"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 in 2006. Beckett was first elected to Parliament in 1974 for Lincoln and held junior positions in the governments"
"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"
"Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to hold that office. A Soviet journalist dubbed her ""The 'Iron Lady, a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies known as Thatcherism. A research chemist at Somerville College, Oxford, before becoming a barrister, Thatcher"
"Margaret Bondfield Margaret Grace Bondfield (17 March 1873 – 16 June 1953) was a British Labour politician, trade unionist and women's rights activist. She became the first female cabinet minister, and the first woman to be a privy counsellor in the UK, when she was appointed Minister of Labour in the Labour government of 1929–31. She had earlier become the first woman to chair the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Bondfield was born in humble circumstances and received limited formal education. After serving an apprenticeship to an embroidress she worked as a shop assistant in Brighton and"
"Foundation in 2006, where she established the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom. Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to hold that office. A Soviet journalist dubbed her ""The 'Iron Lady, a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies known as Thatcherism."
"Margaret McDonagh, Baroness McDonagh Margaret Josephine McDonagh, Baroness McDonagh (born 26 June 1961) is a British Labour Party politician and was General Secretary of the Labour Party from 1998 to 2001. She now works as a management consultant. McDonagh was part of the New Labour leadership inner-circle for the 1997 general election campaign and was one of the inner-core deciding the official party position on specific issues. In 1998, McDonagh became Labour's first female general secretary, after serving as deputy general secretary the previous year. She was not always popular with the grassroots and parts of the Parliamentary Party due"
"Cicely Mayhew Cicely Elizabeth Mayhew, Baroness Mayhew (""née"" Ludlam; 16 February 1924 – 8 July 2016) was a British diplomat. She was the second woman to work for the British Foreign Office, and its first female diplomat. She was born on 16 February 1924, the daughter of a metallurgist father who made his fortune in copper in Rhodesia. She grew up in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. She attended Loreto Convent School, Pretoria until 1932. At age 10 she returned to Britain to be educated and did not see her mother again until her twenties. She attended Sheffield High School"
"Florence Harrison Bell Florence Nightingale Harrison Bell (1865 – October 1948) was a British socialist and suffragist activist. Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne as Florence Harrison, she worked as a cook before studying at Armstrong College and becoming a teacher. In 1896, she married Joseph Nicholas Bell, general secretary of the National Amalgamated Union of Labour. She became active in the Independent Labour Party (ILP), and was the first woman to serve on its National Administrative Council (NAC). In 1898, she was replaced on the NAC by Emmeline Pankhurst. Through the ILP, she became active in the Labour Representation Committee (LRC), and"
"the Treasury. Harriet Slater Harriet Slater CBE (""née"" Evans; 1903 – 12 October 1976) was a British Labour and Co-operative politician. Educated at Hanley High School and Dudley Teachers’ Training College, Slater was National Organiser for the Cooperative Party from 1942 to 1953, and a local councillor in Stoke-on-Trent from 1933 to 1965. She was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stoke-on-Trent North at a by-election in 1953, and served until her retirement at the 1966 general election. From 1964 to 1966, she was a Government whip, the first woman to become one, with the formal title of"
"Stanley Baldwin in 2004; she has two stepdaughters and a son from a previous marriage. Harriett Baldwin Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (; born 2 May 1960) is a British Conservative politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for West Worcestershire since 2010 and joint Minister of State at the Foreign Office and Department for International Development since January 2018. Prior to her parliamentary career, she worked for an investment bank after attending Marlborough College and the University of Oxford. She was born Harriett Mary Morison Eggleston in Watford, Hertfordshire, the daughter of a teacher. Her childhood was spent in"
"Salter: Pioneer of Ethical Socialism"" (2016). Ada Salter Ada Salter, ""née"" Brown (20 July 1866 – 4 December 1942) was an English social reformer, environmentalist, pacifist and Quaker, President of the Women's Labour League and President of the National Gardens Guild. She was one of the first women councillors in London, the first woman mayor in London and the first Labour woman mayor in the British Isles. Born in Raunds, Northamptonshire, Ada Brown was active in the Methodist church and on the radical wing of the Liberal Party before she joined the West London Mission in Bloomsbury to work as"
"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"
