Labour's tribute to women in politics - Margaret Thatcher doesn't count

[SomeGuy]

From the office of Harriet Harperson:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8259036.stm

there's also no mention of Betty Boothroyd

Boothroyd did not have quite the same significance as Maggie though

Op could you sum up her significance for me please?

yes i know that - but she was the first and only ever female speaker of the HOC so worthy of a mention I'd have thought.

Hardly an oversight, I would imagine...

luckylady74 there's a description of her battle to get a seat here:

www.conservatives.com/News/Blogs/Margaret_Thatchers_journey_to_the_House_of_Commons.aspx

Sample:

'At 23, she became the Conservatives? youngest ever woman Parliamentary candidate, albeit for the safe Labour seat of Dartford, Kent. During the 1950 election, the South East Area Agent Beryl Cook began a report to Central Office, ?Miss Margaret Roberts? performance is so outstanding. Every meeting she has had has been packed, and people turned away?. The sitting Labour MP, Norman Dodds, was forced to issue a letter of apology after he was quoted in a Sunday newspaper saying he thought, ?a great deal of her beauty but not a lot of her election chances ? or her brains?.'

Thanks.
It does seem odd that they didn't put her name on it. It is historical fact after all.

Maybe because it would horrify the average labour supporter if there was any hint of 'celebrating' her?

I don't know what an average labour supporter is anyh more though. I do know that my dear late dad would have cheered the decision to leave her off!

I'm far more offended by Someguy's reference to Harriet Harman as Harperson.

This is not only offensive but getting really old now. Please stop it.

I can just imagine the righteous chippyness and huffing that would have ensued had, say, Barbara Castle been the first woman PM and she had been left off a list of influential women by the Tories!

If you are going to do this kind of list, you have to be non-partisan. And missing off the first woman PM is insane. Whatever you thought of her policies.

I'm not offended by calling her harperson, in fact I find it very fitting, but then I don't get offended at the drop of a hat which is a big problem with people nowadays they seem to be offended by anything and everything, that's getting very old and boring, maybe some of us want to be offended, bring back funny commedians who offend everyone I say, how I miss MIL jokes.

As for dear old Maggie (ohh dear someone will be offended by that discription) she fought long and hard to get where she was, women telling her she should be at home looking after her children not dabbling in the man's world of politics (as well as men) (Ted Heath especially) and she did a damned fine job, rated second under Churchill of the best prime ministers of this country (I believe).

Shame on Harman, if she were half the polititian that Margaret Thatcher were she wouldn't be facing defeat at the next election (yea!)and wouldn't have to sell herself around the newsrooms at every chance with half baked, trumped up policies that leave a bad taste in most people's mouth.

The only thing the Labour party can agree on most times is how much they hate HH (except those other little poison dwarfs like blears and Sniff)and what an embarressment she is.

Ooh, a bit of an oops on their part there.
I mean, I LOATHE Thatcher, but.....