the election of his close ally Hugh Gaitskell as party leader, although he continued his legal practice as well. His Sheffield Neepsend constituency was abolished for the 1955 general election, but in 1956 he won a by-election in the Newport seat in Monmouthshire that he would hold until he retired. When Labour returned to government in 1964 under Harold Wilson, Soskice became Home Secretary. In this office he did not impress Wilson – he was in poor health, and he botched the response to an electoral boundary change dispute in Northamptonshire and accepted weakening amendments to the Race Relations Act of 1965. In December 1965, Soskice was relieved of his Home Office responsibilities and made Lord Privy Seal. He had, though, ensured Government support for Sydney Silverman's Private Members Bill, passed on 28 October 1965, which suspended the death penalty in the United Kingdom for five years (except for treason). This reform is sometimes erroneously included with the Jenkins reforms which followed. In fact when the death penalty for murder was finally abolished in 1969, James Callaghan was Home Secretary. In 1966, Soskice retired, and was created a life peer as Baron Stow Hill, of Newport in the County of Monmouth on 7 June 1966. Stow Hill is a steep hill in Newport, which runs from the city centre up to St. Woolos Cathedral. Arms References External links Parliamentary Archives, Stow Hill Papers 1902 births 1979 deaths 20th-century British lawyers Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Attorneys General for England and Wales British Army personnel of World War II British Secretaries of State British barristers British people of Russian descent Knights Bachelor Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Stow Hill Lords Privy Seal Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951 Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry officers People educated at St Paul's School, London Politics of Newport, Wales Secretaries of State for the Home Department Solicitors General for England and Wales UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs who were granted peerages Life peers created by Elizabeth II Welsh Labour Party MPs