Constituency : Erith and Crayford 1965-81 ( Labour ), 1981-3 ( SDP )
James moved over to the SDP during Roy Jenkins's by-election campaign in Warrington in the summer of 1981.
James was educated at South London Technical College He served in the navy as a boy seaman in World War Two before going into the building trade and then selling electrical appliances.. He was an Erith borough councillor from 1956 and the highly regarded first leader of Bexley Borough Council in 1964. He was elected at a by-election in 1965. He held junior office under both Wilson ( first time round ) and Callaghan who made him a defence minister. During the Heath government, he formed a group of backbenchers to harrass the government through parliamentary guerilla tactics. He had a keen interest in naval defence and the welfare of seamen. He was a strong critic of the Soviet Union , leading a campaign to boycott the Moscow Olympics, to the annoyance of some of his party colleagues. He was an outspoken colleague in touch with the ordinary Labour voter in South London. He had an acid wit and didn't suffer fools gladly. He was unashamedly on the right and voted for capital punishment. He was though in favour of withdrawing British troops from Ireland. He had only one lung as a result of tuberculosis. His brother worked for Ted Heath
James exposed Peter Tatchell's hard left credentials in Parliament forcing Michael Foot to disown him.
James did better than many of his colleagues in 1983, losing to the Tory candidate by just 920 votes. In 1984 he became Director-General of the National Kidney Research Society, serving until 1993. He also worked for organ transplant charities.
James was part of the Alliance commission on defence in 1986.
James slipped to third place in 1987. He rejoined Labour in the nineties remarking that it ws now more rightwing than the SDP.
James was a keen camper.
He died in 2012 aged 86.
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