"State as Home Secretary. Great Offices of State The Great Offices of State in the United Kingdom are the four most senior and prestigious posts in the British government. They are the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary. According to convention, when the Prime Minister names his or her Cabinet, either after a general election or a mid-term reshuffle, the first Cabinet ministers to be announced are the Chancellor, the Foreign Secretary and the Home Secretary. James Callaghan is the only person to date to have served in all four positions. In the past hundred"
"the fourth woman to hold one of the Great Offices of State. The longest-serving Home Secretary since James Chuter Ede over 60 years previously, May pursued reform of the police, took a harder line on drug policy and introduced restrictions on immigration. On 12 May 2010, when May was appointed Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equality by Prime Minister David Cameron as part of his first Cabinet, she became the fourth woman to hold one of the British Great Offices of State, after (in order of seniority) Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister), Margaret Beckett (Foreign Secretary) and Jacqui Smith"
"Bondfield who was appointed Minister of Labour in 1929. The first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was Margaret Thatcher who served as PM from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. Margaret Thatcher was also the first woman to hold one of the Great Offices of State. These are rarer than father-son sets: Sylvia Heal (née Sylvia Lloyd Fox), MP for Mid Staffordshire 1990–92 and Halesowen and Rowley Regis 1997–2010 and Ann Keen (née Ann Lloyd Fox), MP for Brentford and Isleworth 1997–2010. Keen additionally served with her husband, Alan Keen. There"
"are to be male. In the 2015 general election, 191 women were elected, making up 29% of the House of Commons; up from 141 and 23% before the election. As elected in the 2010 general election. A total of 42 female ministers have held cabinet positions since the first, Margaret Bondfield, in 1929. Tony Blair’s 1997 Cabinet had five women and was the first to include more than two female ministers at one time. The highest number of concurrent women Cabinet Ministers under Tony Blair was eight (36 per cent), under Tony Blair (then a record) from May 2006 –"
"with a majority of 62,253 at Brighton in 1931. The largest majority received by a woman is 38,823 by the Countess of Iveagh elected MP for Southend in 1931. All general election victors receiving less than 33.33% of the vote are listed. The list is complete from 1945 onwards. Seats with more than one member are omitted. Candidates in general elections since 1918 who won fewer than ten votes: Both W. M. Somerville in Bewdley at the 1874 UK general election and F. R. Lees in Drogheda at the 1852 UK general election received no votes. Since 1945 Notes: Any"
"Thatcher (1979–1990) and Theresa May (2016–). The head of state of the United Kingdom is Queen Elizabeth II. In 2015, she became the longest-reigning female head of state in world history. In 2016, she became the longest currently serving head of state (male or female). In the United States no political gender quotas exist, mandatory or voluntary. The proportion of women in leadership roles in the Senate, House of Representatives, and Presidential positions reflect this. Although the proportion has grown since the first female elected into the Senate, the current position of women representation in the U.S. is precarious. In"
"1918, 7 in Tottenham in February 1974 and 9 in Devon North in 1979. The last four seats to be uncontested at a general election were Armagh, Londonderry, North Antrim and South Antrim, at the 1951 general election. The last mainland seats to be uncontested were Liverpool Scotland and Rhondda West, at the 1945 general election. Three seats were contested only by Labour and Conservative candidates at the 1979 general election: Birmingham Handsworth, Dudley West and Salford East. Buckingham was the only seat contested by only three candidates at the 2015 general election. Traditionally, the Speaker of the House of"
"will be sadly missed."" Janet Young, Baroness Young Janet Mary Young, Baroness Young, (; 23 October 1926 – 6 September 2002) was a British Conservative politician. She served as the first ever female Leader of the House of Lords from 1981 to 1983, first as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and from 1982 as Lord Privy Seal. She was the only woman ever appointed to the Cabinet by Margaret Thatcher. Born in 1926, she went to the mainly boys Dragon School in Oxford where she played rugby and cricket, and then to Headington School. During World War II she"
"the House of Lords, held the office along with the offices of Minister for Sport and, from 1 April 1964, also of Secretary of State for Education and Science. Andrea Leadsom's appointment in June 2017 was the first in some time where the post holder was not a full Cabinet member. The Lord President also serves as the Visitor for several British universities, including: Notes Lord President of the Council The Lord President of the Council is the fourth of the Great Officers of State of the United Kingdom, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the Lord Privy"
"Rona Fairhead, Baroness Fairhead Rona Alison Fairhead, Baroness Fairhead (née Haig; born 28 August 1961), is a Minister of State at the Department for International Trade. She was the last Chair of the BBC Trust before its abolition and the first woman to hold the post. Fairhead was born Rona Haig in Cumbria in 1961 and educated at Yarm Grammar School, near Stockton-on-Tees, North East England before attending St Catharine's College, Cambridge; she was president of the Cambridge University Law Society before graduating with a double first in law (Bachelor of Arts, BA). She later obtained a Masters in Business"
"James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, (; 27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005), often known as Jim Callaghan, served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is, to date, the only British politician to have served in all four of the Great Offices of State, having been Chancellor of the Exchequer (1964–1967), Home Secretary (1967–1970), and Foreign Secretary (1974–1976) prior to his appointment as Prime Minister. As Prime Minister, he had some successes, but is mainly remembered for the ""Winter of"
