Baroness Boothroyd, first female Speaker of the House of Commons, has died aged 93
The first female Speaker of the House of Commons, Betty Boothroyd, has died aged 93.
Current Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle, said: “Not only was Betty Boothroyd an inspiring woman, but she was also an inspirational politician, and someone I was proud to call my friend.
“To be the first woman Speaker was truly ground-breaking and Betty certainly broke that glass ceiling with panache.”
“Betty was one of a kind. A sharp, witty and formidable woman – and I will miss her,” he added.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said she was a “remarkable woman” and an “inspiration” who brought “passion, wit and sense of fairness” to politics. “My thoughts go out to her family,” he said.
Former PM Theresa May said she was “saddened” to hear of the baroness’ death, adding: “Betty was formidable in the chair, but earned the respect and admiration of the whole House. I will always remember her inimitable style, but also her immense personal warmth and kindness.”
Born into a working-class family in Dewsbury in 1929, Baroness Boothroyd was introduced to politics at an early age through her mother’s membership of the women’s section of the Labour Party.
Often taken to rallies where Labour giants including Clement Attlee and Nye Bevan would address large crowds, Baroness Boothroyd would later follow in their footsteps.
But not before the talented dancer’s dreams of taking the West End by storm with dance group the Tiller Girls were cruelly put to an end by just the age of 25 due to a foot infection.
The political stage would soon follow, the journey beginning with a move to London in the early 1950s after getting a job as secretary to two Labour MPs – Barbara Castle and Geoffrey de Freitas.
Baroness Boothroyd twice unsuccessfully stood to become an MP during this decade – finishing fewer than 7,000 votes behind the Conservative candidate in her first attempt in the Leicester South East by-election in 1957.
Following the two knock-backs, Baroness Boothroyd travelled to the United States in 1960 where she worked on John F Kennedy’s campaign after he was elected as the Democratic candidate for president.
Baroness Boothroyd travelled across America with Democratic senator Estes Kefauver before moving on to work for left-wing Republican congressman Silvio Conte.
After two years across the pond, she returned to the UK where she worked as a political assistant to Labour minister Lord Harry Walston.
In 1973, Baroness Boothroyd became an MP herself at the fifth attempt, successfully securing the seat of West Bromwich for the Labour Party.
Baroness Boothroyd attempted to become an MP four times before being successful in 1973
She is believed to have said this would have been her final attempt at entering 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.
Baroness Boothroyd went on to become an assistant government whip for the Labour Party and kept a keen eye on ensuring MPs were in the Commons to vote on key pieces of legislation.
In 1975, she was elected a member of the European Parliament and became a vocal advocate of the common market.
Read more:
Has Sunak got the politics right on Northern Ireland’s Brexit deal?
Why Brexit deal is the biggest gamble of Sunak’s premiership
Baroness Boothroyd’s political influence continued to grow after she was appointed to both the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Speaker’s Panel of Chairmen in 1979.
In 1987, the Labour MP was appointed deputy Speaker of the Commons – a position she would hold until 1992 when Bernard “Jack” Weatherill announced he was stepping down as Speaker.
By this time, Baroness Boothroyd had proven herself to hold great authority and conviction and was persuaded by some Labour colleagues to run to replace him.
Her appointment was contested by Conservative MP John Brooke, but Baroness Boothroyd won a vote by 372 votes to 238.
With the result, Baroness Boothroyd became the first female Speaker of the Commons and the first opposition MP to be elected to the role, having secured overwhelming support from both sides of the House.
Baroness Boothroyd became Speaker in 1992 and stayed in the role for eight years
“Elect me for what I am, and not for what 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 Madam,” she replied – to a packed Commons chamber.
Baroness Boothroyd modernised the role of Speaker, refusing to wear the traditional wig – a decision which was approved by MPs – and closing Prime Minister’s Questions every week with her catchphrase: “Time’s up!”
She stuck to the rules and had a no-nonsense style, quickly becoming a household name as rolling television coverage of the Commons began.
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh also attended a dinner hosted by Baroness Boothroyd while she was Speaker
Baroness Boothroyd once reminded MPs that her role was “to ensure that the holders of an opinion, however unpopular, are allowed to put across their points of view”.
But she only ever ejected one MP during her time in the role – then DUP leader Ian Paisley who had accused a minister of lying and was subsequently suspended for 10 days.
She also controversially banned women from breastfeeding during select committee hearings.
Baroness Boothroyd presided over fiery debates on the European Union but described Nelson Mandela’s state visit and parliament address in 1996 as “the most memorable moment of my time as Speaker”.
