Tag: women MP’s

Margaret Beckett

(1943 – )

I’m sceptical of the existence of this exhibit.  It is a bust of Margaret Beckett, Labour MP, who was awarded an Honorary Degree by the University in 2017.  There is little detail of it online and very little pictorial evidence but, if it’s out there in the public realm, I’m duty bound to find it.

They say a day in politics is a long time.  Margaret served 45 years as a Member of Parliament before standing down in the 2024 election and is now doing time in the House of Lords – seemingly a sucker for a lifetime of punishment.  In 2006 she officially opened the new Clinical Skills Suite before returning in 2007 for the unveiling of the bust in the reception area.  I’m in Derby anyway – the birth town of Florence Nightingale (3 statues in one place!) so it is no hardship to drop by at the university and take a chance that the bust is still in position.  Staff are friendly as they direct me to the suite, hence I capture her thus.

Barbara Castle

(1910 – 2002)

Like buses, there’s none for ages then two Labour party MP’s arrive at once.  And so, to number 2 of 2.  Barbara served as a Member of Parliament for Blackburn from 1945-1979 making her one of the longest serving female MP’s in British history, keeping her seat for 34 years.  Over that time she held five high-profile government posts.

Appointed Minister of Transport in 1965, she was responsible for the introduction of breathalysers, compulsory seat belts and 70mph national speed limits which remain to this day.

In 1968 she became Secretary of State for Employment, working on equal pay legislation.  Barbara was celebrated for her successful intervention over the strike by Ford sewing machinists in Dagenham against gender pay discrimination, speaking out in support of the strikers.

As Secretary of State for Health and Social Services she introduced the Carer’s Allowance and oversaw the passing of the Child Benefit Act.

After her House of Commons career, she became a Euro-MP and later a member of the House of Lords, having been granted a life peerage in 1990.  She remained active in politics until her death in 2002 at the age of 91.

The statue depicts her carrying the Equal Pay Act documentation, a tribute to the fact that she oversaw the passage of its implantation in 1970.  Quite a hefty load to be carrying.