The Baroness Beckett | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Foreign Secretary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 5 May 2006 – 27 June 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Jack Straw | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | David Miliband | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 8 June 2001 – 5 May 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Nick Brown[a] John Prescott[b] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | David Miliband | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 8 June 2001 – 27 March 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Nick Brown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Herself[c] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of the House of Commons Lord President of the Council | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 27 July 1998 – 8 June 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Ann Taylor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Robin Cook | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Trade and Industry President of the Board of Trade | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 2 May 1997 – 27 July 1998 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Ian Lang | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Peter Mandelson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of the Opposition | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 12 May 1994 – 21 July 1994 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Elizabeth II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | John Major | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | John Smith | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy Leader of the Labour Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 18 July 1992 – 21 July 1994 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | John Smith | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Roy Hattersley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | John Prescott | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 14 August 2024 Life peerage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 9 June 1983 – 30 May 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Walter Johnson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Baggy Shanker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constituency | Derby South | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 10 October 1974 – 7 April 1979 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Dick Taverne | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Kenneth Carlisle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constituency | Lincoln | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Margaret Mary Jackson (1943-01-15)15 January 1943 (age 82) Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Manchester College of Science and Technology (BSc) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Beckett makes a statement on climate change on behalf of theEuropean Commission andCouncil Recorded 16 November 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Margaret Mary Beckett, Baroness Beckett (née Jackson; born 15 January 1943), is a British politician. She was amember of Parliament (MP) for more than 45 years, first from 1974 to 1979 and then from 1983 to 2024. A member of theLabour Party, she was the United Kingdom's first femaleforeign secretary, and served as a minister under Prime MinistersHarold Wilson,James Callaghan,Tony Blair andGordon Brown. Beckett wasDeputy Leader of the Opposition andDeputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1992 to 1994, and brieflyLeader of the Opposition and actingLeader of the Labour Party followingJohn Smith's death in 1994. A member of theLabour Party, she served as MP forLincoln from 1974 to 1979, and forDerby South from 1983 to 2024. Her 45 years in theHouse of Commons makes her the female MP in the Commons with the longest service overall (Harriet Harman has longer continuous service), and she was the last sitting MP who served in the Labour governments of the 1970s.
Beckett was first elected toParliament at theOctober 1974 general election for Lincoln and held junior positions in the governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. She lost her seat at the1979 election, but returned to the Commons in 1983 as MP for Derby South. She was appointed toNeil Kinnock'sshadow cabinet shortly afterwards; she was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in 1992, becoming the first woman to hold that role. WhenJohn Smith died in 1994, Beckett became the first woman to lead the Labour Party, though only in a temporary capacity—Tony Blair won theelection to replace Smith shortly afterward and assumed the substantive leadership.
After Labour returned to power in 1997, and as one of101 female Labour MPs elected, Beckett became a member of Tony Blair'sCabinet initially asPresident of the Board of Trade, the first female holder of that office. She later served asLeader of the House of Commons andSecretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, before becoming Foreign Secretary in 2006, the first woman to hold that position, and—afterMargaret Thatcher—the second woman to hold one of theGreat Offices of State. Following Blair's resignation asprime minister in 2007, Beckett was not initially given a position by Gordon Brown, Blair's successor; after she had spent a period on the backbenches, Brown appointed her to his cabinet asMinister of State for Housing and Planning in 2008, before she left the government for the last time in 2009. After Labour lost power following the2010 general election, she sat on the opposition backbenches until standing down at the2024 general election. She was shortly thereafter appointed to theHouse of Lords.
Margaret Beckett was born Margaret Mary Jackson in 1943, inAshton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, into the family of a disabled Congregationalist carpenter father and an Irish Catholic teacher mother. Her father died early, precipitating familypoverty.[1] She had two sisters, one later a nun, the other later a doctor and mother of three. She was educated at theNotre Dame High School for Girls inNorwich, then atUniversity of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, where she took a degree inmetallurgy.[2] She was an active member of the Students' Union and served on its council.
