Thursday, January 28, 2016

Shirley Williams retires from the Lords 62 years after fighting her first parliamentary election



From BBC News:
Baroness Williams has delivered her final speech to the House of Lords before retiring from the chamber. 
In her speech she talked of the UK's "special genius" for "great public sector imagination" and international leadership. 
The former education secretary said she hoped the UK would continue to play that leadership role by staying within the European Union.
You can watch a video of the speech below.

Above you can see a photo of her in 1954 when, as Shirley Catlin, she fought and lost a by-election in the Harwich constituency for Labour.

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1 comment:

  1. Phil Beesley28 January, 2016 22:10

    Four Labour MPs established the "Gang of Four" SDP which eventually merged with the Liberal party. The Gang of Four:

    Roy Jenkins: a natural liberal, to every bone in his body.
    Bill Rodgers: another fucking liberal in the Labour Party.
    Shirley Williams: a social democrat, not a natural liberal, but liberal.
    David Owen: formerly a social democrat with liberal values; who knows? Not us.

    It wasn't a bad result.

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