"in 2005. Catherine Ashton Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, (born 20 March 1956 at Upholland, Lancashire) is a British Labour politician who served as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and First Vice President of the European Commission in the Barroso Commission from 2009 to 2014. Her political career began in 1999 when she was created a Life Peer as ""Baroness Ashton of Upholland, of St Albans, in the County of Hertfordshire"" by Tony Blair's Labour Government. She became the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Education and Skills in"
"Harriett Baldwin Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (; born 2 May 1960) is a British Conservative politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for West Worcestershire since 2010 and joint Minister of State at the Foreign Office and Department for International Development since January 2018. Prior to her parliamentary career, she worked for an investment bank after attending Marlborough College and the University of Oxford. She was born Harriett Mary Morison Eggleston in Watford, Hertfordshire, the daughter of a teacher. Her childhood was spent in Cyprus and in the village of Felsted in Essex. She was educated at the Friends'"
"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"
"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"
"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"
"Catherine Ashton Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, (born 20 March 1956 at Upholland, Lancashire) is a British Labour politician who served as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and First Vice President of the European Commission in the Barroso Commission from 2009 to 2014. Her political career began in 1999 when she was created a Life Peer as ""Baroness Ashton of Upholland, of St Albans, in the County of Hertfordshire"" by Tony Blair's Labour Government. She became the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Education and Skills in 2001 and"
"Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos Valerie Ann Amos, Baroness Amos, (born 13 March 1954) is a British politician and diplomat who served as the eighth UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. Before her appointment to the UN, she served as British High Commissioner to Australia. She was created a Labour Life Peer in 1997, becoming Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council. When Amos was appointed Secretary of State for International Development on 12 May 2003, following the resignation of Clare Short, she became the first black woman to sit in the Cabinet"
"Marcia Falkender, Baroness Falkender Marcia Matilda Falkender, Baroness Falkender CBE (born 10 March 1932), formerly Marcia Williams (née Field), is a British Labour politician, being first the private secretary for, and then the political secretary and head of political office to, Harold Wilson. Born Marcia Field, Falkender was educated at the independent selective Northampton High School for Girls and read for a BA in History at Queen Mary College, University of London. After graduating she became secretary to the General Secretary of the Labour Party in 1955. In 1956, Marcia Williams, as she was then known, became private secretary to"
"Lilian Locke Lilian Sophia Locke (later Lilian Sophia Burns) (6 June 1869 – 1 July 1950) was an Australian trade unionist, political campaigner and suffragist. She has been described as one of the earliest women leaders of the labour movement in Australia. She was variously president of the New South Wales Association of Women Workers, the ""only lady member of the Melbourne Trades Hall Council"", lady organiser for the Political Labor Council, and honorary secretary of the United Council for State Suffrage In 1905, she was the first woman delegate to a Labor Party interstate conference, when she was accredited"
"September 1950. Ethel Tawse Jollie Ethel Maud Tawse Jollie (8 March 1874 – 21 September 1950; née Cookson; widowed Colquhoun) was a writer and political activist in Southern Rhodesia who was the first female parliamentarian in the British overseas empire. Cookson was born Ethel Maude Cookson in Castle Church, Stafford, the daughter of Samuel Cookson, a doctor. She studied art under Anthony Ludovici at the Slade School of Fine Art where she met her first husband, explorer Archibald Ross Colquhoun. They married at St. Paul′s church, Stafford, on 8 March 1900, and she accompanied her husband on tours across Asia,"
"Frances Perkins Frances Perkins (born Fannie Coralie Perkins; April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965) was an American sociologist and workers-rights advocate who served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position, and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt, she helped pull the labor movement into the New Deal coalition. She and Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes were the only original members of the Roosevelt cabinet to remain in office for his entire presidency. During her term as Secretary of"
"Labour Party, shortly after Iain McNicol resigned from the post. Her main rival candidate, Jon Lansman, the chair of Momentum dropped out of contention on 11 March making Formby the likely appointee. On 20 March 2018, she was appointed as the General Secretary effective from April 2018. Formby and Len McCluskey had a son in 1991. She married Freddie Formby in 2000 and the couple had two children and another son, who joined the family aged 14. Jennie Formby Jennie Formby (née Sandle, born 12 April 1960) is a British trade unionist and politician. She is the current General Secretary"
