Helen Wright (politician)

Last updated


Helen W. Wright
Born1943
Occupation(s) Lord Provost and councillor
Known forthe first female Lord Provost of Dundee running minority administration, and first city provost to be voted out of office
Political party Labour
AwardsFellow of the Al-Maktoum Institute

Helen W. Wright (born 1943) was the first female Lord Provost of Dundee when elected in 1999. She was one of five city Bailies and also became the first Lord Provost in the city to be voted to be removed from office (in an expenses row). [1]

Contents

Career

Wright was the first female leader of a major trades union, and a local councillor for 36 years. She has acted as director of charitable bodies, [2] and was appointed as a Fellow of the Al-Maktoum Institute in 2006. [3] She represented the council on the Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership from 2018. [4]

Lord Provost and beyond

Labour Councillor Wright served from 1999-2001 as the city of Dundee's first female Lord Provost. She headed a minority administration with a Scottish National Party opposition and Conservatives as the other minority group. She had her official portrait painted by artist Adam B. Kerr which is held in the Dundee Art Galleries and Museum's collections. [5]

She was voted out of office, the first Lord Provost in the city to be removed in this manner, in a special meeting, reported in June 2021. She claimed to have made an 'honest mistake' in submitting expenses claims for charity donations which she said were made on 'behalf of the city', and had been repaid in full and an apology given. [1] She continued to serve as a Labour councillor, and was successfully re-elected to represent the Coldside Ward in 2007, 2012 and 2017. [6]

In 2020, with most UK politicians, Wright was forced, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, to withdraw from personal face to face 'surgery' consulting meetings with her constituents. [7]

Image

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aberdeen City Council</span> Place in Scotland

Aberdeen City Council represents the Aberdeen City council area of Scotland.

The politics of Edinburgh are expressed in the deliberations and decisions of the City of Edinburgh Council, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham City Council</span> Local government body for the English city

Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom with 101 elected councillors representing over one million people, in 69 wards. The council headquarters are at the Council House in the city centre. The council is responsible for running nearly all local services, with the exception of those run by joint boards. The provision of certain services has in recent years been devolved to several council constituencies, which each have a constituency committee made up of councillors from that district. It is part of the West Midlands Combined Authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Local government in Scotland</span> System of state administration on a local level in Scotland

Local government in Scotland comprises thirty-two local authorities, commonly referred to as councils. Each council provides public services, including education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning. Councils receive the majority of their funding from the Scottish Government, but operate independently and are accountable to their local electorates. Councils raise additional income via the Council Tax, a locally variable domestic property tax, and Business rates, a non-domestic property tax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesley Hinds</span>

Lesley Hinds is a Scottish Labour Party politician who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Scotland from 2003 to 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchester City Council</span> Local government body in England

Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three for each of the 32 electoral wards of Manchester. The council is controlled by the Labour Party and led by Bev Craig. The official opposition is the Green Party with three councillors. Joanne Roney is the chief executive. Many of the council's staff are based at Manchester Town Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeds City Council</span> Local government body in England

Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of local government services in Leeds. It has the second-largest population of any council in the United Kingdom with approximately 800,000 inhabitants living within its area; only Birmingham City Council has more. Since 1 April 2014, it has been a constituent council of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Dundee</span> Place

Politics in the Dundee Citycouncil area are evident in the deliberations and decisions of Dundee City Council, in elections to the council, and in elections to the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) and the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Letford</span>

John Ross Letford MBE is a Scottish politician who served as the Lord Provost of Dundee, as well as a councillor in his local ward of Lochee, until May 2012. His eleven years as Lord Provost made him the longest serving civic head in the United Kingdom since the nineteenth century. He currently resides in the Charleston area of the city.

Robert Rickaby Winter is a Scottish former politician who was Lord Provost of Glasgow from 2007 until 2012.

This article documents the strengths of political parties in the 333 local authorities of England, 32 local authorities of Scotland, 22 principal councils of Wales and 11 local councils of Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Edinburgh Council</span> Local government body in Scotland

The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. The majority of the council area is the area of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of 518,500 in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland.

The politics of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city by population, are expressed in the deliberations and decisions of Glasgow City Council, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Scottish local elections</span>

The 2017 Scottish local elections were held on Thursday 4 May, in all 32 local authorities. The SNP retained its position as the largest party in terms of votes and councillors, despite suffering minor losses. The Conservatives made gains and displaced Labour as the second largest party, while the Liberal Democrats suffered a net loss of councillors despite increasing their share of the vote. Minor parties and independents polled well; and independent councillors retained majority control over the three island councils. For the first time since the local government reforms in 1995, all mainland councils fell under no overall control.

Ian Borthwick,, is a former independent politician — initially a member of the Labour Party — who served in local government starting in 1963, and was Lord Provost of Dundee between 2017 and 2022.

Elections for the City of Glasgow District Council took place on 3 May 1977, alongside elections to the councils of Scotland's various other districts. These were the second election to the City of Glasgow District Council, and saw Labour losing their control of the council, losing nearly half of their councillors. Among the losing councillors was Dick Dynes, the Labour group leader. Dynes was replaced as leader by Jean McFadden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Dundee City Council election</span>

Elections to Dundee City Council were held on 4 May 2017 on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. The election used the eight wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system. A total of 29 Councillors were elected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Dundee City Council election</span> Dundee City Council election

The Dundee City Council election took place on 5 May 2022, the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. Each ward elected three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system, a form of proportional representation used since the 2007 election and according to the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Aberdeen City Council election</span> Aberdeen City Council election

Elections to Aberdeen City Council took place on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. The election used the 13 wards created following the fifth statutory review of electoral arrangements conducted by Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland in 2016, with 45 councillors elected. Each ward elected either three or four councillors, using the STV electoral system.

Dundee City Council is one of the 32 council areas for Scotland. It is divided into eight wards, used to elect members to the council to provide local government services to Dundee.

References

  1. 1 2 "Provost removed over expenses row". 18 June 2001. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  2. "Helen WRIGHT personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  3. "Political and social change through the eyes of Helen Wright". www.ladyprovost.com. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  4. Dundee City Integration Joint Board, commonly known as the Dundee Health and Social Partnership Audited Accounts 2018-19 (PDF). p. 4.
  5. "Helen W. Wright (b.1943), Lord Provost of Dundee (1999–2001) | Art UK". artuk.org. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  6. "Elections Results 2012 - More Detailed Information". Dundee City Council. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  7. "Ward 4 - Coldside - Helen Wright". Dundee City Council. Retrieved 11 March 2022.