Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell OM, PC (born 8 October 1929) is a British Labour politician, who served as Member of Parliament for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000 and was the first, and to date only, female Speaker of the British House of Commons between 1992 and 2000.

[edit] Early life

Boothroyd was born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, in 1929, to Archibald and Mary Boothroyd, textile workers. She was educated at council schools and went on to study at Dewsbury College of Commerce and Art. In the 1940s, she enjoyed a career as a dancer, as a member of the Tiller Girls dancing troupe in her younger years.^[1] Betty was known as the "Baroness Speaker".

Boothroyd contested parliamentary seats at Leicester South East (1957 by-election) and Peterborough (1959) before travelling to the United States in 1960 to see the Kennedy campaign. She subsequently began work in Washington as a legislative assistant for an American Congressman, Silvio Conte, between 1960 and 1962. When she returned to London she continued her work as secretary and political assistant to various senior Labour politicians. In 1965 she was elected to a seat on Hammersmith Borough Council, in Gibbs Green ward, where she remained until 1968.

[edit] Member of Parliament

She contested several seats: Leicester South East in 1957, Peterborough in 1959, Nelson and Colne in 1968, and Rossendale in 1970.

She entered Parliament as the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich in a by-election in 1973. Boothroyd's career then flourished. In 1974 she was appointed an assistant Government Whip and she was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1975-1977. In 1979 she became a member of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, until 1981, and of the Speaker's Panel of Chairmen, until 1987. She was also a member of the Labour Party National Executive Committee (NEC) from 1981-1987 and the House of Commons Commission from 1983-1987.

[edit] Deputy Speaker and Speaker

She became a Deputy Speaker in 1987. In 1992 she was elected Speaker, being the first woman ever to hold the position. She was not the first woman to sit in the Speaker's Chair, however; that honour fell to Betty Harvie Anderson, a Deputy Speaker from 1970 to 1973. There was some debate as to whether or not Boothroyd should wear the traditional Speaker's wig upon her election. In the end she did not, and the tradition was ended, although as Boothroyd herself has admitted, the practice would return if subsequent Speakers chose to wear the wig ^[2]; so far none have chosen to do so. In 1993, the Social Chapter of the Maastricht Treaty was carried due to her casting vote. However, her casting vote was not in fact required, as the votes of ordinary MPs had been miscounted.^[3] Boothroyd was keen to get young people interested in politics, and in the 1990s even made an appearance as a special guest on the BBCs Saturday morning children's programe Live & Kicking.

[edit] Retirement and Life Peer

Boothroyd stepped down in 2000, and resigned as an MP, being succeeded by Michael Martin as Speaker.

Boothroyd was Chancellor of the Open University from 1994 until October 2006 and has donated some of her personal papers to the University's archives. She is an Honorary Fellow of St Hugh's College, Oxford. In March 1995 she was awarded an Honorary Degree from the Open University as Doctor of the University.

In 2001 she was created a Life Peer, taking as her title Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell in the West Midlands, and her autobiography was published in the same year. In April 2005 she was appointed to the Order of Merit, an honour which is in the personal gift of the Queen.

Betty Boothroyd is also the Patron of the Jo Richardson Community School in Dagenham, Essex, England.

[edit] Personal life

She is unmarried and has no children. She has remained physically active, taking up paragliding while on holiday in Cyprus in her sixties. She has described the hobby as both "lovely and peaceful" and "exhilarating". She has long held an interest in lighting and became an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Light & Lighting (SLL) in 2009.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Betty Boothroyd: The Autobiography. Publisher: Century (4 Oct 2001). ISBN 0712679480

[edit] External links

• Archives Hub - Papers of Betty Boothroyd (Biography)
• Brief biography by BBC News, October 2000
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Betty Boothroyd

[edit] Offices held

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