Leeds nostalgia: Former Leeds West Labour MP Joe Dean calls for schools to be rebuilt

The stsory appeared in the YEP in March 1977.

Mr Dean, Labour MP for West Leeds, was at Castleton Primary School, Armley and Armley Park Middle School, Stanningley, two schools mentioned in a House of Commons debate on inner city deprivation.

He said: “They are among the worst schools I have ever seen. Cash should be made available for rebuilding them.”

At Castleton, he saw a hall ceiling which had been jacked up for two years and outside toilets which were in poor condition.

Meanwhile, the Armley Park visit revealed that while 350 pupils stayed for dinner, the school could only accommodate 90 at a sitting.

Mr Dean said: “Pupils and teachers deserve better facilities than this. The building is not doing the job it was intended for. A new school must be built no matter what. My main aim is to get more money for substandard schools in Leeds.”

Baron Dean of Beswick, as he was known after being given a life peerage in 1983, died in 1999 aged 75 and was celebrated as the antithesis of the slick modern politician.