During the 1945 election campaign, he recruited 100 new members, and he later became Vice-Chairman of the National Committee for the Labour League of Youth in 1949, a position he held until 1953.
Latham was elected to represent Havering's Hilldene ward (centred on the Harold Hill area) in 1964.
Outside of politics, Latham was a member of the North-East Regional Metropolitan Hospital Board, which covered parts of East London and Essex, from 1966 to 1972.
[1] He was narrowly elected as the Member of Parliament for Paddington North in a 1969 by-election, following the death of the left-wing Labour incumbent, Ben Parkin.
The same year, he became Treasurer of the civil rights advocacy group Movement for Colonial Freedom, which was renamed Liberation in 1970.
[1] Following the 1970 general election, which saw Latham hold his seat with an increased majority, he championed the cause of the Irish Nationalist MP Bernadette Devlin, who had been imprisoned for incitement to riot.
[2] In 1981, Latham was shortlisted to be Labour's candidate for the forthcoming Bermondsey by-election, but lost out to Peter Tatchell (who failed to be elected).
On the latter occasion, it followed discussions over the effect on the party of Liberal Democrat activist Terry Hurlstone's conviction for assaulting Latham.
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.
[7][8] 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.
[13][11] Ruby was a fellow Havering borough councillor, representing Heaton ward in Upminster for the Labour and Co-operative Party until her death in 2001.
His recreations were listed in Who's Who as "bridge, chess, cricket, country music, walking, theatre, Chelsea Football Club, pet rats".