"Janet Young, Baroness Young Janet Mary Young, Baroness Young, (; 23 October 1926 – 6 September 2002) was a British Conservative politician. She served as the first ever female Leader of the House of Lords from 1981 to 1983, first as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and from 1982 as Lord Privy Seal. She was the only woman ever appointed to the Cabinet by Margaret Thatcher. Born in 1926, she went to the mainly boys Dragon School in Oxford where she played rugby and cricket, and then to Headington School. During World War II she studied at Yale, and"
"from the House of Lords. Other measures have not been enacted so far, such as further House of Lords reform. On 5 May 2011 the United Kingdom held a referendum on replacing the first-past-the-post voting system with the Alternative Vote method. On 6 May it was announced that the proposed move to the AV voting system had been rejected by a margin of 67.9% to 32.1%. With the election of a Labour government led by Tony Blair at the 1997 general election, Cook became Foreign Secretary. He was believed to have coveted the job of Chancellor of the Exchequer, but"
"Jenny Jones, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Jennifer Helen Jones, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (born 23 December 1949) is an English politician and member of the Green Party of England and Wales. She is the only Green member of the House of Lords. Jones represented the Green Party in the London Assembly from its creation in 2000 until standing down in 2016. She was the Green candidate for Mayor of London in the 2012 election, coming third with 4.48% of first preferences. She served as Deputy Mayor of London from May 2003 to June 2004. She was also the sole Green"
"Jenny Jones, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Jennifer Helen Jones, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (born 23 December 1949) is an English politician and member of the Green Party of England and Wales. She is the only Green member of the House of Lords. Jones represented the Green Party in the London Assembly from its creation in 2000 until standing down in 2016. She was the Green candidate for Mayor of London in the 2012 election, coming third with 4.48% of first preferences. She served as Deputy Mayor of London from May 2003 to June 2004. She was also the sole Green"
"administration of the ""Women’s Legal Status Act 1918"" from the Attorney General. The Ministry was replaced by the Department for Women on 5 April 1995 by the Carr government with a Minister for Women. On 1 July 2004 the Department for Women was abolished and its responsibilities were transferred to the ""Office for Women"" within the Premier’s Department, with the Minister acting in an advisory role to the Premier on women's affairs. The name of office was changed to the ""Office for Women's Policy"" by June 2009 and from 4 April 2011 it was transferred from the Department of Premier"
"the hassle, the scrutiny from [the press]. That’s a world that was beyond him until he was elected leader"". Margaret Beckett Dame Margaret Mary Beckett (; born 15 January 1943) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby South since 1983. She was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party under John Smith from 1992 to 1994, and briefly served as Leader of the Labour Party after Smith died suddenly. She later served in the Cabinet under Prime Minister Tony Blair in a number of roles, becoming Britain's first female Foreign Secretary"
"Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond Brenda Marjorie Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, , known as Lady Hale (born 31 January 1945) is a British judge and the current President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. In 2004, she joined the House of Lords as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. She is the only woman to have been appointed to this position. She served as a Law Lord until 2009 when she, along with the other Law Lords, transferred to the new Supreme Court. She served as Deputy President of the Supreme Court from 2013 to 2017."
"be elected in some areas. After thirteen years in opposition, the Conservatives returned to power as part of a coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrats in 2010, going on to form a majority government in 2015. David Cameron resigned as Prime Minister in July 2016, which resulted in the appointment of the country's second female Prime Minister, Theresa May. The Conservative Party is the only party in the history of the United Kingdom to have been governed by a female Prime Minister. Historically, the party has been the mainland party most pre-occupied by British Unionism, as attested to by the"
"election of the second ever Labour Government headed by Ramsay MacDonald. She spoke only infrequently in the House of Commons in her two years in Parliament. One of her longest speeches was during debate on the Mental Treatment Bill. She died on 19 January 1931, at her flat in Beaufort Street, Chelsea, just after her 70th birthday, as a result of heart failure following influenza, and was cremated in Golders Green. Bentham's death triggered a by-election, held on 19 February in which the Labour candidate, Leah Manning, was elected to succeed her. Bentham never married and had no children. She"
"she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by ""Woman's Hour"" on BBC Radio 4. Yvette Cooper Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford since 2010, having served as the MP for Pontefract and Castleford since 1997. She served in the Cabinet between 2008 and 2010 under Prime Minister Gordon Brown as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and then as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. After Labour lost the 2010 general election, Cooper"
"to Secretary of State for Trade and Industry); the first woman to have held the post. She was succeeded by Peter Mandelson in July 1998. Beckett was then Leader of the House of Commons from 1998 until her replacement by Robin Cook in June 2001. Her tenure saw the introduction of Westminster Hall debates, which are debates held in a small chamber near Westminster Hall on topics of interest to individual MPs, committee reports, and other matters that would not ordinarily be debated in the Commons chamber. Debates that take place in Westminster Hall are often more consensual and informal,"
