The first-ever female speaker in the House of Commons has passed away at the age of 93.
Baroness Betty Boothroyd became the first woman to be elected speaker in April 1992 and remained in the role until October 2000. The Baroness was born into a working-class family in Dewsbury in 1929 and was involved in politics at an early age.
Her mother was a member of the women's section of the Labour Party and she would often bring her daughter to rallies which featured the party's biggest names at the time such as Clement Attlee. In the years that followed, Baroness Boothryd would travel to the U.S. to work with John F Kennedy in the 1960s before returning to the UK and becoming an MP for West Bromwich, becoming one of 27 female MPs at the time.
