Labour veteran Roy Hattersley has left £25,000 to the Dogs Trust — a fitting tribute to his much-loved mongrel Buster, who famously killed one of the Queen’s geese in St James’s Park.
The former Labour deputy leader died aged 93 at his home in the Peak District in June. His estate was valued at £586,018, built during a 33-year parliamentary career and through the publication of more than 20 books.
His will, made public this week, also allocates £25,000 to charities working to feed people in need. His trustees have been asked to choose the organisations, taking into account any preferences Hattersley may have recorded.
Most of his wealth goes to his second wife, Maggie, who previously worked as his literary agent. She will also inherit his entire literary estate, including published and unpublished books, manuscripts, correspondence and copyrights.
The former politician left a combined £105,000 to four friends. Once those gifts and other legacies have been paid, the remaining £431,018 will pass to his widow.
Hattersley signed the document in June 2024, two years before his death. Maggie was appointed executor of his literary affairs, while solicitors in Sheffield were instructed to handle the remainder of his estate.
The gift to the Dogs Trust recalls Buster’s enduring place in Hattersley’s life. In April 1996, a walk with the dog ended when a goose was found dead and a police officer reported seeing blood around Buster’s muzzle.
Hattersley later admitted by letter that he had allowed Buster to run off the lead in a Royal Park and was fined £75. He subsequently transformed the unusual incident into the book Buster’s Diaries, told from the dog’s perspective and presenting the attack as an act of self-defence.
Labour grandee Lord Hattersley, who died aged 93 in June, is pictured with his dog Buster in 1998
The late politician, pictured with Buster in 1999, has left £25,000 to the Dogs Trust in his will
The former Birmingham Sparkbrook MP served as deputy to Labour leader Neil Kinnock
Born in Sheffield in 1932, Hattersley was the son of a former Catholic priest and a mother who went on to become the city’s Lord Mayor.
A respected columnist for Our News Outlet, he held a number of ministerial roles under Prime Minister Harold Wilson, including employment minister and deputy defence minister during the 1960s.
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Wilson later appointed him minister of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs, a position he held from 1974 to 1976. The following year, Hattersley became a privy councillor.
From 1976 until 1979, he served in James Callaghan’s Cabinet as secretary for prices and consumer protection.
After losing the 1983 Labour leadership contest to Neil Kinnock, Hattersley became his deputy. Over the next nine years, the pair worked to move Labour away from unilateral nuclear disarmament and anti-European policies while helping to remove Militant from the party.
Often described as Labour’s “nearly man”, Hattersley was later parodied on the television show Spitting Image as a spluttering puppet.
He represented Birmingham Sparkbrook in the Commons from 1964 to 1997, after which he entered the House of Lords as Baron Hattersley of Sparkbrook. He retired from the Lords in 2017.
Sir Keir Starmer led tributes following his death, writing on X: “Roy Hattersley was a giant of the Labour movement.
“Through decades of service, including as deputy leader and a minister, he never lost his belief in a more equal Britain. My thoughts are with his wife Maggie and his family.”
Lord Kinnock said: ‘I am deeply saddened to hear that Roy has died and send my profound sympathy to Maggie.
‘Roy was a socialist of deep conviction, a dedicated democrat who believed that liberty should be unqualified.
‘He was never solemn nor deferential and his common sense, humour and endless stories made him excellent company. All of this made him a valued comrade and an incomparable asset to the Labour Party.’
Lord Hattersley married his first wife Molly in 1956, with the pair divorcing in 2013 before he wed Maggie Pearlstine that same year.
His estate was valued at a gross £594,696, reduced to £586,018 once debts and expenses were paid.
