The Rt Revd Lord Harries of Pentregarth writes:
FRANK FIELD was the most independent-minded member of Parliament of his time, genuinely prepared to stand alone on a number of crucial issues. He was also a devout churchman who was motivated in his politics by that faith, especially in a commitment to the poorest people in our society.
His commitment in that direction was shown early in his work for the Child Poverty Action Group, which he directed from 1969 to 1979. Later, when in Parliament, he would judge policies, by whichever party put forward, in the light of whether they would or would not help the poor and other voiceless groups. He thought deeply about these issues and was always prepared to put forward the unthinkable.
He first hit the headlines as a Member of Parliament for Birkenhead, which he was for 40 years from 1979 to 2019, when he was bitterly attacked with a view to his deselection by those whom he termed “the Trots”. I can still hear the scorn in his voice as he shot the word out. He held steady, and in due course the Labour party moved closer to his views.
In 1997-98, he was Minister of Welfare Reform in Tony Blair’s government, to pursue his lifelong commitment to alleviating poverty. But, owing to disagreements over policy with Blair, he did not stay long. He was for two terms chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee, just one of the many committees and organisations in and out of Parliament with which he was associated, above all with poverty and welfare reform but also climate change.
Like Margaret Thatcher, he was a champion of individual self-reliance. He called her “a hero”, and was an honest enough friend of hers to be smuggled into Downing Street to advise her that she no longer had the support of her party and she should support John Major.
Frank Field was both a definite Catholic and a strong supporter from an early stage of the ordination of women. For some years, he was a member of the General Synod. He was a strong supporter of gay rights, but more conservative on some family issues.
He showed his independence to the end, voting for Brexit and resigning from the Parliamentary Labour Party. Then, while dying of cancer, he told his friend Molly Meacher that he had changed his mind over assisted dying and would now support her Private Members’ Bill.
He was made a life peer in 2020 by the present Government and sat on the cross benches, but was sadly too ill to make his full contribution. He was appointed a Companion of Honour in the 2022 New Year Honours list.
He also received the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Langton Award for Community Service in 2017, for “sustained and outstanding commitment to social welfare”.
The Revd Dr Margaret Wilkinson and colleagues add: At Broken Rites we remember, right back at the beginning in the 1980s, when Frank — after hearing about the problems of one woman separated from her clergy husband — asked for information from clergy families about marriage breakdown.
The response came exclusively from ex-wives of clergy, and Frank invited contributors to a meeting at Church House, Westminster. This led to the founding of Broken Rites as an organisation. He led that meeting expertly, encouraging some to step into leadership positions, and was at all the early meetings, troubleshooting, advising, and supporting everyone as we sought to get Broken Rites heard.
He took the trouble to meet newly appointed officers, and was always there for advice and help as Broken Rites grew and developed in its mission to persuade the Churches to provide fair treatment, pastoral care, and practical support for clergy spouses whose marriages were under stress or, indeed, had broken down.
In later years, he was understandably not quite so hands-on, but came to AGMs, and was available to advise. It was always so good to see him at our meetings, and he invariably had good ideas for us to pursue. More recently, when we had to produce obituaries for founder members, he wrote to express his appreciation. He always remembered names, too.
It will be very strange not to have Frank as our President after nearly 40 years. We will always be grateful for his care and dedication to our cause and for being prepared to stick his neck out in Parliament and Church. The lives of women (and men) who have survived clerical marriage breakdown would be very different without him.
Lord Field of Birkenhead died on 24 April, aged 81.