"ever Welsh female Liberal peer to sit in the House of Lords. Her two predecessors Viscountess St Davids and the 2nd Viscountess Rhondda, who had been ennobled in the first half of the 20th century, had died before women were allowed to sit in the House of Lords. Michael German was replaced as the South Wales East Assembly member by his wife Veronica German. In May 2011, however, she failed to be re-elected in South Wales East. In September 2012 Baroness Randerson was appointed as the unpaid Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Wales Office. This was the first"
"only Labour MP - and the first since Margaret Beckett had the seat in 1979. In the 2005 general election, her majority was 4,613. She lost her seat to the Conservative candidate Karl McCartney in the 2010 general election. From October 2002 until May 2006, she was a government whip and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury. She then moved to the Department for Transport, where she worked until the reshuffle on 29 June 2007, when she became a minister at the Cabinet Office and the first ever minister of the East Midlands. Following Peter Hain's resignation on 24 January 2008,"
"Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor, declaring it a new Great Office of State. Amid speculation that Brown would appoint him as Deputy Prime Minister and/or First Secretary of State, neither title was conferred on any member. The other name that cropped up for the two roles was the new Labour Party Chair and Deputy Leader, Harriet Harman, who made a return to Cabinet after nine years as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal and was given the additional brief of Minister for Women and Equality. It was believed that the Government Equalities Office would become its"
"also became the Home Office Minister of State in the House of Lords, making her the lead for all Home Office business in the Upper House. She resigned from government on health grounds on 16 September 2011, and was replaced in the Home Office by Lord Henley. She was interviewed in 2015 as part of The History of Parliament's oral history project. She married David Browning on 6 January 1968 in Bournemouth. They have two sons. Angela Browning Angela Frances Browning, Baroness Browning (née Pearson; born 4 December 1946) is a British Conservative Party politician. She was the Member of"
"(appointed 2012) who had been the first female in the position. Previous General Secretaries include Michael Stephenson (from June 2008; a former adviser to Tony Blair), Peter Hunt (from 1998), and Peter Clarke. The modern party is the political arm of the wider British co-operative movement and membership of another co-operative enterprise is a requirement for candidates. Co-operative members who wish to stand for election must also be members of the Labour Party, and stand as Labour and Co-operative Party candidates. There are 37 Labour and Co-operative MPs in the House of Commons: There are fourteen Labour and Co-operative peers"
"the right to stand for parliament, however, until 1920. In 2005 almost a third of the Members of Parliament elected were female. Women recently have also occupied powerful and symbolic offices such as those of Prime Minister (Jenny Shipley, Helen Clark and current PM Jacinda Ardern), Governor-General (Catherine Tizard and Silvia Cartwright), Chief Justice (Sian Elias), Speaker of the House of Representatives (Margaret Wilson), and from 3 March 2005 to 23 August 2006, all four of these posts were held by women, along with Queen Elizabeth as Head of State. Women in Central and South America lagged behind those in"
"and her hobbies include flying and scuba diving. Towards the end of her tenure with the Financial Times Group, Fairhead was treated for breast cancer. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 New Year's Honours List for ""services to UK Industry"". Rona Fairhead, Baroness Fairhead Rona Alison Fairhead, Baroness Fairhead (née Haig; born 28 August 1961), is a Minister of State at the Department for International Trade. She was the last Chair of the BBC Trust before its abolition and the first woman to hold the post. Fairhead was born Rona"
"Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton Winifred Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton, PC (born 2 July 1947) is a British Labour Party politician, who was Minister for International Defence and Security, based at both the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, from October 2008 until 11 May 2010. She was also the first woman to serve as Leader of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and the first woman to serve as Lord President of the Privy Council (both in the First Blair Ministry). She attended Bolton School and the University of Bradford, where"
"a majority of MPs. Under the uncodified British constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch, although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the prime minister and the cabinet. The Cabinet members advise the monarch as members of the Privy Council. In most cases they also exercise power directly as leaders of the Government Departments, though some Cabinet positions are sinecures to a greater or lesser degree (for instance Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster or Lord Privy Seal). The current prime minister is Theresa May, who took office on 13 July 2016. She is the"
"of female MPs are Bloquistes, while the Bloc holds only 16.2% of the seats. As for the winning party, only 12% of Conservative candidates were women, and 11% of Conservative MPs are women, a total of fourteen; 21.5% of female MPs are Tories in a House that is 40.6% Conservative. The 27-member Cabinet contains six women ministers (22%), including one senator. Of the 25 parliamentary secretaries, five (20%) are women. Ten of the fourteen female government MPs (71%) are ministers or parliamentary secretaries. The 105-seat Senate currently has 90 sitting senators, of whom 32 (35.5%) are women. Stephen Harper has"
"election result left Labour as the largest party with 287 seats, but without an overall majority, and MacDonald formed his second minority administration. When Bondfield accepted the post of Minister of Labour in the new government, she became Britain's first woman cabinet minister, and Britain's first woman privy counsellor. She considered the appointment ""part of the great revolution in the position of women"". Her period in office was dominated by the issue of rising unemployment and the consequent increasing costs of benefit, which created a division between the government, anxious to demonstrate its financial responsibility, and the wider Labour movement"