Monday 27 February 2023

Our Betty

And so, farewell then, Betty Boothroyd - the formidable first female Speaker of the House of Commons, whose fearless defence of the rules and sovereignty of Parliament led her to slap down anyone who contravened its protocols, whether they be backbench MPs, ministers or even Tony Blair.

We could do with more like her today, but sadly I doubt there'll ever be another Betty...

Facts:

  • At the age of 17 she successfully auditioned for the Tiller Girls high-kicking dance troupe, but her stage career didn't last long so (obviously) she went into politics.
  • She unsuccessfully contested four seats - and was not selected as a candidate to stand at several others (and often joked that she should have had a place in the Guinness Book of Records) - before finally becoming an MP in 1973.
  • When she got elected to the role there was no outfit for a female Speaker, so she had to design it herself.
  • In her 60s, she took up paragliding while on holiday in Cyprus; she described the hobby as both "lovely and peaceful" and "exhilarating".
  • Just last year, a musical based upon her life, co-written by and starring Maxine Peake, appeared at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester [I do hope they revive it and bring it to London!].

RIP, Baroness Betty Boothroyd (8th October 1929 – 26th February 2023)

[click any pic to enlarge]

12 comments:

  1. Yes, it may have taken several shots to get there, but by the gods! she didn't muck about once on the job.

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    1. There was no mucking-about while Betty was in charge! Jx

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  2. Applause, applause. I love me a brave woman... how fearless. Good show.

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    1. She had even the bolshiest of MPs quaking in their boots, yet regularly threw sing-a-long parties in the Speaker's Chamber, at which one might find former Chancellor Dennis Healey and Betty duetting on Danny Boy and former Minister Margaret Hodge on the piano! Jx

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  3. RIP Betty.

    I've seen her on stage, she presented my brother with his degree certificate at Birmingham university

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    1. Well, she was a local MP (and later Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell) so it's understandable she'd have been invited to perform the presentations. Jx

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  4. There will never be another like her which is a shame we need politician of her calibre.

    Lovely write up. I didn't know she was a Tiller Girl and I would have loved to have been in the Speaker's Chamber for one of her sing-a-longs.
    Loved and treasure good bye Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell.

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    1. She was unique - and wouldn't it have been fab to attend a "Sing-a-long-a-Betty"..?! Jx

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  5. I read a tale somewhere that, at some reception at Buckingham Palace, she was in conversation with the Queen and Barbara Castle, and somehow the talk turned to dancing, and it ended with the three of them doing a short soft-shoe shuffle.

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    1. Nothing would surprise me about Betty Boothroyd nor, indeed Her Majesty. Jx

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  6. We could use her today in the US Congress to put Laura Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene and the rest of the right wing reactionaries in their place. -Rj

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    1. She'd make mincemeat of them, whoever they are. Jx

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