Betty Boothroyd

Betty Boothroyd (born October 8, 1929, Dewsbury, West Riding of Yorkshire, England—died February 26, 2023, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England) was a British Labour Party politician who was the first female speaker of the House of Commons (1992–2000).

Boothroyd, whose parents were textile workers, grew up in northern England. She originally envisioned a career as a dancer, and after attending Dewsbury College of Commerce and Art, she performed for a time with a troupe called the Tiller Girls, a successful stage and television act.

During the 1950s, Boothroyd worked as an assistant to Labour MPs including Barbara Castle. After twice unsuccessfully standing for Parliament, she traveled to the United States in 1960, where she observed the John F. Kennedy campaign. Boothroyd served as an assistant to U.S. Rep. Silvio Conte until her return to England in 1962. In London she resumed her work as assistant to a number of Labour MPs before winning a seat on the Hammersmith Borough Council (1965–68). She continued to contest seats in Parliament and was unsuccessful two more times before she won a seat as the Labour candidate for West Bromwich in 1973 (renamed West Bromwich West the following year). In 1974 she was made an assistant government whip.

Boothroyd’s influence continued to grow as she was appointed to both the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Speaker’s Panel of Chairmen in 1979. She left the committee in 1981, but she served on the panel until 1987, at which point she was appointed deputy speaker of the House. When Speaker of the House Bernard Weatherill stepped down in 1992, Boothroyd was elected to his vacated post, but her appointment was contested by MP John Brooke. It was put to a vote, and by a strong majority Boothroyd was elected the first female speaker of the House. She sought to modernize the role of speaker, eschewing the wearing of the speaker’s traditional wig, and she made the role her own, closing prime minister’s questions with her catchphrase “Right, time’s up.” Boothroyd was respected for the firm, often irreverent style she used in managing the oftentimes unruly House of Commons. She announced her retirement from the speaker position in 2000. The following year she was created a life peer, taking the title Baroness Boothroyd, of Sandwell in the County of West Midlands. In 2005 she was given an Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II. Boothroyd published her autobiography in 2001.