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Shirley Williams

8 of 11 portraits of Shirley Williams

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© Michael Ward Archives / National Portrait Gallery, London

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Shirley Williams

by Michael Ward
bromide fibre print, 26 March 1977
Acquired from Michael Ward, 2006
Photographs Collection
NPG x128562

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  • Michael Ward (1929-2011), Photographer. Artist or producer of 63 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.

This portraitback to top

The photographer Michael Ward remembers that at the time this was taken, 'Shirley Williams was rushing about from factory to factory in the Midlands, pleading her political case through a megaphone. Here she is delivering a speech to an enthusiastic crowd.'

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Events of 1977back to top

Current affairs

In celebration of her 25th year as Queen, Elizabeth II tours the British Isles visiting communities and schools in 36 counties, before touring the commonwealth. Across the country people held street parties to celebrate the occasion; there were 4,000 street parties in London alone.

Art and science

British punk rockers, The Sex Pistols, release the single, God Save The Queen to coincide with the Silvery Jubilee celebrations. The single reached Number 2 in the charts among claims that it was being kept off the top spot for political reasons. The band was arrested for trying to perform the song from a boat on the Thames during the Queen's Royal Progress trip down the river.

International

Elvis Presley dies of a heart attack aged 42. His body was discovered collapsed on the bathroom floor of his Graceland mansion in Memphis by his fiancée Ginger Alden. Rumours that the star is actually still alive but in hiding continue to perpetuate among diehard fans.

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Martin Farr

25 May 2022, 22:05

An, as it turned out, politically significant photo. Williams was in Birmingham Stechford to campaign in a by-election which had been occasioned by the resignation of the sitting Labour MP. That MP was Roy Jenkins, who had held the constituency since 1950 but had accepted the presidency of the European Commission. Despite Williams's efforts, Labour lost the seat, and with it its parliamentary majority. The government fell two years later, and two years after that Jenkins and Williams defected to help form the SDP. Birmingham Stechford returned to Labour in the 1979 general election.