First Previous 2 OF 12 NextLast

Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle

2 of 12 portraits of Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle

© Nick Sinclair

 Like voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Make a donation

Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle

by Nick Sinclair
bromide print, 1992
18 in. x 13 7/8 in. (456 mm x 351 mm)
Purchased, 1992
Primary Collection
NPG P510(8)

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Nick Sinclair (1963-), Photographer. Artist or producer of 149 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • 100 Pioneering Women, p. 131 Read entry

    The Labour politician Barbara Anne Castle (1910-2002) was the party’s ‘Red Queen’, and, for very many years, the woman MP with the longest continuous service (a title currently held by Harriet Harman). Educated at Bradford girls’ grammar school then Oxford, she became a committed socialist who wished ‘to inch people towards a more civilised society’. Determined on a political career, after a spell in the civil service, in 1945 she was elected MP for Blackburn. Harold Wilson gave her a cabinet post when Labour was returned to power in 1964. She was Minister of Transport from 1965 to 1968 and Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity from 1968 to 1970. After leaving the Commons in 1979, she spent ten years as the MEP for Manchester, before her elevation to the House of Lords, where her continued activism (on pensions) caused the then chancellor Gordon Brown to call her ‘my mentor and my tormentor’. She appeared on the BBC Woman’s Hour Power List 2016. The judging-panel chair Emma Barnett said, of Castle’s introduction of the Equal Pay Act 1970, arguably her greatest achievement: ‘It would be criminal not to [include] Barbara Castle … Every negotiation I’ve ever had I know I’ve got her standing behind me with what she put into legislation.’

  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 109

Portrait setback to top

Events of 1992back to top

Current affairs

The Church of England votes narrowly in favour of the ordination of women priests. The first women priests were ordained in 1994, inspiring the popular sitcom The Vicar of Dibley.
John Major is forced to take the pound off the European Exchange Rate Mechanism after Black Wednesday, when currency dealers continued selling sterling despite a dramatic increase in interest rates. The event damaged the Conservative party's reputation irreparably.

Art and science

The long-running sitcom Absolutely Fabulous airs for the first time on the BBC starring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley as style-obsessed, middle-aged media luvvies Eddy and Patsy. June Whitfield played Eddy's mother, and Julia Sawalha her long-suffering daughter Saffy (or, 'sweetie darling').

International

Members of the European Community sign the Maastricht Treaty leading to the creation of the European Union. The treaty led to the creation of the 'Euro' currency and its policy was based on a 'three pillars structure' concerned with: 1. Community. 2 . Foreign and Security Policy. 3. Criminal Matters.
At a referendum, Bosnia and Herzegovina vote to become a separate state from Yugoslavia. Civil war soon broke out.

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.