(1929 – 2023)
Betty was MP for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000 and serving as the Speaker of the House of Commons from 1992 to 2000 – the only woman to have held the role to date. She took up a position in the House of Lords in 2001.
In 1994, she was appointed as the first woman Chancellor of the Open University from 1994-2006. This bronze portrait was commissioned by the university in 2001 and forms part of the sculptor Shenda Amery’s ‘Women who have made a difference’ series (see Margaret Beckett).
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