Austin Vernon Mitchell (born 19 September 1934) is the Labour member of Parliament for Great Grimsby in England. Educated at Bingley Grammar School, the University of Manchester and Nuffield College , Oxford University. He is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group. He is a Eurosceptic and opposes the Common Fisheries Policy.
While lecturing sociology at the University of Canterbury, Mitchell wrote a popular book about New Zealand, The Half Gallon Quarter Acre Pavlova Paradise (1972). The book title became a phrase in the New Zealand English lexicon. Thirty years later, in 2002 he wrote Pavlova Paradise Revisited, after another New Zealand expedition. In the 1960's and 70's, New Zealand was a socialist laboratory. In the 80's and 90's, it transformed to an open market economy. These drastic changes provided ample subject matter for social analysis.
He became an MP with a by-election in 1977, after the death of the previous MP, Tony Crosland, at the time identifying himself as a Gaitskellite. Immediately before being elected he was a presenter of Yorkshire Television's local news programme, Calendar.
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