26 April 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081205164050/http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/features/Denis-Healey-The-best-Prime.4755451.jp | archive-date = 5 December 2008 | url-status = dead }}</ref> His middle name honoured [[Winston Churchill]].<ref>{{cite journal|last= Kaufman|first= Gerald|author-link= Gerald Kaufman|date= 13 March 2000|title= Debates for 13 Mar 2000 (pt 20)|journal= Hansard|publisher= [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]|location= London, England, UK |url= https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmhansrd/vo000313/debtext/00313-20.htm|access-date= 31 January 2009}}</ref> His father, the son of a tailor from [[Glenfarne]], [[County Leitrim]], was an engineering mechanic who worked his way up from humble origins, winning an engineering scholarship to Leeds University and qualifying to teach engineering, eventually becoming head of Keighley Technical School.

Healey had one brother, Terence Blair Healey (1920–1998), known as Terry.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} Healey's family often spent the summer in Scotland during his youth.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

===Education===
Healey was privately educated at [[Bradford Grammar School]]. In 1936 he won an [[exhibition (scholarship)|exhibition scholarship]] to [[Balliol College, Oxford]], to read [[Literae Humaniores|Greats]]. He there became involved in [[UK Labour party|Labour]] politics, although he was not active in the [[Oxford Union Society]]. Also while at Oxford, Healey joined the [[Communist Party of Great Britain|Communist Party]] in 1937 during the [[Great Purge]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Andrews |first1=Geoff |title=Agent Molière: The Life of John Cairncross, the Fifth Man of the Cambridge Spy Circle |date= 2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1838606763}}</ref> but left in 1940 after the [[Fall of France]].

At Oxford, Healey met future Prime Minister [[Edward Heath]] (then known as "Teddy"), whom he succeeded as president of Balliol College [[Junior Common Room]], and who became a lifelong friend and political rival.

Healey achieved a [[double first]] degree, awarded in 1940. He was a Harmsworth Senior Scholar at [[Merton College, Oxford]] in 1940.<ref name="MCreg">{{cite book|editor1-last=Levens|editor1-first=R.G.C.|title=Merton College Register 1900–1964|date=1964|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford|page=312}}</ref>

=== Second World War ===
After graduation, Healey served in the [[Second World War]] as a [[Gunner (rank)|gunner]] in the [[Royal Artillery]] before being commissioned as a [[second lieutenant]] in April 1941.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue= 35163 |date= 13 May 1941 |page= 2801  |supp= y}}</ref>  Serving with the [[Royal Engineers]], he saw action in the [[North African campaign]], the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]] (1943) and the [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italian campaign]] (1943–1945) and was the military landing officer ("beach master") for the British assault brigade at [[Battle of Anzio|Anzio]] in 1944. He was twice mentioned in dispatches during this campaign.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/03/lord-healey | title = Lord Healey obituary | author = David McKie | date = 3 October 2015 | work = [[The Guardian]] | access-date = 16 February 2024}}</ref>

Healey became an [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] in 1945.<ref>
{{London Gazette
|issue= 37386
|date= 13 December 1945
|page= 6064  |supp= y
}}
</ref>
He left the service with the rank of [[Major (United Kingdom)|Major]]. He declined an offer to remain in the army, with the rank of [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant colonel]], as part of the team researching the [[History of the Second World War|history of the Italian campaign]] under [[David Hunt (diplomat)|Colonel David Hunt]]. He also decided against taking up a senior scholarship at Balliol, which might have led to an academic career.<ref>Healey 1989, p. 69.</ref>

==Political career==

===Early career===
Healey joined the Labour Party. Still in uniform, he gave a strongly left-wing speech to the Labour Party conference in 1945, declaring, "the upper classes in every country are selfish, depraved, dissolute and decadent"<ref>M. Andrews. 'Life in the shadow of Victory' in History Mag (BBC), January 2015, pp. 31–32.</ref> shortly before the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|general election]] in which he narrowly failed to win the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]-held seat of [[Pudsey and Otley]], doubling the Labour vote but losing by 1,651 votes.<ref>{{cite book |last=Craig |first=F. W. S. |author-link= F. W. S. Craig |title=British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 |orig-year=1969 |edition= 3rd |year=1983 |publisher= Parliamentary Research Services |location=Chichester |isbn= 978-0-900178-06-1}}</ref>