In 1961, Beckett joinedAssociated Electrical Industries as a student apprentice in metallurgy. She joined theTransport and General Workers Union in 1964. She joined theUniversity of Manchester in 1966 as an experiment officer in its metallurgy department, and in 1970 went to work for the Labour Party as a researcher inindustrial policy.
In 1973, Beckett was selected as Labour candidate forLincoln, which the party wanted to win back from ex-Labour MPDick Taverne, who had won theLincoln by-election in March 1973 standing as theDemocratic Labour candidate. At theFebruary 1974 general election, Beckett lost to Taverne by 1,297 votes. Following the election, she worked as a researcher forJudith Hart, theMinister for Overseas Development at the Foreign Office.Harold Wilson called anothergeneral election in October 1974, and Beckett again stood against Taverne in Lincoln. This time Beckett became the MP, with a majority of 984 votes.
Almost immediately following her election she was appointed asJudith Hart'sParliamentary private secretary.Harold Wilson made her aWhip in 1975,[3] and in 1976 promoted her toParliamentary Under Secretary of State at theDepartment of Education and Science, replacingJoan Lestor, who had resigned in protest over spending cuts.[4] She remained in that position until she lost her seat at the1979 general election. TheConservative candidateKenneth Carlisle narrowly won the seat with a 602-vote majority, the first time the Conservatives had won at Lincoln since1935.
She joinedGranada Television as a researcher in 1979. Out of Parliament, and now known as Margaret Beckett after her marriage, she was elected to Labour'sNational Executive Committee in 1980, and supported the left-wingerTony Benn in the1981 Labour deputy leadership election narrowly won byDenis Healey. She was the subject of a vociferous attack byJoan Lestor at the conference.
Beckett was selected to stand at the1983 general election as the Labour candidate in the parliamentary constituency ofDerby South following the retirement of the sitting MP,Walter Johnson. At the election she retained the seat with a small majority of 421 votes.
In March 2022 Beckett announced she would end her parliamentary career, standing down as MP for Derby South at the next general election.[5]
Upon returning to theHouse of Commons, Beckett gradually moved away from theleft, supporting incumbent leaderNeil Kinnock against Benn in 1988. By this time she was a front bencher, as a spokeswoman on Social Security since 1984, becoming a member of theshadow cabinet in 1989 asShadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Following the1992 general election she was electedDeputy Leader of the Labour Party and served underJohn Smith asShadow Leader of the House of Commons. She became aMember of the Privy Council in 1993. She was the first woman to serve as deputy leader of the Labour Party.
Following the sudden death ofJohn Smith from a heart attack on 12 May 1994, Beckett became Acting Leader of the Labour Party, the party's constitution providing for the automatic succession of the deputy leader for the remainder of the leadership term, upon the death or resignation of an incumbent leader in opposition. In times when the party is in opposition, party leaders are subject to annual reelection at the time of the annual party conference; accordingly, Beckett was constitutionally entitled to remain in office as acting leader until the 1994 Conference. However, the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) rapidly decided to bring forward the election for Labour Leader and Deputy Leader to July 1994.[6][7]
Beckett decided to run for the position of Labour Leader, but came last inthe subsequent leadership election, behindTony Blair andJohn Prescott. The deputy leadership was contested at the same time; Beckett was also defeated in this contest, coming second behind Prescott. Though she failed in both contests, she was retained in the shadow cabinet by Blair asShadow Health Secretary.[7][8]
A footnote to her ten-week tenure as caretaker leader of the Labour Party is that she was the leader at the time of that year's1994 European parliament elections, which were held four weeks after she assumed the position. Labour's election campaign had been long in the planning under Smith, whose sudden death led to a "sympathy rise" in opinion polls for Labour, compounding what had already been a strong lead over the Conservatives. Consequently, Labour had a commanding victory in what was its best result in any of the eight European elections held since 1979. The two Labour leadership elections followed six weeks later on 21 July 1994 and the Labour electorate did not appear to attribute any credit for the successful European election result to Beckett's chance-ordained position as acting leader in the four weeks immediately prior to the election.[citation needed]
Under Blair's leadership, Beckett was the Shadow Secretary of State forHealth, and then from 1995 theShadow President of the Board of Trade. She was one of the leading critics of the government when theScott Report published its findings into theArms-to-Iraq scandal in 1996.[citation needed]
In2025 Labour Party deputy leadership election, Beckett recalled that being deputy leader was a "ghastly job".[9]
The Labour Party was elected to government in alandslide in the1997 general election and Beckett held a number of senior positions in theBlair government. Following the election she was appointedPresident of the Board of Trade (a position whose title later reverted toSecretary of State for Trade and Industry); the first woman to have held the post. She was succeeded byPeter Mandelson in July 1998.[citation needed]
