Kathleen Claire Brooks

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(née Graham; 1931 – 13 March 2008) was a British lawyer and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

and

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

party politician in the radical tradition.

Personal life

Claire Brooks was born at The Folly in

Settle Settle or SETTLE may refer to: Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an indie rock band from Pennsylvania * ''S ...

, a town in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills ri ...

. Her father, Arthur Graham, was from a long line of staunch Liberals, and her sister Beth was also active in Liberal politics. She was a pupil at

Skipton Girls' High School Skipton Girls' High School, founded in 1886 by the Petyt Trust, is an all-girls selective grammar school situated in Skipton, North Yorkshire, England. The school is a founding member of Northern Star Academies Trust, and leads Northern Lights ...

where she was head girl and studied law at

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

, where she was vice-president of the students' union. She married an American citizen, Herbert Brooks, and lived for a short while in the United States. After she divorced and returned to the UK, she set up her legal practice and engaged seriously in party politics. Mrs Brooks gained a reputation as a larger-than-life, plain speaking personality both within the Liberal Party and through TV and personal appearances outside. She was never afraid to speak her mind on political platforms and regularly challenged both the party leadership and those in the party such as the Young Liberals or Liberal Students with whom she often held views in common. At one

Liberal Assembly The Liberal Party Assembly was the annual party conference of the British Liberal Party before its merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats; the name is still used by the continuity Liberal Party created as ...

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

in the mid 1970s, when Mrs Brooks heard women waiters were getting less pay than their male counterparts she led a sit down strike in the middle of the hall. Another cause Mrs Brooks cared about was the fate of Liberal Clubs and she started a campaign to return them to their party roots.Letter to Liberal Democrat News, 4 April 2008 She was awarded an

for service to political and public life.

Political career

Politically, Brooks was hailed as a person who kept Liberalism alive in the party's dark days of the 1950s. Claire Brooks first contested the parliamentary seat of

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Air ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, getting 27% of the poll. At the general election of February 1974, she reduced the Tory majority to just over 2,000 votes and in the October general election of the same year, came within 590 votes of ousting the Tories. This was a notable achievement, not least because Mrs Brooks had a reputation as a unilateralist in defence policy at a time when Defence was seen as a strong Tory vote-winner. By 1979 the tide was turning back to the Conservatives and the Tory majority rose again. Brooks fought the new seat of Skipton & Ripon in 1983 but came no closer. She fought Lancaster in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

and was a candidate in North Yorkshire in the 1979 European elections. Brooks was also sometime president of the Yorkshire Liberal Federation. She opposed the party's pact with the Labour Party under

David Steel David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, (born 31 March 1938) is a British politician. Elected as Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Peebles, followed by Tweeddale, Ettrick, and Lauderdale, he served as the final leade ...

and had reservations concerning the

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

and later with the merger of the Liberal party with the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

.Merger: The Inside Story by Rachael Pitchford & Tony Greaves, (Liberal Renewal, 1989 p.140 However electoral success was to come Mrs Brooks' way at local government level. In 1976 she was elected to

Craven District Council Craven may refer to: * Craven in the Domesday Book, an area of Yorkshire, England, larger area than the district ** Craven District, a local government district of North Yorkshire formed in 1974 Places * Craven, New South Wales, Australia, see ...

representing Skipton Central ward. She held this seat for 23 years during which she served as Liberal group leader, chairman of the Council and Mayor of

. Throughout the whole time she continued to run her solicitor's practice in the town. In addition to her politics, Mrs Brooks was passionate about her Scottish family roots and was a founder member of the

Clan Graham Clan Graham (''Greumaich nan Cearc'' ) is a Scottish clan who had territories in both the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands, with one main branch Montrose, and various cadet branches. The chief of the clan rose to become the Marquess and later Duk ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Clarie 1931 births 2008 deaths Alumni of University College London Councillors in North Yorkshire Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Mayors of places in Yorkshire and the Humber Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Settle, North Yorkshire Women mayors of places in England People educated at Skipton Girls' High School 20th-century English lawyers 20th-century English women Women councillors in England