Recent from talks
Mo Mowlam
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Mo Mowlam
Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam (18 September 1949 – 19 August 2005) was a British Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Redcar from 1987 to 2001 and served in the Cabinet of Tony Blair as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Mowlam's time as Northern Ireland Secretary saw the signing of the historic Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Her personal charisma and reputation for plain speaking led her to be perceived by many as one of the most popular "New Labour" politicians in the UK. When Tony Blair mentioned her in his speech at the 1998 Labour Party Conference, she received a standing ovation.
Mowlam was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, the middle of three children of Tina and Frank, but grew up in Coventry, where her father progressed to become Coventry's assistant postmaster. She would later be awarded the Freedom of the City in 1999. She was the only one of the family's three children to pass the 11-plus exam. She started at Chiswick Girls' grammar school in West London, then moved to Coundon Court School in Coventry, one of the first comprehensive schools in the country. She then studied at Trevelyan College, Durham University, reading sociology and anthropology. She joined the Labour Party in her first year. She became the Secretary of the Durham Union Society in 1969 and later went on to become the vice-president of the Durham Students' Union. She worked for then-MP (Labour) Tony Benn in London and American writer Alvin Toffler in New York, moving to the United States with her then-boyfriend and studying for a PhD in political science at the University of Iowa on the effects of the Swiss system of referendums.
Mowlam was a lecturer in the Political Science Department at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1977 and at Florida State University in Tallahassee from 1977 to 1979. During her time in Tallahassee, her apartment was broken into by someone; she suspected that it was Ted Bundy, a serial killer and rapist who is thought to have murdered at least thirty-five young women and attacked several others.
Mowlam returned to England in 1979 to take up an appointment at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. She also worked in adult education at Northern College, Barnsley, with students who had fewer opportunities than traditional university students. In 1981, she organised a series of alternative lectures to the Reith lectures being given that year by Laurence Martin, the university's vice chancellor. These were published as Debate on Disarmament, with their proceeds going to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Mowlam married Jonathan Norton, a City of London banker, in County Durham on 24 June 1995; Norton died on 3 February 2009. Mowlam had two step-children from Norton's first marriage to Geraldine Bedell.
Having failed to win selection for the 1983 general election, Mowlam was selected as Labour candidate for the safe seat of Redcar after James Tinn stood down. She took the seat in the 1987 general election, becoming the Labour spokesperson on Northern Ireland later that year. Together with Shadow Chancellor John Smith, Mowlam was one of the architects of Labour's "Prawn Cocktail Offensive" dedicated to reassuring the UK's financial sector about Labour's financial rectitude.
Mowlam joined the Shadow cabinet when John Smith became leader of the Labour Party in 1992, holding the title of Shadow Secretary of State for National Heritage. During this time, she antagonised both monarchists and republicans by calling for Buckingham Palace to be demolished and replaced by a "modern" palace built at public expense. Later, her willingness to speak her mind, often without regard to the consequences, was seen as her greatest strength by her supporters.
Hub AI
Mo Mowlam AI simulator
(@Mo Mowlam_simulator)
Mo Mowlam
Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam (18 September 1949 – 19 August 2005) was a British Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Redcar from 1987 to 2001 and served in the Cabinet of Tony Blair as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Mowlam's time as Northern Ireland Secretary saw the signing of the historic Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Her personal charisma and reputation for plain speaking led her to be perceived by many as one of the most popular "New Labour" politicians in the UK. When Tony Blair mentioned her in his speech at the 1998 Labour Party Conference, she received a standing ovation.
Mowlam was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, the middle of three children of Tina and Frank, but grew up in Coventry, where her father progressed to become Coventry's assistant postmaster. She would later be awarded the Freedom of the City in 1999. She was the only one of the family's three children to pass the 11-plus exam. She started at Chiswick Girls' grammar school in West London, then moved to Coundon Court School in Coventry, one of the first comprehensive schools in the country. She then studied at Trevelyan College, Durham University, reading sociology and anthropology. She joined the Labour Party in her first year. She became the Secretary of the Durham Union Society in 1969 and later went on to become the vice-president of the Durham Students' Union. She worked for then-MP (Labour) Tony Benn in London and American writer Alvin Toffler in New York, moving to the United States with her then-boyfriend and studying for a PhD in political science at the University of Iowa on the effects of the Swiss system of referendums.
Mowlam was a lecturer in the Political Science Department at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1977 and at Florida State University in Tallahassee from 1977 to 1979. During her time in Tallahassee, her apartment was broken into by someone; she suspected that it was Ted Bundy, a serial killer and rapist who is thought to have murdered at least thirty-five young women and attacked several others.
Mowlam returned to England in 1979 to take up an appointment at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. She also worked in adult education at Northern College, Barnsley, with students who had fewer opportunities than traditional university students. In 1981, she organised a series of alternative lectures to the Reith lectures being given that year by Laurence Martin, the university's vice chancellor. These were published as Debate on Disarmament, with their proceeds going to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Mowlam married Jonathan Norton, a City of London banker, in County Durham on 24 June 1995; Norton died on 3 February 2009. Mowlam had two step-children from Norton's first marriage to Geraldine Bedell.
Having failed to win selection for the 1983 general election, Mowlam was selected as Labour candidate for the safe seat of Redcar after James Tinn stood down. She took the seat in the 1987 general election, becoming the Labour spokesperson on Northern Ireland later that year. Together with Shadow Chancellor John Smith, Mowlam was one of the architects of Labour's "Prawn Cocktail Offensive" dedicated to reassuring the UK's financial sector about Labour's financial rectitude.
Mowlam joined the Shadow cabinet when John Smith became leader of the Labour Party in 1992, holding the title of Shadow Secretary of State for National Heritage. During this time, she antagonised both monarchists and republicans by calling for Buckingham Palace to be demolished and replaced by a "modern" palace built at public expense. Later, her willingness to speak her mind, often without regard to the consequences, was seen as her greatest strength by her supporters.
Recent media