Beckett was thenLeader of the House of Commons from 1998 until her replacement byRobin Cook in June 2001. Her tenure saw the introduction ofWestminster Hall debates, which are debates held in a small chamber near Westminster Hall on topics of interest to individual MPs, committee reports, and other matters that would not ordinarily be debated in the Commons chamber.[10] Debates that take place in Westminster Hall are often more consensual and informal, and can address the concerns ofbackbenchers. She received admiration for her work as Leader of the House,[11] working on this and a number of other elements of the Labour government's modernisation agenda for Parliament. In 2000, she expressed republican sympathies.[12]
Following the2001 general election, Beckett became Secretary of State at the newDepartment for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), created after theMinistry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) was abolished in the wake of perceived mismanagement of thefoot-and-mouthepidemic in 2001. The new department also incorporated some of the functions of the formerDepartment for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR).
For legal reasons, Beckett was also appointed formally as the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, which appointment she held until MAFF was finally dissolved on 27 March 2002 and the remaining functions of that were transferred to the Secretary of State at large.[citation needed]
Beckett rejected demands for an expansion ofnuclear power from a lobby including energy ministerBrian Wilson and Downing Street staff. She argued there was no need for new nuclear for at least 15 years given current energy prices and generation capacity. The 2003 energywhite paper stated that "the current economics of nuclear power make it unattractive" and there were no proposals for new nuclear power stations.[13][14][15]
Beckett held the position ofSecretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs until May 2006, when she was succeeded byDavid Miliband. Beckett was on the front line of the government's efforts to tackleclimate change, and attended international conferences on the matter.[citation needed]
In a report published on 29 March 2007 by theEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, she was criticised for her role in the failures of theRural Payments Agency when she had beenSecretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.[16]
Following the2006 local elections, Blair demotedForeign SecretaryJack Straw, and appointed Beckett as Straw's successor. She was the first woman to hold the post, and only the second woman (afterMargaret Thatcher) to hold one of theGreat Offices of State. The appointment came as something of a surprise, for the media and for Beckett herself; she admitted reacting to the news by saying theF-word.[17]
Some commentators claim that Beckett was promoted to Foreign Secretary because she was considered to be a 'safe pair of hands' and a loyal member of the Cabinet.[18][19] Her experience at DEFRA in dealing with international climate change issues has also been cited as a factor in the move.[citation needed]
Beckett had to adapt quickly to her diplomatic role; within a few hours of her appointment as Foreign Secretary, she flew to theUnited Nations in New York City for an urgent meeting of foreign ministers to discuss theIran nuclear weapons crisis. About a month later, she came under fire for not responding quickly enough to the2006 Lebanon War which sawIsrael invade that country, although some reports suggested that the delay was caused by Cabinet division rather than Beckett's reluctance to make a public statement on the matter.[20]
Beckett is understood[by whom?] to have delegated European issues to theForeign Office minister responsible for Europe,Geoff Hoon, who, following his demotion as Defence Secretary, continued to attend Cabinet meetings. Hoon and Beckett were said to have a difficult ministerial relationship.[21][22]
As Foreign Secretary, Beckett came in for some trenchant criticism. According toThe Times, she did not stand up well in comparison with the previous Foreign Secretary,Jack Straw.[23]The Spectator described her as "at heart, an old, isolationist, pacifist Leftist" and called on her to resign,[24] and theNew Statesman accused her of allowing the Foreign Office to become subservient to 10 Downing Street after the tenures of Straw andRobin Cook.[25]
In August 2006, 37 Labour Party members in her Derby South constituency left the party and joined theLiberal Democrats, criticising her approach to theIsraeli invasion of Lebanon.[26] Two weeks earlier, Beckett's successor,David Miliband, raised concerns during a cabinet meeting about the failure of Blair and Beckett to call for an immediate ceasefire.[27] Straw andHilary Benn, thenInternational Development Secretary, also raised concerns. Former ministerMichael Meacher said there was "despair, anger and bewilderment" in the Labour Party at the UK's failure to call for an immediate ceasefire.[27]
Upon taking office as prime minister,Gordon Brown made it known that Beckett would not continue as foreign secretary.[28] On 28 June 2007, Brown selected David Miliband as her replacement[29] and Beckett returned to the back benches.
