Alma Birk
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The Right Honourable The Baroness Birk |
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|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Alma Lillian Wilson 22 September 1917 Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK |
| Died | 29 December 1996 (aged 79) Westminster, England, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Occupation | Politician |
Alma Lillian Birk, Baroness Birk (née Wilson; 22 September 1917 – 29 December 1996) was a British journalist, Labour Party politician and Government minister.
Birk was educated at South Hampstead High School and at the London School of Economics. After failing to gain a seat on Salisbury City Council, she gained a seat on Finchley Borough Council and served as leader of the Labour Group between 1950 and 1953. She unsuccessfully stood as a Labour Party candidate to become a Member of Parliament on three occasions; for Ruislip-Northwood in the 1950 general election, and for Portsmouth West in the 1951 and 1955 general elections.
In the 1960s she became associate editor of Nova. During this period Birk also sat as a as a magistrate in an ordinary magistrates' court and in a matrimonial court.
Birk was created a life peer as Baroness Birk, of Regent's Park in Greater London on 15 September 1967. In her maiden speech she called for an enhanced probation service to help deal with juvenile crime:
I would like to see a bigger probation service, better paid, because a probation officer is sometimes the only person with whom the young person can create a stable relationship, which is absolutely essential.
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