1996, during an argument over Latham's friendship with Hurlstone's estranged wife, Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Caroline Hurlstone. At the time, Latham was running a minority administration and was dependent on the votes of Liberal Democrat councillors. In May 1996, Hurlestone defected to the Labour Party. That month, rumours of an affair between Hurlstone and Latham were said to have led to other defections on the council, which eventually led to the end of the ruling Lib-Lab coalition. In December 1996, Terry Hurlstone, a former Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, was convicted of common assault, but cleared of theft, having been accused of stealing a notebook from Latham. Caroline was an English teacher who had won Channel 4's Fifteen to One quiz show twice, and appeared as a contestant on the BBC's Mastermind. In January 1997, Hornchurch Constituency Labour Party passed a motion of no confidence in Latham; however, in May that year, the Labour Group voted him back in as Group Leader. Latham resigned as Group Leader in December 1997, leading to Labour regaining control of the council. Latham stood down as a councillor at the 1998 local elections. He later married Caroline, who had become known as Caroline Warren. At the 1998 elections, she stood for re-election as a Labour candidate in St Edward's ward, but was not elected. During his career, Latham was Vice-President of Labour Action for Peace, and a member of the British Campaign for Peace in Vietnam and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. In keeping with these left-wing stances, he resigned from the Labour Party in May 2003 over the Iraq War (instigated by a Labour government) and other issues. However, he rejoined the party in 2007. Personal life and death In 1951, he married Ruby Margaret Green, and they had two children: a son, Howard Arthur, and a daughter, Diana Margaret. Howard became a councillor for the Bellenden ward in Southwark in 1994, and then for Alleyn in the same borough in 1998. Ruby was a fellow Havering borough councillor, representing Heaton ward in Upminster for the Labour and Co-operative Party until her death in 2001. She died in November 2000, and Latham married Caroline Warren in 2001. Latham was a vegetarian. His recreations were listed in Who's Who as "bridge, chess, cricket, country music, walking, theatre, Chelsea Football Club, pet rats". He lived in Romford. Latham died in December 2016, aged 86. References