Mr Mandela had taken her hand before they entered Westminster Hall together for a ceremony.
South Africa’s President Nelson Mandela got a helping hand from Baroness Boothroyd when he visited Parliament in July 1996
Baroness Boothroyd’s term of office coincided with Conservative prime minister Sir John Major’s attempts to defend his slim majority and Labour’s landslide election win in 1997.
Her 1997 re-election was unopposed.
Baroness Boothroyd stood down from her position as Speaker in 2000 after eight years in the chair presiding over MPs with a firm manner and sense of humour.
During this time, she spoke twice in the Indian Lok Sabha, once in the Russian Duma and in most European parliaments.
She also welcomed numerous political figures to Parliament, including former French president Jacques Chirac.
French President Jacques Chirac kissed Baroness Boothroyd’s hand after visiting Parliament in 1996
Ahead of delivering her farewell speech in the Commons, parliamentary staff lined up in a row to clap her out.
Her personal motto as Speaker was “I speak to serve” and she was insistent that it is the task of parliament to control the government of the day.
Baroness Boothroyd had been critical of moves towards a more presidential style, warning in her farewell speech on 26 July that prime ministers “can easily be toppled” and that parliament “is the chief forum of the nation – today, tomorrow and, I hope, for ever”.
Baroness Boothroyd’s motto was: ‘I speak to serve’
In 2001, she was created a life peer, taking as her title Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell in the West Midlands.
She published her autobiography in the same year.
In 2005, she was given an Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II – given to those “who have provided especially eminent service in the armed forces or particularly distinguished themselves in science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture”.
Baroness Boothroyd was bestowed with the Order of Merit by The Queen in 2005
Baroness Boothroyd was not afraid to speak her mind on political matters after her retirement.
In 2018, she dramatically increased pressure on then Speaker John Bercow to honour a pledge to quit later that year.
She said he should step down in mid-parliament as a “courtesy” to MPs and not wait until the next general election.
In April 2019, Baroness Boothroyd spoke during a rally held by The People’s Vote, calling for another Brexit referendum
Baroness Boothroyd was a supporter of the UK remaining in the European Union
While in an interview in 2021, she said PMQs had “deteriorated a great deal in the last few years”, adding: “It’s not the quality that it used to be.”
Speaking as the partygate scandal unfolded, she added: “The prime minister is there to answer questions about what the government is doing, why it is not doing it.
“I don’t say prime ministers have got the answer to every question. Of course, they haven’t. But at least they’ve got to have a stab at it and make an attempt and it is not [happening] these days.”
On her retirement as Speaker, then Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy stated: “As the first woman Speaker, her place in the history books is assured.”
Baroness Boothroyd remains the only female Speaker of the House of Commons in its over 700-year history
On Baroness Boothroyd’s 90th birthday, Tony Blair said he had been “somewhat in awe” of the former Speaker after she had told him off when, as a young MP, he had entered Parliament’s terrace wearing a sweatshirt and jeans.
While Sir John Major said the Dewsbury-born politician had entered “the Pantheon of National Treasures”.
Baroness Boothroyd died unmarried and with no children, having prioritised her work.
To this day, she remains the only female Speaker of the House of Commons in over 700 years.
The last blast furnaces left operating in Britain could see their fate sealed within days, after their Chinese owners took the decision to cut off the crucial supply of ingredients keeping them running.
Jingye, the owner of British Steel in Scunthorpe, has, according to union representatives, cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
The upshot is that they may have to close next month – even sooner than the earliest date suggested for its closure.
Read more: Thousands of jobs at risk as British Steel consults unions over closure
The fate of the blast furnaces – the last two domestic sources of virgin steel, made from iron ore rather than recycled – is likely to be determined in a matter of days, with the Department for Business and Trade now actively pondering nationalisation.
The upshot is that even as Britain contends with a trade war across the Atlantic, it is now working against the clock to secure the future of steelmaking at Scunthorpe.
The talks between the government and Jingye broke down last week after the Chinese company, which bought British Steel out of receivership in 2020, rejected a £500m offer of public money to replace the existing furnaces with electric arc furnaces.
The sum is the same one it offered to Tata Steel, which has shut down the other remaining UK blast furnaces in Port Talbot and is planning to build electric furnaces – which have far lower carbon emissions.
These steel workers could soon be out of work
However, the owners argue that the amount is too little to justify extra investment at Scunthorpe, and said last week they were now consulting on the date of shutting both the blast furnaces and the attached steelworks.
Since British Steel is the main provider of steel rails to Network Rail – as well as other construction steels available from only a few sites in the world – the closure would leave the UK more reliant on imports for critical infrastructure sites.
