Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell
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The Right Honourable The Baroness Boothroyd OM PC |
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|---|---|
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| Speaker of the House of Commons | |
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In office 27 April 1992 – 23 October 2000 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister |
John Major Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | Bernard Weatherill |
| Succeeded by | Michael Martin |
| Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means | |
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In office 11 June 1987 – 27 April 1992 |
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| Speaker | Bernard Weatherill |
| Preceded by | Paul Dean |
| Succeeded by | Janet Fookes |
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Member of Parliament for West Bromwich West |
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In office 28 February 1974 – 23 October 2000 |
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| Preceded by | Constituency created |
| Succeeded by | Adrian Bailey |
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Member of Parliament for West Bromwich |
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In office 24 May 1973 – 28 February 1974 |
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| Preceded by | Maurice Foley |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
8 October 1929 Dewsbury, Yorkshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Crossbencher 2001 onwards |
| Other political affiliations |
None 1992–2000 Labour Until 1992 |
| Signature |  |
Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd, OM, PC (born 8 October 1929) is a British politician, who served as a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 1992. From 1992 to 2000, she served as Speaker of the House of Commons. She was the first, and to date only, female Speaker of the House of Commons. She sits, by tradition, as a Crossbench peer in the House of Lords.
Boothroyd was born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, in 1929, the only child of Ben Archibald Boothroyd (1886–1948) and his second wife Mary, née Butterfield (1901–1982), both textile workers. She was educated at council schools and went on to study at Dewsbury College of Commerce and Art. In the 1940s, she worked as a dancer, as a member of the Tiller Girls dancing troupe.
During the late 1950s, she worked as secretary to Labour MPs Barbara Castle and Geoffrey de Freitas. In 1960, she travelled to the United States to see the Kennedy campaign. She subsequently began work in Washington as a legislative assistant for an American Congressman, Silvio Conte, between 1960 and 1962. When she returned to London she continued her work as secretary and political assistant to various senior Labour politicians such as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Harry Walston. In 1965, she was elected to a seat on Hammersmith Borough Council, in Gibbs Green ward, where she remained until 1968.
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