It was announced on 29 January 2008 that Beckett would become the new head of the Prime Minister'sIntelligence and Security Committee, replacingPaul Murphy, who became theSecretary of State for Wales.[30]
Having been tipped for a possible return to the front bench in July 2008, due to her reputation as a solid media performer,[31] Beckett returned to government in thereshuffle on 3 October 2008 as theMinister of State for Housing in theDepartment for Communities and Local Government. She attended Cabinet meetings, but was not a full member and was not to be entitled to vote on collective decisions. She ultimately was allowed to return due to her cabinet experience and her economic management in the past.[citation needed]
Beckett was a member of theTop Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation, established in October 2009.[32] She has served as a member of theHenry Jackson Society Advisory Council.[33][34]
Beckett was found to have claimed £600 forhanging baskets andpot plants byThe Daily Telegraph in the2009 expenses scandal. As she had nomortgage orrent outstanding it was queried how she managed to claim £72,537 between 2004 and 2008 on a house in her constituency when she was renting out her London flat and living in agrace and favour flat.[35]
On 10 June 2009, Beckett announced that she wished to replaceMichael Martin asSpeaker of the House of Commons. She said: "I think at the moment we have got very considerable problems in Parliament. We have got to make changes.... After the next election, if we have a more finely balanced chamber than we have had in the recent past, it will be a very different ball game.... I hope I can help us deal with that." Beckett received 74 votes in the first round and 70 votes in the second round of the 2009 Speaker election, reaching the third place as the strongest Labour candidate both times but considerably trailing the two Conservative frontrunnersJohn Bercow andGeorge Young. She withdrew following the second round of voting.[36]
In August 2009, Beckett wrote to Sir Christopher Kelly, Chairman of theCommittee on Standards in Public Life which was investigating MPs' expenses. In the letter, she says the allowances do not adequately cover MPs' costs, which include political campaigns.The Telegraph criticised the "self-pitying" letter, saying it will fuel "concern that some MPs are not genuinely committed to reform".[37]
On 26 November 2010, Beckett was announced as the President of theNOtoAV campaign, which campaigned to retain theFirst Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system at the2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum.[38] She led the campaign to success, and FPTP remains the system used in UK parliamentary elections.
Beckett was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominateJeremy Corbyn as a candidate in theLabour leadership election of 2015.[39] Later, during an interview withBBC Radio 4'sThe World at One, after it became known he was in the lead among the candidates, Beckett was asked if she was "a moron" for nominating Corbyn. She replied: "I am one of them".[40] Furthermore, in January 2016, Beckett claimed that Labour would need an "unexpected political miracle" if it were to win under his leadership,[41] and criticised Corbyn for failing to win back the trust of the electorate onwelfare reform andmass immigration, saying: "I think we had the right policies towards immigration, but the simple thuggishness of the kind of Ukip and Conservative approach is easier to understand and we didn't overcome those communication difficulties ... We have to try and work on ways to overcome that – I'm not suggesting we've done it yet".[42] She later supportedOwen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Corbyn in the2016 Labour leadership election.[43]
In February 2019, however, she acknowledged during an interview withSophy Ridge onSky News that she was "surprised" about how Corbyn had "grown into the job" after taking on the leadership. She further claimed that veteran Conservative MPKenneth Clarke called Corbyn a "perfectly competent" opposition leader.[44]
On 16 January 2016, Beckett released "Learning the Lessons from Defeat Taskforce Report", a 35-page report into why the Labour Party lost the general election of 2015 after the then deputy leaderHarriet Harman requested Beckett investigate the reasons for Labour's failure.[45] Labour's defeat came as a shock to pollsters, whose polls had suggested that the result would be much closer than it eventually was. Ultimately, the Conservatives won a narrow majority.[46]