He became secretary of the international department of the Labour Party in 1945, becoming a foreign policy adviser to Labour leaders and establishing contacts with socialists across Europe.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thorpe |first=Andrew |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-349-25305-0 |title=A History of the British Labour Party |date=1997 |publisher=Macmillan Education UK |isbn=978-0-333-56081-5 |location=London |pages=106 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-25305-0 |ref=None}}</ref> He was a strong opponent of the [[Communist Party of Great Britain]] at home and the [[Soviet Union]] internationally.<ref>Lawrence Black, "'The Bitterest Enemies of Communism': Labour Revisionists, Atlanticism and the Cold War." ''Contemporary British History'' 15#3 (2001): 26–62.</ref> From 1948 to 1960 he was a councillor for the [[Royal Institute of International Affairs]] and the [[International Institute for Strategic Studies]] from 1958 until 1961. He was a member of the [[Fabian Society]] executive from 1954 until 1961. Healey used his position as the Labour Party's International Secretary to promote the [[Korean War]] on behalf of British state propagandists,<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Jenks|first=John|title=British Propaganda and News Media in the Cold War|publisher=Edinburgh|year=2006|isbn=|location=Edinburgh|page=105}}</ref> used [[British intelligence agencies]] to attack Marxist leaders within [[Trade unions in the United Kingdom|UK trade unions]],<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Lashmar|first1=Paul|title=Britain's Secret Propaganda War 1948–1977|last2=Oliver|first2=James|publisher=Sutton Publishing|year=1988|isbn=|pages=86}}</ref> and to exploit his position in government to publish his books through IRD propaganda fronts.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Lashmar|first1=Paul|title=Britain's Secret Propaganda War 1948–1977|last2=Oliver|first2=James|publisher=Sutton Publishing|year=1988|isbn=|location=Sutton Mill|pages=100}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Jenks|first=John|title=British Propaganda and News Media in the Cold War|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=200|isbn=|location=Edinburgh|pages=70–71}}</ref>

Healey was one of the leading players in the Königswinter conference that was organised by [[Lilo Milchsack]]  that was credited with helping to heal the bad memories after the end of the Second World War. Healey met [[Hans von Herwarth]], the ex soldier [[Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin]] and future German President [[Richard von Weizsäcker]] and other leading [[West German]] decision makers. The conference also included other leading British thinkers like [[Richard Crossman]] and the journalist [[Robin Day]].<ref>[http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/15th-august-1992/41/long-life Long Life: Presiding Genius], [[Nigel Nicolson]], 15 August 1992, ''The Spectator'', Retrieved 28 November 2015 ]</ref>

===Member of Parliament===
Healey was elected to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] as MP for [[Leeds South East]] at a [[1952 Leeds South East by-election|by-election in February 1952]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.by-elections.co.uk/52.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225141840/http://www.by-elections.co.uk/52.html|title=1952 By Election Results|archive-date=25 February 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=13 August 2015}}</ref> with a majority of 7,000 votes. Following constituency boundary changes, he was elected for [[Leeds East]] at the [[1955 United Kingdom general election|1955 general election]], holding that seat until he retired as an MP in 1992. During these years, Healey was close friends with the Rev. Canon [[Ernest Southcott]], and Douglas Gabb, who would go on to become [[Lord Mayor of Leeds]].<ref>[https://archive.org/details/AlfGoesToWork ''Alf Goes To Work'' (1960)]</ref>

He was a moderate on the right during the series of splits in the Labour Party in the 1950s. He was a [[Gaitskellism|supporter]] and friend of [[Hugh Gaitskell]], Leader of the Labour Party. He persuaded Gaitskell to temper his initial support for British military action in 1956 when the [[Suez Canal]] was seized by the [[Nasserist Egypt]], resulting in the [[Suez Crisis]].<ref name="davidmckie">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/03/lord-healey|title=Lord Healey obituary|author=McKie, David|work=The Guardian|location=London}}</ref> In [[1959 Labour Party Shadow Cabinet election|1959]] he was elected on to the [[Shadow Cabinet of Hugh Gaitskell|Shadow Cabinet]] where he was made the deputy to the [[Shadow Foreign Secretary]], [[Aneurin Bevan]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Labor Shadow Cabinet Puts Young Members In Key Posts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vSpgAAAAIBAJ&dq=shadow+Denis+Healey&pg=PA12&article_id=5600,2119633 |access-date=28 April 2025 |work=Saskatoon Star-Phoenix |agency=Reuters |date=16 November 1959 |location=London |page=12}}</ref>

When Gaitskell died in 1963, he was horrified at the idea of Gaitskell's volatile deputy, [[George Brown, Baron George-Brown|George Brown]], leading Labour, saying "He was like immortal Jemima; when he was good he was very good but when he was bad he was horrid". In the [[1963 Labour Party leadership election (UK)|1963 Labour Party leadership election]], he voted for [[James Callaghan]] in the first ballot and [[Harold Wilson]] in the second. Healey thought Wilson would unite the Labour Party and lead it to victory in the next general election. He didn't think Brown was capable of doing either. He was appointed [[Shadow Secretary of State for Defence]] after the creation of the position in 1964.

===Defence Secretary===
Following Labour's victory in the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 general election]], Healey served as [[Secretary of State for Defence]] under Prime Minister Harold Wilson. He was responsible for 450,000 [[British Armed Forces]] uniformed servicemen and women, and for 406,000 civil servants stationed around the globe. He was best known for his economising, liquidating most of Britain's military role outside of Europe and cancelling expensive projects. The cause was not a fiscal crisis but rather a decision to shift money and priorities to the domestic budget and maintain a commitment to [[NATO]].<ref>Edward Longinotti,  "Britain's Withdrawal from East of Suez: From Economic Determinism to Political Choice." ''Contemporary British History'' 29#3 (2015): 318–340.  {{doi|10.1080/13619462.2014.974567}}</ref> He cut [[Military budget|defence expenditure]], scrapping the carrier {{HMS|Centaur|R06|6}} and the reconstructed {{HMS|Victorious|R38|6}} in 1967, cancelling the proposed [[CVA-01]] [[Fleet carrier|fleet-carrier]] replacement and, just before Labour's defeat in 1970, downgrading {{HMS|Hermes|R12|6}} to a [[commando carrier]]. He cancelled the fifth planned [[Polaris (UK nuclear programme)|Polaris]] submarine. He also cancelled the production of the [[Hawker Siddeley P.1154]] and [[Armstrong Whitworth AW.681|HS 681]] aircraft and, more controversially, both the production of the [[BAC TSR-2]] and subsequent purchase of the [[F-111]] in lieu.<ref name="D. Healey, 1990">D. Healey, ''Time of My Life'' (Penguin, 1990).</ref><ref name="1966 Defence Review">1966 Defence Review.</ref>

