Harry Barnes, the English Labour politician who served as the party’s Member of Parliament for North East Derbyshire, died on February 16, 2026, aged 89.
Born in Easington, County Durham, on 22 July 1936, he was educated at Ruskin College in Oxford and the University of Hull. Elected to Parliament in 1987, he held the seat until standing down at the 2005 general election, when he was succeeded by Natascha Engel.
Barnes was considered to be on the left of the Labour Party and was a member of the Socialist Campaign Group, voting against Tony Blair’s leadership on a number of issues. He was not an advocate of the Troops Out Movement, and supported NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999.
Harold Barnes (22 July 1936 – 16 February 2026) was an English politician who was the Labour Party Member of Parliament for North East Derbyshire from 1987 to 2005.