Betty Boothroyd, Lady Boothroyd, who has died aged 93, overturned more than 700 years of parliamentary tradition in 1992 when she became the first woman to be elected speaker of the House of Commons. She was a successful and popular speaker who acquired international fame for her brisk, good-humoured style and for the warmth and wit she exuded, along with a whiff of glamour.
Boothroyd was the Labour MP for West Bromwich from 1973 and for West Bromwich West – when the seat was split in two the following year – until her retirement in 2000. She played a leading part behind the scenes as a rightwing party loyalist in the power struggles within the party during the 1970s and 80s. She was a shrewd political tactician, as was shown by her success in winning the speakership. She was only the third Labour MP ever to take the chair and she did so by defeating the Conservative candidate, Peter Brooke, by 372 votes to 238 in the first contested election for speaker in over 40 years.
