TOMORROW'S State Opening of Parliament will be a big occasion for Pendle Labour stalwarts Len and Betty Dole - thanks to Len's service to the party and Betty's super meals!

They will be special guests at the ceremony 52 years after Len, a former party agent, celebrated Labour's last General Election landslide victory in London - and saw new Prime Minister Clement Attlee carried shoulder high by supporters.

A chance conversation between Pendle MP Gordon Prentice and Speaker of the House Betty Boothroyd last week brought the local couple's names to the fore.

Miss Boothroyd inquired about the man who had acted as her agent in her unsuccessful bid to win the Nelson and Colne seat in 1968, following the death of long-serving MP Sidney Silverman.

She recalled the happy days of campaigning and made special mention of the first class meals served up by Mrs Dole at the couple's home.

The chat inspired Mr Prentice to invite Len and Betty to be his guests for the state opening and to take them to lunch in the Commons.

Len, who was agent in Nelson and Colne for 33 years and welcomed many Labour big guns, including former Prime Minister Harold Wilson to the town, said: "For me tomorrow marks the full cycle of political events in this country.

"As an assistant agent in 1945, I was in London to celebrate Labour capturing 393 seats.

"Since then there have been too many years of Conservative rule." "

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