Labour's First MP

Dennis Hobden (1920 - 1995) was Brighton's first Labour MP. In fact, he was the first Labour MP in the whole of Sussex.

Hobden represented Brighton (Kemp Town) from 1964 - 1970, during the years of the Labour Government of Harold Wilson.

His election in 1964 is remembered for his wafer thin majority: 7 votes. There were a lot of recounts that night! He defeated sitting Tory MP, David Pelham James, who I believe didn't do his re-election chances much good by going off on a fishing trip during the campaign.

Like 3 of the 4 new Labour members of parliament elected since 1997, Hobden had long been active in council politics, as a member of Brighton Borough Council.

He was a member of the postal workers union, then called the Union of Post Office Workers, and worked in the office in North Road.

Hobden was, I believe, a spiritualist - fairly unusual in the Labour Party.