The Beast of Bolsover, Dennis Skinner served as the Labour MP for Bolsover (1970-2019). From a mining family, he worked as a miner until 1962. He was a strong supporter of the NUM and during the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike donated his wage to the NUM.
The painting is one from a set of three done by the artist based on photographs taken of Dennis Skinner at the Houses of Parliament between 2017-2018. One of the other paintings is in the collection at the Marx Memorial Library and the second is part of Mr Skinner’s private collection. The portrait is predominantly black and white and is a head and shoulders portrait of Mr Skinner in partial side profile.