Betty Boothroyd Autobiography: The Autobiography

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She campaigned successfully and with great gusto for a memorial to be erected in Whitehall to commemorate the role of the women of Britain in the second world war. She was judicious about the use of her considerable political authority as a member of the Lords, but campaigned against Brexit. She also deplored the Labour party’s lurch towards the left under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and despaired of the subsequent loss of the party’s former “Red Wall” northern seats. Here’s to a woman who conquered the murky world of Westminister with nothing but wit and gumption…and enough hairspray to turn a tsunami into a kiss curl.” Betty is a heart-warming celebration of the human spirit and the unexpected rewards that can come from thinking outside of the dispatch box. Image: Baroness Boothroyd remains the only female Speaker of the House of Commons in its over 700-year history

a b "SunakandStarmerpaytributetoBettyBoothroydatfuneraloffirstwomanspeaker". The Independent. 29 March 2023 . Retrieved 29 March 2023. 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. EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (MEMBERSHIP) (Hansard, 1 March 1977)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 1 March 1977. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017 . Retrieved 13 January 2017.BritishParliament'sNewSpeakerSays'CallMeMadam' ". The Christian Science Monitor. 29 April 1992 . Retrieved 27 February 2023. Image: Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh also attended a dinner hosted by Baroness Boothroyd while she was Speaker Boothroyd was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Civil Law (Hon DCL) by the City University London in 1993. She was chancellor of the Open University from 1994 until October 2006 and donated some of her personal papers to the University's archives. In March 1995, she was awarded an honorary degree from the Open University as Doctor of the University (DUniv). In 1999 she was made an Honorary Fellow of St Hugh's College, Oxford. [25] Two portraits of Boothroyd have been part of the parliamentary art collection since 1994 and 1999, respectively. [26] [27]

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. MPs expected to vote on Peter Bone suspension after report into bullying and sexual misconduct allegations

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. In 1973, Baroness Boothroyd became an MP herself at the fifth attempt, successfully securing the seat of West Bromwich for the Labour Party.

HouseHeroes". PoliticsHome.com. 23 November 2016. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019 . Retrieved 25 March 2019. On 12 July 2000, following Prime Minister's Questions, Boothroyd announced to the House of Commons that would resign as Speaker after the summer recess. TonyBlair, then prime minister, paid tribute to her as "something of a national institution". Blair's predecessor, JohnMajor, described her as an "outstanding Speaker". [23] She stepped down as Speaker and resignedasanMP on 23 October 2000. [24] Life peerage and later activity Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 February 2017 . Retrieved 27 May 2017. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link) In 2018, she dramatically increased pressure on then Speaker John Bercow to honour a pledge to quit later that year. Boothroyd took her seat as a crossbench peer in 2001 when she retired from the speakership. Honours and honorary degrees were heaped upon her, by universities including Oxford, Cambridge, London and St Andrews, but her personal interests centred on her role as chancellor of the Open University. It was a post she was invited to accept because of her support for the universal right to adult education.ParliamentarycareerforBaronessBoothroyd–MPsandLords–UKParliament". Parliament of the United Kingdom . Retrieved 13 May 2021. 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. She did not marry, despite receiving a number of offers – at least three of which were serious – saying that they always came at the wrong time. She was sad never to have had children, but she was brilliant with other people’s and had an instinctive touch for treating them as if they were grown-ups. It was possibly the secret of her success as speaker. The Conservative MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, Simon Clarke, described Boothroyd as a “magnificent parliamentarian”, and said it was “a thrill to see her around the Commons until recently”.