However, since the site belongs to its Chinese owners, a decision to nationalise the site would involve radical steps government officials are wary of taking.
They also fear leaving taxpayers exposed to a potentially loss-making business for the long run.
The dilemma has been heightened by the sharp turn in geopolitical sentiment following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The incipient trade war and threatened cut in American support to Europe have sparked fresh calls for countries to act urgently to secure their own supplies of critical materials, especially those used for defence and infrastructure.
Read more:
Car manufacturers fined £461m for collusion
There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow
Gareth Stace, head of UK Steel, the industry lobby group, said: “Talks seem to have broken down between government and British Steel.
“My advice to government is: please, Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary, get back round that negotiating table, thrash out a deal, and if a deal can’t be found in the next few days, then I fear for the very future of the sector, but also here for Scunthorpe steelworks.”
British Steel declined to comment.
UK
Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace branded ‘crude attempt to enrich himself’ as Chinese spy documents set to be released
Prince Andrew’s efforts to make money from his Pitch@Palace project have been branded as a “crude attempt to enrich himself” at the expense of “unsuspecting tech founders”, as new documents may shed more light on what he and his team have been attempting to sell.
Today is the deadline for documents to be released relating to Prince Andrew‘s former senior adviser Dominic Hampshire and his interactions with the alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.
In February, an immigration tribunal heard how the intelligence services had contacted Mr Hampshire about Mr Yang back in 2022. Mr Yang helped set up Pitch@Palace China, a branch of the duke’s scheme to help young entrepreneurs.
The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew
Yang Tengbo. Pic: Pitch@Palace
Judges banned Mr Yang from the UK, saying his association with a senior royal had made Prince Andrew “vulnerable” and posed a threat to national security. Mr Yang challenged that decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
Since that hearing, media organisations have applied for certain documents relating to the case and Mr Hampshire’s support for Mr Yang to be made public. SIAC agreed to release some information of public interest. It is hoped they may include more details on deals that he was trying to do on behalf of Prince Andrew.
So what do we know about potential deals for Pitch@Palace so far?
In February, Sky News confirmed that palace officials had a meeting last summer with tech funding company StartupBootcamp to discuss a potential tie-up between them and Prince Andrew relating to his Pitch@Palace project.
The palace wasn’t involved in the fine details of a deal but wanted guarantees to make sure it wouldn’t impact the Royal Family in the future. Sky News understands from one source that the price being discussed for Pitch was around £750,000 – there are, however, reports that a deal may have stalled.
Photos we found on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce website show an event held in Asia between StartupBootcamp and Innovate Global, believed to be an offshoot of Pitch.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Who is alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo?
Documents, released in relation to the investigations into Mr Tengbo, have also shown how much the duke has always seen Pitch as a way of potentially making money. One document from 21 August 2021 clearly states “the duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding”.
But Prince Andrew’s apparent intention to use Pitch to make money has led to concerns about whether he is unfairly using the contacts and information he gained when he was a working royal.
Norman Baker, former MP and author of books on royal finances, believes it is “a crude attempt to enrich himself” and goes against what the tech entrepreneurs thought they were signing up for.
Read more:
Who is Yang Tenbo?
Virginia Giuffre says she has days to live
Emails between Andrew and Epstein revealed
He told Sky News: “The data given by these business people was given on the basis it was an official operation and not something for Prince Andrew, and so in my view, Prince Andrew had no right legally or morally to take the data which has been collected, a huge amount of data, and sell it…
“And quite clearly if you’re going to sell it off to StartupBootcamp, that is not what people had in mind. The entrepreneurs who joined Pitch@Palace did not do so to enrich Prince Andrew,” he said.
Rich Wilson was one tech entrepreneur who was approached at the start of Pitch@Palace to sign up, but he stepped away when he spotted a clause in the contract saying they’d be entitled to 2% equity in any funding he secured.
He feels Prince Andrew is continuing to use those he made a show of supporting.
He said: “It makes me feel sick. I think it’s terrible – that he is continuing to exploit unsuspecting tech founders in this way. A lot of them, I’m quite grey and old in the tooth now, I saw it coming, but clearly most didn’t. And a lot of them were quite young.
“It’ll be their first venture and you’re learning on the trot, so to speak. So to take advantage of people in such a major way – that’s an awful, sickening thing to do.”
We approached StartupBootcamp who said they had no comment to make, and the Duke of York’s office did not respond.
With reports that a deal may have stalled, it could be a big setback for the duke – especially with questions still about how he’ll continue to pay for his home on the Windsor estate now that the King no longer gives him financial support.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports12 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway