Terry Fields

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For the American politician, see Terry Fields (American politician).

Terence Fields, known as Terry Fields, (born 8 March 1937) is a British politician and a former Labour Member of Parliament for the (now defunct) constituency of Liverpool Broadgreen from 1983 until 1992.

In 1983, Terry Fields stood as a candidate in the general elections promising that, should he win, he would be "a worker's MP on a worker's wage". He won the constituency, making Liverpool Broadgreen the only Labour takeover of a previously Conservative seat in that year's election. Constituency boundary changes were thought to be unfavourable to the Conservatives and there was some expectation that the Liberals would make some gains in the seat, but the Labour win amidst one of its worst ever national election defeats was a considerable surprise.

On 11 July 1991, Fields was jailed for refusing to pay his £373 poll tax bill. His court sentence lasted 60 days, meaning Fields retained his seat in the House of Commons, as MPs automatically lose their seat if they are imprisoned for over a year.

A member of the Militant Tendency, Fields was criticised by members of the Labour Party, for his militant approach towards the poll tax, and his lack of support for other Labour candidates, notably for Peter Kilfoyle in a by-election for the neighbouring constituency of Liverpool Walton. He was expelled from the Labour Party in September 1991, by the leader of the Labour Party, Neil Kinnock, who stated: "Law makers must not be law breakers. I have always made that clear."

In the 1992 general election, he stood as an independent against the official Labour candidate, Jane Kennedy, but lost his seat, winning just 14% of the vote.