Background
Boyes was born in Holmfirth, Yorkshire, the son of a lorry driver, and educated at Wooldale Infant and Junior School.
Boyes was born in Holmfirth, Yorkshire, the son of a lorry driver, and educated at Wooldale Infant and Junior School.
A bout of spinal meningitis caused him to miss the eleven plus and he attended a year at a secondary modern school before moving to Penistone Grammar School. He attended the University of Leicester to study chemistry, but left after one year. He then attended Coventry Teachers Training College, where he met his future wife, and taught mathematics in secondary schools for 13 years.
He was assistant director of social services at Durham County Council from 1975 to 1979. Boyes began his political career by joining the Labour Party at age 20. He served as a local councillor on Easington District Council from 1973 and then Peterlee Town Council.
He was elected as Member of the European Parliament for Durham from 1979 to 1984.
In Parliament, he joined the Tribune group and the Campaign group, and was noted for loud interjections in a broad Yorkshire accent from his seat. Nevertheless, he soon became a frontbench spokesman under Neil Kinnock, on environment from 1985 to 1988 and on defence from 1988 to 1992.
He lost his front-bench position when John Smith became leader of the Labour Party, but then served on Select Committees, on Environment from 1992 to 1994 and on National Heritage from 1994 to 1997. A keen photographer, he produced a book in 1990, People in Parliament, containing black-and-white photographs of MPs.
He set up the to raise funding for research into Alzheimer"son
The Trust raised much of the funding for a suite at Newcastle General Hospital that opened in 2001 and was named in his honour. He died in Peterlee, County Durham, aged 69.
49th United Kingdom Parliament. 50th United Kingdom Parliament. 51st United Kingdom Parliament]
In the 1983 general election, he was sponsored by the General, Municipal and Boilermakers" Union, and succeeded Houghton-le-Spring Member of Parliament Tom Urwin as Member of Parliament for the new Houghton and Washington constituency.
An outspoken left-winger, he was a member of Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and supported the protestors against cruise missiles at Greenham Common.
He was also a member of the board of directors at Hartlepool United.
Spouse Patricia (née James), 1962. Children: John David, Paul Richard.