Of the scrapped [[Royal Navy]] [[aircraft carriers]], Healey commented that to most ordinary seamen they were just "floating slums" and "too vulnerable".<ref name="D. Healey, 1990"/><ref name="1966 Defence Review"/> He continued postwar Conservative governments' reliance on strategic and tactical nuclear deterrence for the Navy, RAF and [[West Germany]] and supported the sale of advanced arms abroad, including to regimes such as those in [[Pahlavi Iran]], [[History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi|Libya]], [[Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990)|Chile]], and [[apartheid South Africa]], to which he supplied nuclear-capable [[Blackburn Buccaneer|Buccaneer S.2]] strike bombers and approved a repeat order. This brought him into serious conflict with Wilson, who had, initially, also supported the policy. Healey later said he had made the wrong decision on selling arms to [[South Africa]].<ref name="davidmckie"/>

In January 1968, a few weeks after the [[Pound sterling#Bretton Woods|devaluation of the pound]], Wilson and Healey announced that the two large British fleet carriers HMS ''Ark Royal'' and HMS ''Eagle'' would be scrapped in 1972. They also announced that British troops would be withdrawn in 1971 and the British military and navy bases in [[South East Asia]], "[[East of Suez|East of Aden]]", closed, large facilities in [[Malaysia]] and Singapore and the [[Persian Gulf]] and the [[Maldives]].<ref name="ES-H-10">[https://salford-repository.worktribe.com/OutputFile/1502349] The State Department's Intelligence Assessment of the "Special Relationship," 7 February 1968 by Jonathan Colman.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=P. L. Pham|title=Ending 'East of Suez': The British Decision to Withdraw from Malaysia and Singapore 1964–1968|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wy343pptNB4C&pg=PP22|year=2010|publisher=Oxford UP|page=22ff|isbn=9780191610431}}</ref> The next Prime Minister [[Edward Heath]] slowed the implementation of the policy, with 5/6 frigates on station East of Suez until 1976, when Healey as Chancellor used the [[IMF crisis]] to withdraw the Royal Navy frigates attached to the [[Five Power Defence Arrangements]] squadron and the [[British Forces Overseas Hong Kong|Hong Kong Guard]] frigate, {{HMS|Chichester|F59|6}}.<ref> After that a presence was maintained by bi annual summer naval task forces and the restoration of the [[Armilla Patrol]] in 1979/80 </ref> Healey also authorised the removal of the [[Chagossians]] from the [[Chagos Archipelago]] and authorised the building of the [[Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia|United States military base]] at [[Diego Garcia]]. Following Labour's defeat in the [[1970 United Kingdom general election|1970 general election]], he became Shadow Defence Secretary.

===Chancellor of the Exchequer===
Healey was appointed [[Shadow Chancellor]] in April 1972 after [[Roy Jenkins]] resigned in a row over the [[European Economic Community]] (Common Market). At the Labour Party conference on 1 October 1973, he said, "I warn you that there are going to be howls of anguish from those rich enough to pay over 75% on their last slice of earnings".<ref>''The Times'', Tuesday, 2 October 1973; p. 1; Issue 58902; col A.</ref> In a speech in Lincoln on 18 February 1974, Healey went further, promising he would "squeeze property speculators until the pips squeak". He alleged that [[Lord Carrington]], the Conservative Secretary of State for Energy, had made £10m profit from selling [[agricultural land]] at prices 30 to 60 times as high as it would command as farming land.<ref>''The Times'', Tuesday, 19 February 1974; p. 4; Issue 59018; col D.</ref> When accused by colleagues including [[Eric Heffer]] of putting Labour's chances of winning the next election in jeopardy through his tax proposals, Healey said the party and the country must face the consequences of Labour's policy of the [[redistribution of income and wealth]]; "That is what our policy is, the party must face the realities of it".<ref>''The Times'', Thursday, 18 October 1973; p. 2; Issue 58916; col C.</ref>

