British Parliament – Cottage Capers

On this day in history : 8th October 1929 – The birth of former Speaker of the House of Commons Betty Boothroyd – the only woman to have ever served as speaker….

Betty Boothroyd – UK Parliament official portraits 2017 – Image credit : Chris McAndrew CC BY 3.0

Born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, Betty was the only child of textile workers Ben and Mary Boothroyd…. Both of her parents were trade unionists and her mother was a member of the women’s section of the Labour Party – giving Betty her first insight into the world of politics…. She herself joined the League of Youth, an organisation within the Labour Party – and she showed an early talent for public speaking, even winning a national contest….

Betty was to study at the Dewsbury College of Commerce and Art and then she was to embark on a career as a dancer – joining the dance troupe The Tiller Girls, even performing at the London Palladium…. However, a foot infection brought her dancing career to an early end – and so she decided to enter politics….

During the late 1950s she was to work for some senior Labour Members of Parliament, including Barbara Castle…. Then in 1960 she travelled to Washington to observe the campaign of John F Kennedy – and worked briefly for American Congressman Silvio Conte…. She returned to London in 1962 and resumed her career as a political assistant – and then in 1965 was elected herself to a seat on Hammersmith Borough Council….

In 1973 Betty became elected Member of Parliament for West Bromwich – and in 1974 she was appointed assistant government whip, then becoming a Member of European Parliament (MEP) from 1975-77….

She was to become Deputy Speaker under Speaker Bernard Weatherill in 1987…. Then in 1992 she was elected Speaker of the House of Commons, making her the first ever and so far only woman Speaker…. It was a position she was to hold until the 23rd of October 2000…. On announcing her intention to resign – after Prime Minister’s Questions on the 12th of July 2000 – then Prime Minister Tony Blair said in tribute to her that she was ‘something of a national institution’…. As Speaker Betty had sought to modernise the role – she chose not to wear the Speaker’s traditional wig – and developed her own catchphrase “Right – time’s up!” when bringing Prime Minister’s Questions to a close…. She was well-liked and respected – especially in her firm, authoritative handling of a sometimes unruly House of Commons….

A year after her retirement as Speaker Betty was made a life peer, with the title of Baroness Boothroyd, of Sandwell in the County of West Midlands…. She was awarded the Order of Merit by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2005…. Baroness Boothroyd was then to sit as a cross bench peer in the House of Lords….

Betty Boothroyd died at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge on the 26th February 2023, aged 93…

Coat of Arms for Baroness Boothroyd – Image : Robin S Taylor – own work CC BY 3.0

On this day in history : 24th February 1920 – Nancy Astor becomes the first woman to speak in the House of Commons – following her election as an MP three months earlier….

Nancy Witcher Langhorne was born in Virginia, USA and in 1904, at the age of 26, she moved to England…. Two years later she married Waldorf Astor, a wealthy newspaper proprietor, who was to become Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton…. They had five children – four sons and a daughter….

After the death of his father in 1919 Waldorf Astor was to inherit a Peerage, making him 2nd Viscount Astor, which in turn gave Nancy the title of Viscountess…. Waldorf had to give up his seat in Parliament in order to sit in the House of Lords….and so he encouraged and helped to promote Nancy in her stand for his old seat in the following by-election on the 15th of November…. She won – with 51% of the votes, more than her Liberal and Labour opponents put together….although she had to wait until the 28th of November for the results to be announced….

On the 1st of December 1919 Nancy entered the House of Commons to take her oath…. She was sponsored by Prime Minister David Lloyd George and Arthur Balfour, President of the Council and a former Prime Minister….

The previous year had seen the 1918 Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act passed…. It is often wrongly thought Viscountess Astor was the first woman to be elected to Parliament…. That honour actually goes to Irish Republican Constance Markievicz in 1918 – she did not take her seat, as she was residing in Holloway at the time as a member of Sinn Fein – and had refused to take her oath….

Nancy Astor, with her American ways, did not always stick to the rules….On her very first day in the Commons she was called to order for chatting with a colleague – she was totally oblivious to the fact that she was the cause of all the commotion going on around her…. She also had to learn to dress in a more appropriate manner – and to avoid areas in the Houses of Parliament frequented by the men, such as the bars and smoking rooms…. Hostility was all around her; many of the men saw her presence as an annoyance – one in particular, MP Horatian Bottomley, had such a problem with her being there that he actively sought to ruin her career….

With her outspoken views, advocating woman’s rights and calling for stricter restrictions on alcohol, Nancy would interrupt speeches in Parliament and heckle…. During her maiden speech, to a House full of over 500 men, many opposed to her, she spoke about the Women’s Vote and the perils of drinking – and the danger it posed to women and children…. She emphasised the negative impact it had on the economy and called for the restrictions on drinking hours introduced in World War One to be tightened even further – something that did not sit well with many of her male counterparts…. Nancy Astor held her Conservative seat for over 25 years….

Tag: British Parliament

On this day in history….8th October 1929

On this day in history….24th February 1920