After serving as a local councillor and political advisor and aide to a number of Labour politicians including Roy Jenkins, he was created a life peer in order to become Minister of State for Home Affairs in the Wilson and Callaghan governments between 1974 and 1979.
[1][2] He became assistant editor of Forward, a left-wing weekly newspaper, when it was brought to London in 1957, which was the start of his career in politics.
[2] He became the parliamentary candidate for Bromley in the same year, but resigned in 1959 when Forward folded and he became personal assistant to Hugh Gaitskell, Leader of the Opposition.
[1] He is credited as being a successful minister,[1][2] and served until January 1979 when he resigned to become Chairman of the Parole Board for England and Wales (1979–1982).
He was always loyal to his many friends, who valued his opinions and enjoyed his company, although at heart he was a shy, rather than a gregarious, man.Speaking to BBC News, Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said Harris was "an exceptionally gifted all-rounder whose experience and insights dating back to Gaitskell were invaluable".