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Margaret Beckett
Margaret Mary Beckett, Baroness Beckett, GBE, PC (née Jackson; born 15 January 1943), is a British politician. She was a member of Parliament (MP) for more than 45 years, first from 1974 to 1979 and then 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 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 female MP in the Commons with the longest service overall (Harriet Harman has longer continuous service), and she was the last sitting MP who served in the Labour governments of the 1970s.
Beckett was first elected to Parliament at the October 1974 general election for Lincoln and held junior positions in the governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. She lost her seat at the 1979 election, but returned to the Commons in 1983 as MP for Derby South. She was appointed to Neil Kinnock's shadow cabinet shortly afterwards; she was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in 1992, becoming the first woman to hold that role. When John Smith died in 1994, Beckett became the first woman to lead the Labour Party, though only in a temporary capacity—Tony Blair won the election to replace Smith shortly afterward and assumed the substantive leadership.
After Labour returned to power in 1997, and as one of 101 female Labour MPs elected, Beckett became a member of Tony Blair's Cabinet initially as President of the Board of Trade, the first female holder of that office. She later served as 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 Gordon Brown, Blair's successor; after she had spent a period on the backbenches, Brown appointed her to his cabinet as Minister of State for Housing and Planning in 2008, before she left the government for the last time in 2009. After Labour lost power following the 2010 general election, she sat on the opposition backbenches until standing down at the 2024 general election. She was shortly thereafter appointed to the House of Lords.
Margaret Beckett was born Margaret Mary Jackson in 1943, in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, into the family of a disabled Congregationalist carpenter father and an Irish Catholic teacher mother. Her father died early, precipitating family poverty. She had two sisters, one later a nun, the other later a doctor and mother of three. She was educated at the Notre Dame High School for Girls in Norwich, then at University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, where she took a degree in metallurgy. She was an active member of the Students' Union and served on its council.
In 1961, Beckett joined Associated Electrical Industries as a student apprentice in metallurgy. She joined the Transport and General Workers Union in 1964. She joined the University of Manchester in 1966 as an experiment officer in its metallurgy department, and in 1970 went to work for the Labour Party as a researcher in industrial policy.
In 1973, Beckett was selected as Labour candidate for Lincoln, which the party wanted to win back from ex-Labour MP Dick Taverne, who had won the Lincoln by-election in March 1973 standing as the Democratic Labour candidate. At the February 1974 general election, Beckett lost to Taverne by 1,297 votes. Following the election, she worked as a researcher for Judith Hart, the Minister for Overseas Development at the Foreign Office. Harold Wilson called another general election in October 1974, and Beckett again stood against Taverne in Lincoln. This time Beckett became the MP, with a majority of 984 votes.
Almost immediately following her election she was appointed as Judith Hart's Parliamentary private secretary. Harold Wilson made her a Whip in 1975, and in 1976 promoted her to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Education and Science, replacing Joan Lestor, who had resigned in protest over spending cuts. She remained in that position until she lost her seat at the 1979 general election. The Conservative candidate Kenneth Carlisle narrowly won the seat with a 602-vote majority, the first time the Conservatives had won at Lincoln since 1935.
She joined Granada Television as a researcher in 1979. Out of Parliament, and now known as Margaret Beckett after her marriage, she was elected to Labour's National Executive Committee in 1980, and supported the left-winger Tony Benn in the 1981 Labour deputy leadership election narrowly won by Denis Healey. She was the subject of a vociferous attack by Joan Lestor at the conference.
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Margaret Beckett
Margaret Mary Beckett, Baroness Beckett, GBE, PC (née Jackson; born 15 January 1943), is a British politician. She was a member of Parliament (MP) for more than 45 years, first from 1974 to 1979 and then 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 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 female MP in the Commons with the longest service overall (Harriet Harman has longer continuous service), and she was the last sitting MP who served in the Labour governments of the 1970s.
Beckett was first elected to Parliament at the October 1974 general election for Lincoln and held junior positions in the governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. She lost her seat at the 1979 election, but returned to the Commons in 1983 as MP for Derby South. She was appointed to Neil Kinnock's shadow cabinet shortly afterwards; she was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in 1992, becoming the first woman to hold that role. When John Smith died in 1994, Beckett became the first woman to lead the Labour Party, though only in a temporary capacity—Tony Blair won the election to replace Smith shortly afterward and assumed the substantive leadership.
After Labour returned to power in 1997, and as one of 101 female Labour MPs elected, Beckett became a member of Tony Blair's Cabinet initially as President of the Board of Trade, the first female holder of that office. She later served as 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 Gordon Brown, Blair's successor; after she had spent a period on the backbenches, Brown appointed her to his cabinet as Minister of State for Housing and Planning in 2008, before she left the government for the last time in 2009. After Labour lost power following the 2010 general election, she sat on the opposition backbenches until standing down at the 2024 general election. She was shortly thereafter appointed to the House of Lords.
Margaret Beckett was born Margaret Mary Jackson in 1943, in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, into the family of a disabled Congregationalist carpenter father and an Irish Catholic teacher mother. Her father died early, precipitating family poverty. She had two sisters, one later a nun, the other later a doctor and mother of three. She was educated at the Notre Dame High School for Girls in Norwich, then at University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, where she took a degree in metallurgy. She was an active member of the Students' Union and served on its council.
In 1961, Beckett joined Associated Electrical Industries as a student apprentice in metallurgy. She joined the Transport and General Workers Union in 1964. She joined the University of Manchester in 1966 as an experiment officer in its metallurgy department, and in 1970 went to work for the Labour Party as a researcher in industrial policy.
In 1973, Beckett was selected as Labour candidate for Lincoln, which the party wanted to win back from ex-Labour MP Dick Taverne, who had won the Lincoln by-election in March 1973 standing as the Democratic Labour candidate. At the February 1974 general election, Beckett lost to Taverne by 1,297 votes. Following the election, she worked as a researcher for Judith Hart, the Minister for Overseas Development at the Foreign Office. Harold Wilson called another general election in October 1974, and Beckett again stood against Taverne in Lincoln. This time Beckett became the MP, with a majority of 984 votes.
Almost immediately following her election she was appointed as Judith Hart's Parliamentary private secretary. Harold Wilson made her a Whip in 1975, and in 1976 promoted her to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Education and Science, replacing Joan Lestor, who had resigned in protest over spending cuts. She remained in that position until she lost her seat at the 1979 general election. The Conservative candidate Kenneth Carlisle narrowly won the seat with a 602-vote majority, the first time the Conservatives had won at Lincoln since 1935.
She joined Granada Television as a researcher in 1979. Out of Parliament, and now known as Margaret Beckett after her marriage, she was elected to Labour's National Executive Committee in 1980, and supported the left-winger Tony Benn in the 1981 Labour deputy leadership election narrowly won by Denis Healey. She was the subject of a vociferous attack by Joan Lestor at the conference.
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