Hilary Jane Armstrong,Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top, PC DL (born 30 November 1945) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Durham from 1987 to 2010.
Hilary Jane Armstrong,Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top, PC DL (born 30 November 1945) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Durham from 1987 to 2010.
Armstrong was born on 30 November 1945 to Hannah P. Lamb and Ernest Armstrong,a Labour Party politician. She attended Monkwearmouth Grammar School before going on to take a BSc in sociology at West Ham Technical Institute (now the University of East London) and a Diploma in Social Work from the University of Birmingham. [1] [2] A former social worker and university lecturer,Armstrong worked for VSO in Kenya before entering politics. She was first elected as Durham County Councillor for Crook North Division in 1985.
She was shortlisted for the vacant Sedgefield constituency in 1983,only to lose out to Tony Blair,who went on to be elected MP. Four years later,at the 1987 general election,she was elected to her father's North West Durham seat on his retirement,increasing his majority by 3,806 to 10,162. [3]
Armstrong was parliamentary private secretary to John Smith during his time as Labour leader,and played a large part in his successful fight to institute One member,one vote at Labour's party conference.
Armstrong was seen as a politician on the right of the Labour Party,and was close politically to her near neighbour Tony Blair and the New Labour agenda. However,she is also a member of the Amicus trades union (formerly MSF).[ citation needed ] Her union ties helped her gain support in rewriting Clause IV. [4]
In the 1992 general election,Armstrong retained her North West Durham constituency by defeating two future party leaders,Theresa May of the Conservatives,who became Prime Minister in 2016,and Tim Farron of the Liberal Democrats. [5]
Armstrong spent two years as Minister for Housing and Planning and four years as Minister for Local Government in the Department for the Environment,Transport,and the Regions and then the Department for Transport,Local Government,and the Regions,before being promoted into the Cabinet of the United Kingdom as Chief Whip after the 2001 election. This was the high point of a political career which was low-key but generally successful;though she endured controversies over select committee membership and over allegations of strong arm tactics with Labour dissenters over military action in Afghanistan. [4]
Armstrong also faced criticism after government defeats in the Commons over the length of time suspected terrorists could be detained without charge,and incitement to religious hatred provisions in the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005. Press commentators speculated that in losing these votes through miscalculating government support,and in one instance letting the Prime Minister off the "Whip" because she believed the vote was won,Armstrong's position had become vulnerable. [6] However the rumours that she would resign the post [7] proved unfounded.
Afterwards,Conservative leader David Cameron mocked Armstrong during an exchange with Tony Blair,saying "She must be the first Chief Whip in history to put the Prime Minister in the frame for losing a key vote—which is an interesting career move,to say the least." [8] This was the second time David Cameron had attacked her during Prime Minister's Questions;on his debut as Leader of the Opposition on 7 December 2005,Cameron singled her out by saying,"That's the problem with these exchanges—the chief whip on the Labour side shouting like a child. Is she finished? Are you finished?" [9]
On 5 May 2006 Armstrong was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster,Minister for the Cabinet Office and Minister for Social Exclusion. In 2006,Armstrong launched a petition on behalf of the Bethnal Green and Bow Labour Party against Labour turned Respect MP George Galloway's participation in Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother . She criticised Galloway for being paid as an MP during the time he was in the Big Brother house. Galloway responded by saying he planned to refund the taxpayer after his exit from the show as he would not know how much to refund until then. [10]
She formally resigned from the government on 27 June 2007 when Tony Blair resigned as Prime Minister,she was succeeded by Ed Miliband the following day. On becoming Prime Minister,Gordon Brown announced Armstrong's appointment as Chair of a Parliamentary Labour Party Manifesto Committee drawing up policy ideas covering children. [ citation needed ]
On 4 July 2009,Armstrong announced her intention to stand down at the 2010 general election. [11]
On 18 June 2010,she was created a life peer as Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top,of Crook in the County of Durham , [12] and was introduced in the House of Lords on 6 July 2010. [13]
She was interviewed in 2014 as part of The History of Parliament's oral history project. [14]
She is a member of the Joint Committee on the Draft Domestic Abuse Bill.
On 19 July 2019,Armstrong's North West Durham constituency party voted to expel her from the party after she and 67 other Labour peers published an advert in The Guardian on 17 July claiming that Jeremy Corbyn had “failed the test of leadership”over his handling of antisemitism complaints within Labour. [15] However,the vote was non-binding as only the National Executive has the mandate to expel members.[ citation needed ] She is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.[ citation needed ]
Armstrong is married to Paul Corrigan.
Margaret Mary Beckett,Baroness Beckett,,is a British politician. She was a Member of Parliament for more than 45 years,from 1983 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party,she was the United Kingdom's first female Foreign Secretary,and served as a minister under Prime Ministers Harold Wilson,James Callaghan,Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Beckett was Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1992 to 1994,and briefly Leader of the Opposition and acting Leader of the Labour Party following John Smith's death in 1994. A member of the Labour Party,she served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lincoln from 1974 to 1979,and for Derby South from 1983 to 2024. Her 45 years in the House of Commons makes her the longest-serving female MP in British history,her tenure as MP is shared with Baroness Harman who was an MP for 40 years. She became a member of the House of Lords in 2024.
