A Woman's Place... Part 2: 1966 - 1998
August 2019
This is Part 2 of a short history of women in the Labour Party and movement at large and contains 2 brief biographies for Barbara Castle and Margaret Beckett.
Part 3 will carry on from 1998 to today.
Brian Madican
August 2019
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1966 Nineteen woman Labour MPs were returned at the March general election.
1967 The Abortion Act was supported by the Wilson government. It allowed abortion if danger was posed to the physical or mental health of a woman or another child. Abortion was also allowed if there was a substantial risk that the baby would be physically or mentally disabled.
The Family Planning Act empowered local health authorities to establish family planning services with free advice and means-tested provision of contraceptive devices.
1968 Barbara Castle was appointed Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity. In September, the TUC conference called for equal pay for women.
1969 Barbara Castle promised Labour Party conference that the government would introduce legislation on equal pay for women.
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Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, (1910 – 2002) was the Member of Parliament for Blackburn from 1945 to 1979, making her the longest-serving female MP in the history of the House of Commons until that record was broken in 2007 by Gwyneth Dunwoody. She later became the Member of the European Parliament for Greater Manchester from 1979 to 1989 and subsequently a member of the House of Lords, having been granted a life peerage in 1990.
One of the most significant Labour Party politicians of the 20th century, Castle developed a close political partnership with Harold Wilson and served in several Cabinet roles during both his premierships. As Minister of Transport (1965–1968) she oversaw the introduction of permanent speed limits, breathalysers and seat belts.
Castle was then elevated to Secretary of State for Employment and First Secretary of State (1968–1970), and successfully intervened in the strike by Ford sewing machinists against pay discrimination. Following this Castle introduced the Equal Pay Act 1970.
During her time in government Castle also served as Minister for Overseas Development and Secretary of State for Health and Social Services.
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1970 The Equal Pay Act provided for equal pay for women carrying out comparable work with men and outlawed discrimination in terms and conditions of employment (effective from 1975).
The Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Act allowed courts to order provision for either spouse and recognised the contribution to the joint home made during marriage.
Ten woman Labour MPs were returned at the June general election.
1972 The Labour Party issued a report on discrimination against women and recommended policies to achieve equal rights which formed the basis for policies in government.
1974 Thirteen woman Labour MPs were returned at the February general election.
Barbara Castle was appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Health and Social Security and Shirley Williams for education and Science. Eighteen woman Labour MPs were returned at the October general election.
1975 The Social Security Act established a maternity allowance fund. In August, the Social Security Pensions Act established equal treatment in pensions schemes and abolished contributions tests which limited state pensions for women.
In November, The Employment Protection Act outlawed dismissal for pregnancy and provided for paid maternity leave. The Sex Discrimination Act outlawed direct and indirect discrimination on gender grounds and established the equal Opportunities Commission.
The Equal Pay Act came into operation in December.
1979 Eleven woman Labour MPs were returned at the May general election.
1983 The Labour NEC published a Charter to Establish Equality for Women within the Party in April. Ten woman Labour MPs were returned at the June general election.
1987 In April Labour announced that it would create a Ministry for Women when it formed a government. Twenty one woman Labour MPs were returned at the June general election.
1989 A Party Rule change for annual elections to the Parliamentary Committee increased the number of members to 18, at least 3 of whom must be women.
1991 The Labour Party issued a policy document entitled A New Ministry for Women.
1992 Thirty seven woman Labour MPs were returned at the April general election. Betty Boothroyd, Labour MP for West Bromwich, was elected as the first woman Speaker of the House of Commons. Margaret Beckett became the first woman Labour Deputy Leader in October.
1993 A Party Rule change for annual elections to the Parliamentary Committee increased the minimum number of women to four.
1994 Margaret Beckett served as Labour acting leader on the death of John Smith.
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Dame Margaret Mary Beckett (born 15 January 1943) has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby South since 1983. She was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party under John Smith from 1992 to 1994, and briefly served as Leader of the Labour Party after Smith died suddenly. She later served in the Cabinet under Prime Minister Tony Blair in a number of roles, becoming Britain's first female Foreign Secretary in 2006.
Beckett was first elected to Parliament in October 1974 for Lincoln and held junior positions in the governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. She lost her seat in 1979, but returned to the House of Commons in 1983, this time representing Derby South. She was appointed to Neil Kinnock's Shadow Cabinet shortly afterwards, being elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in 1992, becoming the first woman to hold that role.
When John Smith died in 1994, she became the first woman to lead the Labour Party, although Tony Blair won the election to replace Smith shortly afterwards to assume the substantive leadership.
After Labour returned to power in 1997, Beckett became a member of Tony Blair's Cabinet initially as President of the Board of Trade. She was later the Leader of the House of Commons and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, before becoming Foreign Secretary in 2006, the first woman to hold that position, and - after Margaret Thatcher - the second woman to hold one of the Great Offices of State.
Following Blair's resignation as Prime Minister in 2007, Beckett was not initially given a position by new Prime Minister Gordon Brown. After some time, Brown appointed her Minister of State for Housing and Planning in 2008, before she left the government for the last time in 2009.
She is currently the longest-serving female MP in the House of Commons. She is also one of the few remaining MPs who served in the Labour governments of the 1970s. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Year Honours for public and political service.
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1996 An industrial tribunal ruled that all-woman short-lists to select Labour parliamentary candidates represented discrimination on the grounds of sex.
The Labour Party conference voted to take measures to increase the representation of women in the Parliamentary Labour Party to 50% within 10 years.
1997 In May, 101 woman Labour MPs were returned at the general election. Five woman were appointed to the Cabinet – Margaret Beckett became President of the Board of Trade, Ann Taylor became President of the Council and Leader of the house of Commons, Harriet Harman became Secretary for Social Security, Marjorie “Mo” Mowlam became Northern Ireland Secretary and Clare Short became Secretary for International Development.
A Minister for Women was appointed for the first time.
In June Social Security Secretary Harman announced the formation of a Cabinet sub-committee for women and a women’s unit for cross-departmental co-ordination on women’s issues.
1998 In May, the government announced all policy documents, programmes, plans of action and legislative changes would include specific assessments of the impact on women. The government announced a target of 50% women’s representation on 1,100 quangos and public bodies.
In July, the appointment of Margaret McDonagh as Labour’s first woman general secretary was announced.
Part 3 will carry on from 1998 to today.
Solidarity
Brian Madican
August 2019