Former West Yorkshire MEP Barry Seal dies aged 87
He was a Labour MEP for Yorkshire West for 20 years
Former West Yorkshire Member of the European Parliament Barry Seal has died at the age of 87.
He had been suffering from chronic leukaemia for many years and was being treated as part of in a clinical trial at St James Hospital in Leeds.
However the disease developed into Acute Myeloid Leukaemia during the last few months, said Mr Seal’s family.
In 1979, he was elected in the first direct elections to the European Parliament as a Labour MEP where he stayed for 20 years.
He had served in Bradford Council for eight years from 1971 including being leader of the Labour Group.
Whilst working in Brussels he was leader of the Labour MEPs for a year in 1988, served a term as Chair of the Economic and Monetary Committee and as President of the Parliament’s delegation to the U.S.
In his role as MEP he sought grant aid from European Economic Community’s regional fund to help with the £2.4m cost of converting the interior of Wardley House, part of which was to form the IMAX cinema and helped secure EU funding to refurbish the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford and the Square Chapel in Halifax.
A keen advocate for the NHS, in 2002 he became Chairman of Kirklees Primary Care NHS Trust and in 2007 became Chairman of Bradford District Care Trust and then Chair of Age UK, in Leeds.
He was born in Halifax, educated at Heath Grammar School and went on to study for his PhD in Control Engineering at University of Bradford and then attended the European Business School in Fontainebleau.
Mr Seal worked as a chemical engineer for ICI, then as a computer consultant and lecturer at Huddersfield Polytechnic.
He had been married to his wife Frances for 62 years and they lived most of their lives in Bradford.
His daughter Catherine Seal, said: “My dad was a real character and will leave a huge gap in our lives and that of many others.
“He was incredibly driven and always looking for the next challenge, whether that be political or personal – from building own sports car from a kit, obtaining his Light Aircraft Pilot License to breeding horses.
“He was also a family man who said the one thing he would take with him from this world was my mum, and a real fighter, surviving serious illness and many political battles.
“We are grateful that he died peacefully at home with his family and wonderful carers looking after him.”
He leaves behind his wife Frances, two children Catherine and Robert, and two granddaughters Peggy and Ivie.