Marsden was born in Everton in Liverpool, and was educated at Abbotsford Road Secondary School.
He volunteered to join the RAF in 1941, aged 18, and served with 115 Squadron, which flew Lancaster bombers from bases in East Anglia in the Second World War.
He joined the Labour party in 1948, and became member of Liverpool City Council for the St Domingo ward in 1964.
He resigned from the council when he was elected as MP for Liverpool Scotland in a by-election held in April 1971, after the sitting Labour MP Walter Alldritt had resigned to become regional secretary of the National Union of General and Municipal Workers.
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