As Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St. Pancras from 1979 to 2015, he served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Health from 1997 to 1999, and was the Labour Party nominee for Mayor of London in 2000, finishing third in the election behind Conservative Steven Norris and the winner, Labour-turned-Independent Ken Livingstone.

[4] Having a young family, Dobson stood down as leader and resigned from the council in 1975 in favour of a non-partisan job as assistant secretary of the office of the Local Government Ombudsman, which he held until 1979.

He voted for Tony Benn for Labour Deputy Leader in 1981, but thereafter became disillusioned and chose to align with what he called the "sane left".

[4] Dobson's naturally pugnacious style earned him rapid promotion to the front bench, where he served in several important posts from 1982.

"[4] As Spokesman on Environment and London from 1994, he led the national Labour response to a series of scandals over City of Westminster council and its former leader Shirley Porter.

Following Labour's landslide victory at the 1997 general election, Dobson was appointed as Secretary of State for Health.

[4] Dobson was also instrumental, working with Tessa Jowell, in establishing Sure Start, which aimed to improve childcare, early education and health care for families with children.

[2] Dobson beat Ken Livingstone in the Labour Party's internal selection process for the office of Mayor of London, helped by its electoral college system and the absence of any requirement for affiliated trade unions to ballot their members.

[13] Dobson's brother Geoff, a schoolteacher, died of liver cancer on the eve of Labour's landslide general election victory in 1997.

[14] With his "portly frame, jovial expression and bright white beard", Dobson was sometimes compared jokingly to Father Christmas.