Professor John Shepherd, one of the founders of the Labour History Research Unit at Anglia Ruskin, died last week. John taught History in the 1980s at the institution which became Anglia Ruskin, serving the university in multiple roles and in recent years became Research Fellow at the University of Huddersfield. 

John did his PhD with Eric Hobsbawm at Birkbeck and went on to become a very distinguished historian of the Labour Party. His biography of Labour leader George Lansbury in 2004 is a standard work. It says something that John cheekily gave it the sub-title ‘At the Heart of Old Labour’ and presented a copy to Tony Blair at the Labour Party conference. He then went on in 2013 to publish the standard history of the 1979 Winter of Discontent, a pivotal moment in modern British history. It was titled Crisis, What Crisis? He researched it in archives not only in Britain but in Australia as well where he interviewed former Prime Minister Bob Hawke. These are only two highlights amongst his many books and articles.

John enjoyed a wonderful marriage to his wife, Jan, also an historian. They wrote books together and travelled. It was clear from his conversation how much he loved her and was clearly so proud of her. He was also a devoted member of the Labour Party and tried to live his politics in everyday life, especially in his firm commitment to the importance of comprehensive education and trade unions. In Cambridge he was an active member of the Historical Association. He was always decent and kind to others. John was a teacher who loved his students. He embodied so much of what our university is about. A sad loss.

Professor Rohan McWilliam, Director, Labour History Research Unit, Anglia Ruskin University