Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd
(1929-2023), Politician; Speaker of the House of Commons; life peer; Labour MP for West BromwichSitter in 11 portraits
Boothroyd joined the Tiller Girls dancing troupe before pursuing a career in politics. She worked initially as a secretary in the House of Commons and first contested a seat in 1957. After standing in several elections and volunteering for Kennedy's presidential campaign, she won a seat as the Labour candidate for West Bromwich. Boothroyd served as Member of the European Parliament (1975-77) and Chancellor of the Open University (1994-2006). She was speaker of the House of Commons from 1992 to 2000, the only woman to have held this position. Upon her election, she chose not to wear the Speaker's wig; as a result, this tradition has been abolished. On retirement from Speakership, she was created a life peer.
Comments back to top
We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.
If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.