Healey became [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] in March 1974 after Labour returned to power as a minority government. His tenure is sometimes divided into ''Healey Mark I'' and ''Healey Mark II''.<ref>Michael Stewart''The Jekyll and Hyde Years: Politics and Economic Policy since 1964'' (1977).</ref> The divide is marked by his decision, taken with Prime Minister [[James Callaghan]], to seek an [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF) loan and submit the [[1976 sterling crisis|British economy]] to IMF supervision. The loan was negotiated and agreed in November and December 1976, and announced in Parliament on 15 December 1976.<ref>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/osp9.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120044611/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/osp9.pdf|date=20 November 2007}}</ref><ref>[http://www.group30.org/pubs/pub_0634.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820045641/http://www.group30.org/pubs/pub_0634.pdf|date=20 August 2008}}</ref> Within some parts of the Labour Party the transition from Healey Mark I (which had seen a proposal for a [[wealth tax]]) to Healey Mark II (associated with government-specified [[Wage controls|wage control]]) was regarded as a betrayal. Healey's policy of increasing benefits for the poor meant those earning over £4,000 per year would be taxed more heavily. His first budget saw increases in [[food subsidies]], [[Pensions in the United Kingdom|pensions]] and other benefits.<ref>Eric Shaw, ''The Labour Party since 1945'' (1996).</ref>

When [[Harold Wilson]] stood down as [[Leader of the Labour Party (UK)|Leader of the Labour Party]] in 1976, Healey stood in the [[1976 Labour Party leadership election|contest to elect the new leader]]. On the first ballot he came only fifth out of six candidates. However, he also contested the second round, coming third of the three candidates but increasing his vote somewhat.

===Deputy Leader of the Labour Party===
Labour lost the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|general election]] to the Conservatives, led by [[Margaret Thatcher]] in May 1979, following the [[Winter of Discontent]] during which Britain had faced a large number of strikes. On 12 June 1979, Healey was appointed a [[Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=47868 |date=15 June 1979 |page=7600  |supp=y}}</ref> He won the most votes in the [[1979 Labour Party Shadow Cabinet election|1979 Shadow Cabinet elections]] which followed and ''[[The Glasgow Herald]]'' suggested that this showed that he was the "strongest contender" to succeed Callaghan as [[Leader of the Labour Party (UK)|Leader of the Labour Party]].<ref name="GH15061979">{{cite news |last1=Parkhouse |first1=Geoffrey |title=Shore steps up as Owen is demoted |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19790615&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |access-date=8 January 2019 |work=The Glasgow Herald |date=15 June 1979}}</ref>

When Callaghan stood down as Labour Party leader in November 1980, Healey was the favourite to win the [[1980 Labour Party leadership election (UK)|leadership election]], decided by Labour MPs. In September, an opinion poll had found that when asked who would make the best prime minister if Healey were Labour leader, 45% chose Healey over 39% for Thatcher.<ref>'Mr Healey tops opinion poll in leadership vote', ''The Times'' (8 September 1980), p. 3.</ref> However, he lost to [[Michael Foot]]. He seems to have taken the support of the right of the party for granted; in one notable incident, Healey was reputed to have told the right-wing [[The Manifesto Group|Manifesto Group]] they must vote for him as they had "nowhere else to go". When [[Michael Thomas (politician)|Mike Thomas]], the MP for [[Newcastle upon Tyne East (UK Parliament constituency)|Newcastle East]] defected to the [[Social Democratic Party (UK)|Social Democratic Party]] (SDP), he said he had been tempted to send Healey a telegram saying he had found "somewhere else to go". Four Labour MPs who defected to the SDP in early 1981 later said they voted for Foot in order to give the Labour Party an unelectable left-wing leader, thus helping their newly established party.<ref>Crewe, Ivor and King, Anthony, ''SDP: The Birth, Life and Death of the Social Democratic Party'' (Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 74–75.</ref>

In an essay addressing why Healey did not become Prime Minister or Labour leader, [[Steve Richards]] states that in 1980 Healey, not Foot, was widely expected by the media and many political figures to be the next Labour leader.<ref name="SRichardspp100-101">{{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=Steve |title=The Prime Ministers We Never Had; Success and Failure from Butler to Corbyn |date=2021 |publisher=Atlantic Books |location=London |isbn=978-1-83895-241-9 |pages=100–101}}</ref> Richards also notes that by that point, his main rivals as leaders from the right of the party, [[Roy Jenkins]] and [[Anthony Crosland]], were no longer in contention for the position, with the former out of Parliament and the latter having died in 1977.<ref name="SRichardsp116">{{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=Steve |title=The Prime Ministers We Never Had; Success and Failure from Butler to Corbyn |date=2021 |publisher=Atlantic Books |location=London |isbn=978-1-83895-241-9 |page= 116}}</ref> However, he also argues that while "Healey was widely seen as the obvious successor to Callaghan", and that sections of the media ultimately reacted with "disbelief" at Labour not choosing him to be their leader, the decision to opt for Foot "was not as perverse as it seemed". He argues that Labour MPs were looking for a figure from the left who could unite the wider party with the leadership, which Healey could not do. Richards believes that Foot was not a "tribal politician" and had proved he could work with those of different ideologies and had been a loyal deputy to Callaghan and so came to be "seen as the unity candidate" which allowed him to defeat Healey.<ref name="SRichardspp116-119">{{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=Steve |title=The Prime Ministers We Never Had; Success and Failure from Butler to Corbyn |date=2021 |publisher=Atlantic Books |location=London |isbn=978-1-83895-241-9 |pages=116–119}}</ref>

