Helen Lawrie Liddell, Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke
PC (' Reilly; born 6 December 1950) is a British politician and
life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
who served as
Secretary of State for Scotland
The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...
from 2001 to 2003 and
British High Commissioner to Australia
The High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Australia is an officer of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the United Kingdom's foremost Diplomat, diplomatic representative to the Commonwealth of Australia. Despite Britain's close relati ...
from 2005 to 2009. A member of the
Labour Party, she was
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for
Airdrie and Shotts, previously
Monklands East
Monklands East was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system. For the 1997 general electio ...
, from
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
to
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
.
Early life
Liddell was born to Hugh Reilly, a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, and Bridget Lawrie Reilly, a
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
. She was educated at St. Patrick's Catholic High School in
Coatbridge
Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as ...
, attending at the same time as
John Reid, and graduated from the
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...
with a
BA in Economics.
Early career
Liddell worked as a
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...
economics
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
from 1976 to 1977. At the age of 26, she served as the first female
General Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party
The Organisation of Scottish Labour is a body established under the national rules of the UK Labour Party.
Timeline
Origins and evolution of Scottish Labour
* In August 1888, after contesting the Mid Lanarkshire by-election, Keir Hardie ...
from 1977 to 1978. She was subsequently
public affairs director of the ''
Daily Record'' and ''
Sunday Mail'', working for media proprietor
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster.
Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from N ...
.
Business Interests
Appointed Director of
Annington Limited, 1st April 2017. The British Ministry of Defence, as of November 2022, are trying to regain ownership of the housing stock that was sold off to Annington in 1996. As Chair of
Annington, Baroness Liddell defended Annington via a letter to the British Defence Secretary saying she was "shocked" by the Government's approach.
Parliamentary career
She first contested the Parliamentary constituency of
East Fife at the
October 1974 general election.
House of Commons
Liddell was first elected to Parliament in 1994, at the closely contested
Monklands East by-election following
John Smith's death. She was appointed a
Privy Councillor
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
on 27 October 1998.
She was
Secretary of State for Scotland
The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...
from 2001 to 2003, a position whose powers had been transferred to the
Scottish Executive after
devolution
Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...
in 1999. In addition, she angered the monks of
Buckfast Abbey
Buckfast Abbey forms part of an active Benedictine monastery at Buckfast, near Buckfastleigh, Devon, England. Buckfast first became home to an abbey in 1018. The first Benedictine abbey was followed by a Savignac (later Cistercian) abbey cons ...
when she called on them to stop selling
Buckfast in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. She was dubbed ''Minister for
Monarch of the Glen'' after several visits to the set of the hit BBC series.
The disclosure that she was able to work French lessons into her ministerial diary, raised questions about the relevance of Scottish Secretary's job
post-devolution. The role was abolished as a full-time position in 2003, when the
Scotland Office
The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland ( gd, Oifis Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba), often referred to as, and formerly officially called, the Scotland Office, is a department of His Majesty's Government headed by the Secretary of Sta ...
was rolled into the
Department for Constitutional Affairs
The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) was a United Kingdom government department. Its creation was announced on 12 June 2003; it took over the functions of the Lord Chancellor's Department. On 28 March 2007 it was announced that the Dep ...
.
She took up appointment as
British High Commissioner to Australia
The High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Australia is an officer of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the United Kingdom's foremost Diplomat, diplomatic representative to the Commonwealth of Australia. Despite Britain's close relati ...
in the summer of 2005, and was succeeded in the role by
Baroness Amos
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher th ...
in October 2009.
House of Lords
On 28 May 2010, it was announced in the
Dissolution Honours List
Crown Honours Lists are lists of honours conferred upon citizens of the Commonwealth realms. The awards are presented by or in the name of the reigning monarch, currently King Charles III, or his vice-regal representative.
New Year Honours
Hon ...
that she would be created a
life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
.
On 7 July, she took the title ''Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke, of
Airdrie in the County of
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland.
Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...
'', six days later becoming a
House of Lords member. She is a member of
Labour Friends of Israel
Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that promotes support for a strong bilateral relationship between Britain and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party and the Isra ...
. In 2010–11 Liddell was a member of the independent Philips inquiry into the
1994 Scotland RAF Chinook crash on the
Mull of Kintyre
The Mull of Kintyre is the southwesternmost tip of the Kintyre Peninsula (formerly ''Cantyre'') in southwest Scotland. From here, the Antrim coast of Northern Ireland is visible on a calm and clear day, and a historic lighthouse, the second ...
, established by the
Secretary of State for Defence
The secretary of state for defence, also referred to as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Ministry of Defence. The incumbent is a membe ...
.
Personal life
She married Alistair Liddell in 1972; they have one son and one daughter.
Debrett's People of Today''
/ref>
Publications
* Liddell, Helen (1990). ''Elite''. Century
A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c.
A centennial or ...
.
References
Further reading
*Torrance, David, ''The Scottish Secretaries'' (Birlinn 2006)
External links
Debrett's People of Today''
TheyWorkForYou.com – Helen Liddell MP
Appearances
on C-SPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
, -
, -
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liddell, Helen
1950 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Strathclyde
BBC newsreaders and journalists
British Secretaries of State
Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Australia
Female members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom
Labour Party (UK) life peers
Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II
Scottish Labour MPs
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Labour Friends of Israel
UK MPs 1992–1997
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
20th-century Scottish women politicians
20th-century Scottish politicians
21st-century Scottish women politicians
21st-century Scottish politicians
British women ambassadors
British women television journalists
British women radio presenters