The report said that explanations including Labour being "anti-business" or "anti-aspiration" were not "significant" factors, saying that "reasons for defeat should be treated with caution and require deeper analysis".[46] The main reasons given for Labour's losses were the perceived weakness ofEd Miliband as party leader, fear of Labour's relationship with theScottish National Party (SNP) among English voters, a perceived association withthe financial crisis under theBrown ministry[46] and "issues of connection" with voters.[47]
The report also said that it would be difficult for Labour to win next time because of changes to constituency boundaries (due in 2018), voter registration changes and restrictions on trade union funding of parties. Beckett said the party should campaign in ordinary language, focus its policy on the condition of Britain in 2020, unite for theEU referendum and draw up a five-year media strategy.[46]
The Beckett report was criticised by some on the left-wing of British politics as "show[ing] that many Labour politicians still don't really understand why they lost" and blaming factors such as the rise of the SNP on Labour's losses, rather than campaigning againstausterity.[48] Others criticised the report for being too broad and too vague in its conclusions.Stephen Bush wrote in theNew Statesman that "every bit of the Labour party will have something it can cling to" in the report:[49] He continued:
Supporters ofJeremy Corbyn will take heart from the fact that individual left-wing policies, like the mansion tax, were popular. But Corbyn-sceptics will note that it was voters that went forTony Blair andDavid Cameron that failed to back the party in 2015, which they will take as an endorsement of a centrist approach.Ed Miliband's diehard supporters – they do exist, believe it or not – will see the report as an endorsement of the Miliband era policy approach but will argue that a more convincing frontman would have sealed the deal.[49]
Owen Jones, a columnist forThe Guardian, said that the left should not fear the Beckett report, saying: "Let's have a full inquest, not in the interests of navel-gazing, but in the interests of winning".[50] According to theMorning Star, manycentrist and moreright-wing Labour politicians also welcomed the report.[51]
In Parliament, Beckett is Chair of the National Security Strategy (Joint Committee), and is a former member of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament and Modernisation of the House of Commons Committee.[52]
On 24 November 2020, Beckett was elected to succeed theTransport Salaried Staffs' Association's Andi Fox as the Chair of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee. She was elected unopposed after NEC members from the left of the party staged a virtual walkout, protesting her election over then vice-chair Ian Murray from theFire Brigades Union.[53]
Beckett was criticised after being overheard insulting a fellow NEC member during aZoom call on 11 March 2021. Beckett thought her microphone was turned off when callingLaura Pidcock a "silly cow", after which Pidcock left the meeting.[54] Beckett apologised immediately and told the BBC the following day: "I deeply regret the remark, which was unjustifiable."[55] Fellow NEC members called on her to resign, while Labour's general secretaryDavid Evans said that complaints against Beckett would be investigated.[54]
Beckett was appointed to thePrivy Council in 1993. She was appointedDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the2013 New Year Honours for public and political service[56][57] and was promoted toDame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the2024 New Year Honours for parliamentary, political and public service.[58]
In November 2017 she was awarded thehonorary degree ofDoctor of the University (DUniv) from theUniversity of Derby.[59]
After standing down as an MP, Beckett was nominated for alife peerage in the2024 Dissolution Honours.[60][61][62] She was createdBaroness Beckett, of Old Normanton in the City of Derby, on 14 August 2024.[63]
She married the chairman of her localConstituency Labour Party, Lionel "Leo" Beckett (born 1926), in August 1979.[11][64][65] Beckett employed her husband as her office manager, on a salary up to £30,000.[66] The practice of MPs employing family members has been criticised by some sections of the media on the lines that it promotesnepotism.[67][68] Although MPs who were first elected in2017 have been banned from employing family members, the restriction is not retroactive.[69]
Leo Beckett had two sons from a previous marriage, and three grandchildren. Beckett and her husband enjoyed caravan holidays[70] throughout her political career.[71] Leo Beckett died in 2021 at the age of 95.[72]
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