"400 pounds. Albright was listed as one of the fifty best-dressed over 50s by the ""Guardian"" in March 2013. Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937) is an American politician and diplomat. She is the first female United States Secretary of State in U.S. history, having served from 1997 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Albright emigrated to the United States in 1948 from Czechoslovakia with her family. Her diplomat father, Josef Korbel, settled their family in Denver, and she became a U.S. citizen in 1957. Albright graduated from Wellesley College in 1959 and"
"Karin Söder Karin Ann-Marie Söder (née Bergenfur; 30 November 1928 – 19 December 2015) was a Swedish Centre politician. She was the first woman in Sweden to be elected the leader of a major political party. She headed the Swedish Centre Party from 1985 to 1987. She was also one of the first female foreign ministers in the world. Söder was born in Frykerud in Kil Municipality, Värmland. Having graduated from secondary school in Gothenburg, she studied in Falun, and worked as a teacher, first in Värmland and later in Täby, north of Stockholm, where she was a member of"
"Cabinet initially as President of the Board of Trade. She was later the Leader of the House of Commons and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, before becoming Foreign Secretary in 2006, the first woman to hold that position, and—after Margaret Thatcher—the second woman to hold one of the Great Offices of State. Following Blair's resignation as Prime Minister in 2007, Beckett was not initially given a position by new Prime Minister Gordon Brown. After some time, Brown appointed her Minister of State for Housing and Planning in 2008, before she left the government for the last"
"beginning of the pair's lengthy political relationship. She gained further experience as the UK's alternate delegate to the United Nations General Assembly for 1949–1950, when she displayed particular concerned for social and humanitarian issues. She soon achieved a reputation as a left-winger and a rousing speaker. During the 1950s she was a high-profile Bevanite, and made a name for herself as a vocal advocate of decolonisation and the Anti-Apartheid Movement. Labour returned to government under Harold Wilson in October 1964 following a general election, defeating Alec Douglas-Home's Conservative government by winning a slim majority of four seats, thus ending 13"
"to 1951, as Minister of Pensions and National Insurance from 1964 to 1966, and as Minister of Social Security from 1966 to 1967. She was opposition spokesperson on Scotland (1951–1956, 1959–1962), Education (1956–1959), and Pensions (1958–1959 and 1962–1964). She was a Member of Labour National Executive Committee, and Labour Party Chairman in 1957. In the House of Commons, she was Chairman of Select Committee on Overseas Aid in 1969-70. She was a British delegate to the Council of Europe, and is believed to be the only woman - among 101 members - to attend the very first sitting of the"
"with foreign countries, matters pertaining to the Commonwealth of Nations and the Overseas Territories in addition to the promotion of British interests abroad. The Foreign Secretary also has ministerial oversight for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). The Foreign Secretary works out of the Foreign Office in Whitehall, and the post's official residences are 1 Carlton Gardens in London and Chevening in Kent. Margaret Beckett, appointed in 2006 by Tony Blair, is the only woman to have held the post. The current Foreign Secretary is Jeremy Hunt, following Boris Johnson's resignation on 9 July 2018."
"Margaret Anstee Dame Margaret Joan Anstee, DCMG (25 June 1926 – 25 August 2016) was a British diplomat who served at the United Nations for over four decades (1952–93), rising to the rank of an Under-Secretary-General in 1987. She was the first woman to hold this position. Anstee grew up in Chelmsford, Essex, in rural England. Neither of her parents had finished secondary school, and they encouraged her to complete her education. She was educated at Chelmsford County High School for Girls and Newnham College, Cambridge. She graduated with first class honours in French and Spanish in 1944, although it"
"Frances Hermia Durham Frances Hermia Durham (14 Aug 1873-18 Aug 1948) was a noted British civil servant, the first woman to reach the rank of assistant secretary, who was largely responsible for organisation of women's services in the army, munitions and agriculture during World War I, for which she was awarded a CBE. Hermia Durham was born in Pagham, Sussex in 1873, the youngest of nine children of the noted surgeon Arthur Edward Durham; her siblings included Mary Edith Durham, the traveller and anthropologist, and Florence Margaret Durham, the geneticist. She was educated at Notting Hill High School and Girton"
"Russia and spent six months travelling widely. Unlike the Webbs and other Fabians who went to Russia she did not believe everything the Bolsheviks alleged to foreign visitors, but tried to make contact with a wide variety of people, and she retained a critical attitude towards the Soviet system. Susan Lawrence was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health in the second minority Labour Government elected in 1929. She was also the chair of the Labour Party Conference in Llandudno in 1930 - the first woman to hold the position. Like the vast majority of Labour MPs in Parliament,"