Healey was returned unopposed as deputy leader to Foot, but the next year was challenged by [[Tony Benn]] under the new election system, one in which individual members and trades unions voted alongside sitting members of Parliament. The contest was seen as a battle for the soul of the Labour Party, and the long debate over the summer of 1981 ended on 27 September with Healey winning by 50.4% to Benn's 49.6%.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 September 1981 |title=Right-winger wins British election |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8324169/denis_healey/ |newspaper=The Galveston Daily News |location=Galveston, TX |agency=[[United Press International]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=1 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102005317/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8324169/denis_healey/ |archive-date=2 January 2019 |url-status=live }} {{Open access}}</ref> The narrowness of Healey's majority can be attributed to the [[Transport and General Workers' Union]] (TGWU) delegation to the Labour Party conference. Ignoring its members, who had shown two-to-one majority support for Healey, it cast the union's block vote (the largest in the union section) for Benn. A significant factor in Benn's narrow loss, however, was the abstention of 20 MPs from the left-wing [[Tribune (magazine)|Tribune Group]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Labour's Future: Socialist or SDP Mark 2?|author=Eric Heffer|publisher=[[Verso]]|year=1986|pages=28–29|author-link=Eric Heffer}}</ref> which split as a result. Healey attracted just enough support from other unions, [[Constituency Labour Parties]], and Labour MPs to win.

Healey was [[Shadow Foreign Secretary]] during most of the 1980s, a job he coveted. He believed Foot was initially too willing to support [[Falklands War|military action]] after the [[Falkland Islands]] were invaded by [[Argentina]] in April 1982.<ref name="davidmckie"/> He accused Thatcher of "glorying in slaughter", and had to withdraw the remark (he later claimed he had meant to say "conflict"). Healey was retained in the [[Shadow Cabinet of Neil Kinnock|shadow cabinet]] by [[Neil Kinnock]], who succeeded Foot following the disastrous [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 general election]], when the Conservatives bolstered their majority and Labour suffered their worst general election result in decades. Healey had declined to run as leader to succeed Foot and stood down as deputy leader.

===Retirement===
Healey's views on [[nuclear weapons]] conflicted with the [[unilateral nuclear disarmament]] policy of the Labour Party. After the [[1987 United Kingdom general election|1987 general election]], he retired from the Shadow Cabinet, and in 1992 stood down after 40 years as a Leeds MP. In that year he received a [[life peerage]] as '''''Baron Healey''', of [[Riddlesden]] in the [[West Yorkshire|County of West Yorkshire]]''.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=52979 |date=2 July 1992 |page=11141 }}</ref> Healey was regarded by some – especially in the Labour Party – as "the best Prime Minister we never had".<ref>{{citation|url=http://education.independent.co.uk/careers_advice/article361683.ece|title=Passed/failed: An education in the life of Denis Healey, Labour peer|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=4 May 2006|first=Jonathan|last=Sale|access-date=28 April 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070815215511/http://education.independent.co.uk/careers_advice/article361683.ece|archive-date=15 August 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> He was a founding member of the [[Bilderberg Group]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/Archive/Article/0,4273,4149485,00.html|title=Who pulls the strings? (part 3)|last=Ronson|first=Jon|author-link=Jon Ronson|date=10 March 2001|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=4 July 2009 | location=London}}</ref> He was interviewed on his role as a co-founder of the Bilderberg Group by [[Jon Ronson]] for the book ''[[Them: Adventures with Extremists]].''<ref>{{Cite book|title=Them : adventures with extremists|last=Ronson |first=Jon|date=2002|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-0-7432-2707-0|location=New York|oclc=47831472}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/10/extract1|title=Who pulls the strings? (part 3)|author=Guardian Staff|date=2001-03-10|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-12-16|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

During an interview with [[Nick Clarke]] on [[BBC Radio 4]], Healey was the first Labour politician to publicly declare his wish for the Labour leadership to pass to [[Tony Blair]] in 1994, following the death of [[John Smith (Labour Party leader)|John Smith]]. Healey later became critical of Blair. He publicly opposed Blair's decision to use military force in [[Kosovo War|Kosovo]], [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Afghanistan]], and [[Iraq War|Iraq]].<ref name="davidmckie"/> In the spring of 2004, and again in 2005, he publicly called on Blair to stand down in favour of [[Gordon Brown]]. In July 2006 he argued, "Nuclear weapons are infinitely less important in [[Foreign policy of the United Kingdom|our foreign policy]] than they were in the days of the [[Cold War]]", and, "I don't think we need nuclear weapons any longer".<ref>{{cite news | title=UK needs no nuclear arms – Healey|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5158618.stm | date=7 July 2006 | access-date=13 January 2007 | work=BBC News}}</ref> As defence secretary, Healey had been designated to take control of the [[Nuclear weapons of the United Kingdom|British nuclear deterrent]] should the Prime Minister have been incapacitated; he later said that "though I am convinced that nuclear weapons prevented a world war, I could never have authorised their use".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hennessy |first1=Peter |title=The secret state: Whitehall and the cold war |date=2003 |publisher=Penguin |location=London |isbn=0141008350 |page=205}}</ref>