Hilary James Wedgwood Benn is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland since 2024. A member of the Labour Party,he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds South,formerly Leeds Central,since 1999. He previously served in various ministerial positions under Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown from 2001 to 2010.
In British politics,Blairism is the political ideology of Tony Blair,the former leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007,and those that support him,known as Blairites. It entered the New Penguin English Dictionary in 2000. Elements of the ideology include investment in public services,expansionary efforts in education to encourage social mobility,and increased actions in terms of mass surveillance alongside a ramping up of law enforcement powers,both of these latter changes advocated in the context of fighting organized crime and terrorism. Blairites have additionally been known for their contrast with the traditional support for socialism by those believing in left-wing politics,with Blair himself and others speaking out against the nationalisation of major industries and against also heavy regulations of business operations. On foreign policy,Blairism is supportive of close relations with the United States and liberal interventionism,including advocacy for both the Iraq war and the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021).
Nicholas Hugh Brown,known as Nick Brown,is a British former politician and trade unionist who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne East between 1983 and 2024. He represented the Labour Party until his resignation in 2023. Brown is the longest-serving Chief Whip of the Labour Party,discontinuously holding the position several times between 1997 and 2021 under Blair,Brown,Miliband,Corbyn and Starmer.
Winifred Ann Taylor,Baroness Taylor of Bolton,is a British politician and life peer who served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Labour Party,she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolton West from 1974 to 1983,and Dewsbury from 1987 to 2005.
Dame Karen Patricia Buck is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Westminster North,previously Regent's Park and Kensington North,from 1997 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party,she served as a Member of Westminster City Council from 1990 to 1997.
Rosalie Winterton,Baroness Winterton of Doncaster,,is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster Central from 1997 to 2024. She served as a Deputy Speaker in the House of Commons from 2017 to 2024. She became a member of the House of Lords in 2024.
Dawn Primarolo,Baroness Primarolo,is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Bristol South from 1987 until 2015,when she stood down. She was Minister of State for Children,Young People and Families at the Department for Children,Schools and Families from June 2009 to May 2010 and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons from 2010 to 2015. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for political service. She was nominated for a life peerage in the 2015 Dissolution Honours.
Caroline Louise Flint is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Don Valley from 1997 to 2019. A member of the Labour Party,she attended the Cabinet as Minister for Housing and Planning in 2008 and Minister for Europe from 2008 to 2009.
Peter Kilfoyle is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool Walton from 1991 to 2010.
Trevor Keith Hill is an English Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament for Streatham from 1992 until 2010,as well as in a variety of Government roles as a Whip and a junior minister.
Dame Siobhain Ann McDonagh is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mitcham and Morden since 1997. She served as an Assistant Whip in the Labour Government,but was dismissed following comments regarding a leadership contest to replace prime minister Gordon Brown.
Joan Marie Ryan is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Enfield North from 1997 to 2010 and from 2015 to 2019. She was first elected as a Labour Party MP but later defected to join Change UK.
David George Hanson,Baron Hanson of Flint,,is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Minister of State for the Home Office since July 2024. He previously served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Delyn from 1992 to 2019. He held several ministerial offices in the Blair and Brown governments,serving in the Home Office,the Ministry of Justice,the Wales Office,the Northern Ireland Office and the Whips' Office. Hanson sat on Ed Miliband's opposition front bench as a shadow treasury minister,and later the shadow immigration minister.
The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005,to elect 646 members to the House of Commons. The governing Labour Party led by the prime minister Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory,with Blair becoming the second Labour leader after Harold Wilson to form three majority governments. However,its majority fell to 66 seats;the majority it won four years earlier had been of 167 seats. The UK media interpreted the results as an indicator of a breakdown in trust in the government,and especially in Blair.
Roberta Carol Blackman-Woods is a British academic and former Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the City of Durham from 2005 to 2019.
Heidi Alexander is a British politician who has served as Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services since July 2024. A member of the Labour party,she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Swindon South since 2024. In addition,she was also the MP for Lewisham East from 2010 to 2018,and served as Deputy Mayor of London for Transport from 2018 to 2021.
Patricia Glass is a Labour Party former politician who was the Member of Parliament for North West Durham from 2010 to 2017. She was appointed Shadow Education Secretary on 27 June 2016 by Jeremy Corbyn,but resigned two days later after announcing that she would be standing down at the 2017 United Kingdom general election.
Zarah Sultana is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry South since the 2019 general election,representing the Labour Party until her suspension. Sultana received a six-month suspension in July 2024 as one of seven Labour MPs who voted to scrap the two-child benefit cap. On the political left,she is a member of,and currently chairs,the Socialist Campaign Group.
{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
|  | |
| ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
