Baroness Boothroyd, first female Speaker of the House of Commons, has died aged 93 | Politics News
Betty Boothroyd, the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, has died at the age of 93.
Current Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle, said: “Betty Boothroyd is not only an inspirational woman but also an inspirational politician, and someone I am proud to call my friend.
“Becoming the first female Speaker was truly groundbreaking, and Betty certainly broke that glass ceiling with bewilderment.”
“Betty is one-of-a-kind. A sharp, witty and formidable woman – and I will miss her,” he added.
Born into a working-class family in Dewsbury in 1929, Baron Boothroyd was introduced to politics at an early age thanks to her mother being a member of the women’s section of the Labor Party.
Often taken to rallies where Labor giants including Clement Attlee and Nye Bevan would address large crowds, Baron Boothroyd would later follow in their footsteps.
But it wasn’t before the talented dancer’s dreams of taking over the West End with the Tiller Girls dance group were brutally ended at just 25 years old due to a foot infection.
The political phase would soon follow, a journey that began with a move to London in the early 1950s after taking up secretarial jobs for two Labor MPs – Barbara Castle and Geoffrey de Freitas.
Baroness Boothroyd has twice failed to become an MP this decade – finishing 7,000 votes less than the Conservative candidate in her first attempt at a by-election in South East Leicester 1957.
After two eliminations, Baroness Boothroyd went to the United States in 1960, where she worked on the campaign of John F Kennedy after he was elected as the Democratic presidential candidate.
Baron Boothroyd traveled across the United States with Democratic senator Estes Kefauver before moving on to work for leftist Republican congressman Silvio Conte.
After two years across the ocean, she returned to the UK, where she worked as a political assistant to Labor Secretary Lord Harry Walston.
In 1973, Baron Boothroyd made himself an MP at his fifth attempt, successfully securing the seat in West Bromwich for the Labor Party.
She is said to have said it would be her last attempt to enter Parliament – but won the contest with a majority of more than 8,000 votes.
She became one of 27 female MPs in the House of Commons at the time.
Baron Boothroyd went on to become an assistant government executive for the Labor Party and was always concerned with ensuring MPs were present in the House of Commons to vote on important legislation.
In 1975, she was elected a member of the European Parliament and became a vocal advocate for the single market.
Baron Boothroyd’s political influence continued to grow after she was appointed to both the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Speaker’s Council of Presidents in 1979.
In 1987, the Labor MP was appointed Vice Speaker of the House – a position she would hold until 1992 when Bernard “Jack” Weatherill announced her resignation as Speaker of the House.
By this time, Baron Boothroyd had proven himself to be a man of great power and persuasion, and was persuaded by some of his Labor colleagues to run to replace him.
Her appointment was contested by Conservative MP John Brooke, but Baron Boothroyd won the vote by 372 votes to 238.
As a result, Baroness Boothroyd became the first female Speaker of the House and the first opposition MP to be elected to the role, receiving overwhelming support from both sides of the House of Commons.
“Vote me for who I am, not how I was born,” she said in her acceptance speech.
During her first time in the chair as Speaker, she was asked by then Burnley MP Peter Pike: “What do we call you?”
“Call me grandma,” she replied – in front of a packed Commons room.
Baroness Boothroyd modernized the Speaker role, refusing to wear the traditional wig – a decision passed by MPs – and ending the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions with her catchphrase: ” Time out!”
She followed the rules and had a no-nonsense style that quickly became a household name when television coverage of the Commons began.
Baroness Boothroyd once reminded MPs that her role was to “ensure that opinionated people, even unpopular, are allowed to voice their opinion”.
But she only removed one MP during her time in the role – then DUP leader Ian Paisley, who accused a minister of lying and was subsequently suspended for 10 days.
She also controversially banned women from breastfeeding during select committee hearings.
Baron Boothroyd presided over heated debates about the European Union but described Nelson Mandela’s state visit and speech to parliament in 1996 as “the most memorable moment of my time as a Speaker”. fake”.
Mr. Mandela held her hand before they entered Westminster Hall together for the ceremony.
Baron Boothroyd’s term coincided with a time when Conservative prime minister Sir John Major tried to defend his slim majority and won a landslide victory in the 1997 Labor election.
Her 1997 re-election did not apply.
Baron Boothroyd stepped down as Speaker in 2000 after eight years in the chair presiding over MPs with a resolute demeanor and sense of humour.
During this time, she spoke twice in India’s Lok Sabha, once in the Russian Duma and at most of the European parliaments.
She also welcomed many political figures to the National Assembly, including former French president Jacques Chirac.
Before reading her farewell speech in the House of Commons, congressional staff members lined up to applaud her.
Her personal motto as Speaker was “I speak to serve” and she emphasized that it was the duty of parliament to control the government of the time.
Baron Boothroyd has criticized moves towards a more presidential style, warning in his farewell address on July 26 that prime ministers “can be easily overthrown” and that parliament “is the nation’s main forum – today, tomorrow and, I hope, forever”.
In 2001, she was created a mate, taking the title Baron Boothroyd of Sandwell in the West Midlands.
She published her autobiography in the same year.
In 2005, she was awarded the Medal of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II – awarded to those who “have served with exceptional distinction in the armed forces or with exceptional excellence in the sciences, arts, literature or advertising”. spread culture”.
Baron Boothroyd is not afraid to speak his mind on political issues after his retirement.
In 2018, she ramped up the pressure significantly on then-Speaker John Bercow to fulfill her pledge to step down later that year.
She said he should step down in the middle of parliament as a “courtesy” to MPs and not wait until the next general election.
In April 2019, Baron Boothroyd spoke at a rally organized by The People’s Vote, calling for another Brexit referendum
In an interview in 2021, she said PMQ has “worsened a lot over the last few years,” adding: “Its quality isn’t what it used to be.”
Speaking as the party gate scandal unfolded, she added: “The prime minister is there to answer questions about what the government is doing, why it’s not doing.
“I’m not saying the prime ministers have the answers to every question. Of course, they don’t. But at least they have to try and try and it doesn’t.” [happening] these days.”
Upon retiring as Speaker, then-Liberal Democratic Party leader Charles Kennedy declared: “As the first female Speaker, her place in the history books is guaranteed.”
On Baron Boothroyd’s 90th birthday, Tony Blair said he had “slight admiration” for the former Speaker after she told him that as a young MP he had walked onto the terraces of Parliament with his shirt on. wool and jeans.
While Sir John Major said the Dewsbury-born politician had entered the “Temple of National Treasure”.
Baron Boothroyd died unmarried and childless, having made his work a priority.
To this day, she remains the only female Speaker of the House of Representatives for more than 700 years.