In March 2013 during an interview with the ''[[New Statesman]]'', Healey said that if there was a [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum|referendum on British membership of the EU]], he would vote to leave.<ref>Rafael Behr, '[http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2013/03/thatcher-was-good-looking-and-brilliant Denis Healey: "Thatcher was good-looking and brilliant"]', ''New Statesman'' (26 March 2013).</ref> In May, he further said: "I wouldn't object strongly to leaving the [[EU]]. The advantages of being members of the union are not obvious. The disadvantages are very obvious. I can see the case for leaving – the case for leaving is stronger than for staying in".<ref>Michael Crick, '[http://blogs.channel4.com/michael-crick-on-politics/healey-case-for-leaving-europe-stronger-than-staying/2494 Healey: case for leaving Europe stronger than staying]', ''Channel 4'' (9 May 2013).</ref>

Following the death of [[Alan Campbell, Baron Campbell of Alloway]], in June 2013, Healey became the oldest sitting member of the [[House of Lords]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.parliament.uk/about/faqs/house-of-lords-faqs/lords-members| title = House of Lords, Official Website – Who is the oldest sitting Member of the House of Lords?| access-date = 5 July 2013}}</ref> Following the death of [[John Freeman (British politician)|John Freeman]] on 20 December 2014, Healey became the surviving former MP with the earliest date of first election, and the second-oldest surviving former MP, after [[Ronald Atkins]].

===Public image===
Healey's notably bushy eyebrows and piercing wit earned him a favourable reputation with the public. When the media were not present, his humour was equally caustic but more risqué. The popular impressionist [[Mike Yarwood]] coined the catchphrase "Silly Billy", and incorporated it into his shows as a supposed "Healey-ism". Healey had never said it until that point, but he adopted it and used it frequently. Healey's direct speech made enemies. "At a meeting of the PLP I accused [[Ian Mikardo]] of being 'out of his tiny Chinese mind' – a phrase of the comedienne [[Hermione Gingold]], with which I thought everyone was familiar. On the contrary, when it leaked to the press, the [[Embassy of China, London|Chinese Embassy]] took it as an insult to the [[People's Republic of China|People's Republic]]."<ref>Denis Healey. ''The Time of My Life'', Penguin 1990, p. 444.</ref> The controversy may have contributed to a poor performance when he fought for [[1976 Labour Party leadership election|the Labour leadership]] following [[Harold Wilson]]'s resignation.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

Healey's long-serving deputy at the Treasury, [[Joel Barnett]], in response to a remark by a third party that "Denis Healey would sell his own grandmother", quipped, "No, he would get me to do it for him". On 14 June 1978, Healey likened being attacked by the mild-mannered [[Sir Geoffrey Howe]] in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] to being "savaged by a dead sheep".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1978/jun/14/economic-situation#S5CV0951P0_19780614_HOC_159|date=14 June 1978|title=Economic Situation, HC Deb 14 June 1978 vol 951 cc1013-142|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]}}</ref> Nevertheless, Howe appeared and paid warm tribute when Healey was featured on ''[[This Is Your Life (UK TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' in 1989.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} The two remained friends for many years, and Howe died only six days after Healey.

== Personal life and death ==
Healey married [[Edna Healey|Edna May Edmunds]] on 21 December 1945, the two having met at Oxford University before the war. The couple had three children, one of whom is the broadcaster and writer Tim Healey.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/6636029.Water_way_to_splash_out_for_charity/?ref=arc|title=Water way to splash out for charity|work=[[Oxford Mail]]|date=17 May 1999|access-date=30 September 2015}}</ref><ref>[http://www.bejo.co.uk/bejo/html/alblads.htm "Come on Lads: Canteen songs of World War Two"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003234131/http://www.bejo.co.uk/bejo/html/alblads.htm |date=3 October 2015 }}, Beautiful Jo Records website . Retrieved 13 September 2008.</ref> Edna Healey died on 21 July 2010, aged 92.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10737970|title=Denis Healey's wife, Edna, dies aged 92|date=23 July 2010|work=BBC News Online|publisher=BBC|access-date=23 July 2010}}</ref> They were married for almost 65 years and lived in [[Alfriston]], East Sussex.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6507607.stm "Denis Healey at 90"], BBC News.</ref> In 1987, Edna underwent an operation at a [[private hospital]] – this event drawing media attention as being seemingly at odds with Healey's pro-[[NHS]] beliefs. Challenged on the apparent inconsistency by the presenter [[Anne Diamond]] on [[TV-am]], Healey refused to comment and ended the interview.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/background/pastelec/ge87.shtml|title=BBC Politics 97|work=bbc.co.uk}}</ref> He then hit journalist [[Adam Boulton]] with a [[jab]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/adam-boulton-skys-political-editor-on-the-channels-relaunch-359748.html | location=London | work=The Independent | title=Adam Boulton: Sky's political editor on the channel's relaunch | date=24 April 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/adam-boulton-just-dont-tell-him-what-he-thinks-1973987.html | location=London | work=The Independent | first=Ian | last=Burrell | title=Adam Boulton: Just don't tell him what he thinks | date=15 May 2010}}</ref>

