Betty Boothroyd, First woman Commons Speaker dies at 93. Let’s see more details about Betty and his cause of death in detail.
Cause of death-Betty Boothroyd
Lindsay Hoyle announced the 93-year-old’s death today, describing her as an “inspirational politician, and someone I was proud to call my friend.”
Paying tribute to the former Speaker, the current incumbent of the role, Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: “Not only was Betty Boothroyd an inspiring woman, but she was also an inspirational politician, and someone I was proud to call my friend.
As soon as the News came out, Friends and Families are pouring condolence on Social Media. The current Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle paid tribute to Lady Boothroyd as “one of a kind”.
I’m very saddened to hear of the passing of my friend the Rt Hon. Betty Boothroyd, Speaker of the House of Commons 1992 – 2000.
I’d like to offer my heartfelt condolences, on behalf of the House, to Betty's family and loved ones. pic.twitter.com/N0wN8Ssccb
— Sir Lindsay Hoyle (@CommonsSpeaker) February 27, 2023
Lady Boothroyd obituary
| When Betty Boothroyd, Lady Boothroyd, became the first woman to be elected speaker of the House of Commons in 1992, she broke with more than 700 years of parliamentary precedent. She passed away at age 93. She was a successful and well-liked speaker who rose to prominence around the world for her brisk, jovial demeanor, warmth, and wit, as well as a hint of glamour. Boothroyd was an early political activist. Her parents, Archibald and Mary, were members of the Labour party and the Textile Workers’ Union on which they relied for the protection of their jobs in the heavy woolen industry in the old West Riding. They did not always have work, although Mary, a weaver, was more often employed than her husband – because her wages, as a woman, were less. Their lives were hard and Boothroyd never romanticized her past: taking it in turns with her mother to scrub the front steps, the zinc bath on Fridays in front of the fire, sitting talking in the evening by firelight in order to save on the electricity. In later life, Mary would look at all the lights on in her daughter’s home and say: “This place looks like the Blackpool illuminations.” The family occasionally had enough money to go to Blackpool – staying there until it ran out. Her mother knitted Betty’s bathing costume. It was a happy childhood, but the child hated the narrow streets and the dark satanic mills. Although her mother encouraged what would become her political career, she was closer to her father, who taught her how to roll cigarettes and never mix grapes and grain when drinking. |
Betty Career Journey
Boothroyd was the Labour MP for West Bromwich from 1973 and for West Bromwich West – when the seat was split in two the following year – until her retirement in 2000. She played a leading part behind the scenes as a right-wing party loyalist in the power struggles within the party during the 1970s and 80s. She was a shrewd political tactician, as was shown by her success in winning the speakership. She was only the third Labour MP ever to take the chair and she did so by defeating the Conservative candidate, Peter Brooke, by 372 votes to 238 in the first contested election for speaker in over 40 years.
Boothroyd down-to-earth Person
Boothroyd had a down-to-earth, no-nonsense manner. She was a well-known former Tiller Girls dancer, but she was also a working-class northerner who was born and reared in the Yorkshire mill town of Dewsbury. Her parents, who had both entered the workforce at the age of 13, had only one child. After failing the 11-plus, she worked as a shop assistant before switching to shorthand typing.
Boothroyd previously served as a secretary for Barbara Castle, who noted that the career’s lesson was that “you never know what people are capable of until you let them show it.”
She had a tough fight, even to enter the Commons. She was elected at a byelection on her fifth attempt to become an MP – and used to joke that if she had not won on that occasion she would have slit her throat. She had previously unsuccessfully contested South East Leicester in a byelection in 1957, Peterborough in 1959, Nelson and Colne at a byelection in 1968, and Rossendale in the 1970 general election.
Condolence Posted on Social Media
Lewis Goodall Posted
NEW: Sad news- the former (and first woman) Speaker of the Commons, Baroness Betty Boothroyd has died at the age of 93. Formerly the Labour MP for West Bromwich West. A working-class girl who rose to the top. Admired and respected across the chamber. What a life.
Tides of History Posted
“I came out of the womb into the Labour movement…It’s like miners’ coal dust underneath your fingernails. Very difficult to scrub out. I’m a social democrat to my fingertips” RIP Betty Boothroyd – first female speaker of the House.
David Lammy Posted
So sad the legendary Betty Boothroyd has died. She was plucky, smart, tenacious and clear-eyed about her politics and principles. She was a wonderfully authoritative speaker. What a class act. We will not see her like again.
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