Healey was an amateur photographer for many years;<ref>[http://www.open2.net/historyandthearts/arts/photography.html Open2.net – Denis Healey & Photography] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205143648/http://www.open2.net/historyandthearts/arts/photography.html |date=5 December 2008 }}</ref> he also enjoyed music, painting and reading crime fiction. He sometimes played popular piano pieces at public events.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10460432|title=Denis Healey playing the piano at Huddersfield Town Hall|date=May 1987|access-date=28 April 2009|work=Science and Society|publisher=[[National Museum of Science and Industry]]}}</ref> In a May 2012 interview for ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', Healey reported that he was swimming 20 lengths a day in his outdoor pool.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/9246358/Lord-Denis-Healey-youre-so-naughty.html Interview], [[Bryony Gordon]], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' (London), 8 May 2012, Accessed same day.</ref> Healey was interviewed in 2012 as part of [[The History of Parliament]]'s oral history project.<ref name='HoPHealey'>{{cite web|title=Oral history: HEALEY, Denis Winston (1917–2015)|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/oral-history/member/healey-denis-winston-1917-2015|publisher=[[The History of Parliament]]|access-date=14 July 2016}}</ref><ref name='BLHealey'>{{cite web|title=Lord Denis Healey interviewed by Mike Greenwood|url=http://cadensa.bl.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=FWlk6P2fek/WORKS-FILE/227160020/9|publisher=[[British Library Sound Archive]]|access-date=14 July 2016|archive-date=5 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305033253/http://cadensa.bl.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=FWlk6P2fek/WORKS-FILE/227160020/9|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After a short illness, Healey died in his sleep at his home in [[Alfriston]], [[Sussex]], on 3 October 2015, aged 98. He was buried alongside his wife in the graveyard of St Andrew's Church, Alfriston.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34434378|title=Labour's Denis Healey dies at 98|work=BBC News|access-date=3 October 2015|date=2015-10-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/11909599/Denis-Healey-dies-aged-98.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/11909599/Denis-Healey-dies-aged-98.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Denis Healey Dies Aged 98|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|access-date=4 October 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 2017, his personal archives were deposited at the [[Bodleian Library]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/15437473.Archive_of_Labour_politician_Denis_Healey_is_deposited_at_the_Bodleian/|title=Archive of Labour politician Denis Healey is deposited at the Bodleian|last=Ffrench|first=Andy|date=28 July 2017|website=The Oxford Times|language=en|access-date=2017-08-01}}</ref>

==Honours==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Ribbon !! Name !! colspan=2|Notes
|-
| [[File:Order of the Companions of Honour Ribbon.gif|60px]]
| [[Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour]]
| 12 June 1979
| CH
|-
| [[File:Order of the British Empire (Military) Ribbon.png|60px]]
| [[Order of the British Empire|Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire]]
| 13 December 1945
| MBE
|-
| [[File:War Medal 39-45 w MID BAR.svg|80px]]
| [[Mentioned in dispatches]] x 2
|-
|}

In 2004, Healey became the recipient of the first [[Veteran's Badge]].<ref>[https://www.journaloftradingstandards.co.uk/counterfeit-goods/military-medals-a-matter-of-honour/ Military medals: a matter of honour] ''www.journaloftradingstandards.co.uk'', accessed 2 November 2020</ref>

==Legacy==
Healey is credited with popularising in the UK a proverb which became known as Healey's [[First law of holes]].<ref name=wordsworth>{{cite book|last=Apperson|first=George Latimer|title=The Wordsworth dictionary of proverbs|orig-year=1993|year=2006|publisher=Wordsworth Editions Ltd|location=[[Hertfordshire]]|isbn=978-1-84022-311-8|pages=283|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PMZJqSR4sAC&q=%22first%20law%20of%20holes%22%20Healy&pg=PA283}}</ref><ref name=interview>{{cite journal|title=Interview: Denis Healey; Healey's First law of holes is to stop digging|journal=[[New Statesman]]|date=8 November 1986|volume=9}}</ref> This is a minor adaptation of a saying often attributed to [[Will Rogers]].

== In popular culture ==

=== Film, television and theatre ===
[[File:Denis Healey appearing on "After Dark", 3 June 1989.jpg|260px|right|thumb|Appearing on television discussion programme ''[[After Dark (TV series)|After Dark]]'' in 1989]]
Healey is the only Chancellor of the Exchequer to have appeared on [[BBC One]]'s ''[[The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968–1977)|Morecambe and Wise Show]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/opinion/The-big-man-behind-the.3160680.jp|title=Denis Healey: The big man behind the big eyebrows|work=Yorkshire Post}}</ref> In 1986 he appeared in series one of ''[[Saturday Live (UK TV series)|Saturday Live]]''. He was portrayed by [[David Fleeshman]] in the 2002 BBC production of [[Ian Curteis]]'s ''[[The Falklands Play]]''. He appeared on ''[[The Dame Edna Experience]]'' in the song and dance number "Style" alongside actor [[Roger Moore]].

Healey was satirised in the ITV series ''[[Spitting Image]]'', his caricature mainly focusing on his famous eyebrows, with the real Healey appearing in the twelfth episode of the programme's first series in 1984 briefly noting the show was late covering [[1984 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|that year's European elections]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Spitting Image (1984) – Series 1, Episode 12 {{!}} Full Episode| date=2 April 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GClLAj_yF8M|language=en|access-date=2021-04-03}}</ref> The iconic eyebrows were similarly parodied in the 1977 serial ''[[The Sun Makers]]'' from the British [[science fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]'', in which the antagonist known as the Collector is distinguished by having similarly bushy eyebrows to Healey.

In 1994, Healey appeared in a TV advertisement for [[Visa Debit]] cards. This was banned by the [[Independent Television Commission]] as it contained a reference to a scandal, subsequently revealed to be a fabrication, involving [[Norman Lamont]]'s personal life. Healey had appeared in an advert for [[Sainsbury's]] in the previous year.<ref name=IndyAdvert>{{cite news |last1=Macintyre |first1=Donald |last2=Williams |first2=Rhys |date=17 March 1994 |title=ITC bans Healey joke in advert |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/itc-bans-healey-joke-in-advert-1429553.html |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |access-date=2 October 2015}}</ref>

=== Music ===
During [[Led Zeppelin]]'s 1975 and 1977 concert tours, [[Robert Plant]] facetiously dedicated the song "[[In My Time of Dying]]" to Healey for the [[tax exile]] issues the band was facing. During [[Yes (band)|Yes]]'s recording of what was to become the album ''[[Tormato]]'' (1978), there was an outtake called "Money", on which the Yes keyboardist at the time, [[Rick Wakeman]], provides a satirical voice-over parodying Healey.<ref>Dave Lewis (2004), ''Led Zeppelin: The 'Tight But Loose' Files; Celebration 2'', [[Omnibus Press]], {{ISBN|1-84449-056-4}}, pp. 24–25.</ref>

== Bibliography ==
Healey's publications include: ''Healey's Eye'' (photography, 1980), ''The Time of My Life'' (his autobiography, 1989), ''When Shrimps Learn to Whistle'' (1990), ''My Secret Planet'' (an anthology, 1992), ''Denis Healey's Yorkshire Dales'' (1995) and ''Healey's World'' (2002).

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}
* Healey, Denis. ''The time of my life'' (London: Michael Joseph, 1989),
* Pearce, Edward, and Denis Healey. ''Denis Healey: a life in our times'' (Little, Brown, 2002).
==Further reading==
* Black, Lawrence. "'The Bitterest Enemies of Communism': Labour Revisionists, Atlanticism and the Cold War." ''Contemporary British History'' 15.3 (2001): 26–62. Healey was a bitter enemy.
* Callaghan, John. ''The Labour Party and foreign policy: a history'' (Routledge, 2007).
* Dell, Edmund. ''The Chancellors: A History of the Chancellors of the Exchequer, 1945–90'' (HarperCollins, 1997) pp.&nbsp;400–48, covers his term as Chancellor.
* Dell, Edmund. ''A hard pounding: politics and economic crisis, 1974–1976'' (Oxford UP, 1991).
* Heppell, Tim, and Andrew Crines. "How Michael Foot won the Labour Party leadership." ''The Political Quarterly'' 82.1 (2011): 81–94.
* Insall, Tony. ''Haakon Lie, Denis Healey and the Making of an Anglo-Norwegian Special Relationship 1945–1951'' (Unipub, Oslo, 2010).
* Pearce, Edward. "Denis Healey" in Kevin Jefferys, ed. ''Labour Forces: From Ernie Bevin to Gordon Brown'' (2002) pp.&nbsp;135–54.
* Radice, Giles. ''The Tortoise and the Hares: Attlee, Bevin, Cripps, Dalton, Morrison'' (Politico's Publishing, 2008).
* Reed, Bruce, and Geoffrey Lee Williams. ''Denis Healey and the policies of power'' (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1971).

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commonscat|Denis Healey}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-denis-healey | Denis Healey }}
* {{C-SPAN|16069}}
* {{IMDb name|0372243}}
* [http://www.freebmd.org.uk/ Births England and Wales 1837–1983]
* [http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/wpna-32d67c-interview-with-denis-healey-1986 Interview about nuclear strategy in Europe] for the [[WGBH-TV]] series, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070509083727/http://openvault.wgbh.org/series/War+and+Peace+in+the+Nuclear+Age/ War and Peace in the Nuclear Age], 1986
* [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/dec/03/past.interviews The old bruiser who remained the boy next door], William Keegan, ''[[The Observer]]'', 3 December 2006, interview and retrospective
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6507607.stm Denis Healey at 90], Elinor Goodman, ''[[BBC News]]'', 30 March 2007
* {{cite episode |title=Desert Island Discs |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kwftg |series=Desert Island Discs | series-link=Desert Island Discs |network=[[BBC News]] |station=[[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]] |airdate=14 June 2009}}
* {{NPG name}}
* [http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/oral-history/member/healey-denis-winston-1917-2015 Interview as part of the History of Parliament oral history project]

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{{s-aft|after=[[Alice Bacon, Baroness Bacon|Alice Bacon]]}}
|-
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Leeds East]]|years=[[1955 United Kingdom general election|1955]]–[[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992]]}}
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{{s-aft|after=[[Roy Hattersley]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{British Chancellors of the Exchequer}}
{{Secretary of State for Defence}}
{{Second Wilson Ministry}}
{{Callaghan cabinet}}
{{UK Labour Party}}
{{Labour Party leadership election, 1976}}
{{Labour Party leadership election, 1980}}
{{Labour Party deputy leadership election, 1981}}
{{Shadow Foreign Secretaries}}
{{Shadow Defence Secretaries}}
{{Shadow Chancellors of the Exchequer}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Healey, Denis}}
[[Category:1917 births]]
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[[Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford]]
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