Helen Margaret McElhone ( née Brown; 10 April 1933 – 5 June 2013) was a Scottish politician. She worked together with her husband,

Frank McElhone Francis Patrick McElhone (5 April 1929 – 22 September 1982) was a Scottish Labour Party politician. McElhone was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Gorbals in a 1969 by-election. He served until the constituency was abolished ...

, during his time as a

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 o ...

(MP) representing Glasgow from 1969. After his sudden death, McElhone was elected as his successor; but within six months her Glasgow Queen's Park constituency was abolished in boundary changes and she lost out to a neighbouring MP in the selection for a new seat. She continued her political activity after leaving Parliament.

Married life

McElhone was born Helen Margaret Brown in Glasgow. She married

in November 1958, and they had two sons and two daughters."McELHONE, Mrs Helen Margaret" in "Dod's Parliamentary Companion, 1983", Dod's Parliamentary Companion Ltd, 1983, p. 438. Both of their sons were involved in the band

Altered Images Altered Images are a Scottish new wave/post-punk band who found success in the early 1980s. Fronted by singer Clare Grogan, the group branched into mainstream pop music, having six UK top-40 hit singles and three top-30 albums from 1981 to 1 ...

, with Gerard serving as the band's manager and

Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varian ...

playing bass guitar. She "took an active interest" in the greengrocer's business run by her husband on Thistle Street in

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportun ...

for eight years. When he was elected to Parliament to represent Glasgow Gorbals in a 1969

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

, she took over running the shop.Jonathan Wills, "Why this is McElhone country", ''The Times'', 29 November 1982, p. 3. She became a member of the

Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) is a trade union in the United Kingdom, consisting of around 360,000 members. Usdaw members work in a variety of occupations and industries including: shopworkers, factory and warehouse wo ...

. During Frank McElhone's time in Parliament, Helen McElhone was an active worker within his

Constituency Labour Party __NOTOC__ A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency. In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituenc ...

and was regarded by some as the driving force behind her husband's career.Mrs McElhone could fight Queen's Park
, ''Glasgow Herald'', 14 October 1982, p. 1. She took constituency surgeries on his behalf when he was attending Parliament, and also sat in on committees in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

.Colm Brogan,
Taking up the fight where Frank McElhone left off
, ''Glasgow Herald'', 5 November 1982, p. 11.

By-election candidate

Frank McElhone died in Glasgow on 22 September 1982, while participating in a 'Day of Action' march and demonstration in support of

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

workers; his death meant a by-election must be held. His wife was not initially considered a likely candidate, but local party colleagues were said to have persuaded her to put her name forward for the selection contest. There were rival candidates including

Jimmy Wray James Aloysius Joseph Patrick Gabriel WrayAaron Goldstei"Jimmy Wray, R.I.P.", ''The American Spectator'', 25 May 2013. (28 April 1935 – 25 May 2013) was a Scottish politician and Labour Member of Parliament for Glasgow Baillieston and Glas ...

, who was a local councillor and had been Frank McElhone's election agent, but she picked up nominations from ward branches within the constituency, and eventually won the selection on 3 November by 29 votes to 28. The selection contest was a bitter one within the local party."Worthy rivals will not stop MP's widow", ''The Times'', 23 November 1982, p. 2. One of the main issues in the

was the future of the chronically damp Hutchesontown E tower block in the constituency, although a debate called by the local residents' association drew few attendees. McElhone called for the block to be demolished and proper council houses built. McElhone told a public meeting that electing her would not give the constituency "an MP aiming for the top of the political tree", but instead a "Glasgow housewife determined to look out for her own folk".Warm welcome for Tony Benn
, ''Glasgow Herald'', 18 November 1982, p. 7. She was personally friendly with her Scottish National Party rival Peter Mallan, but a protest was entered on her behalf when he claimed that voters were disgruntled at her selection and that she was in a "fortunate position" compared with other widows. Reporters following the by-election noted that McElhone did not seek a sympathy vote. Although supported by

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...

, for whom her husband had worked as his Parliamentary Private Secretary, McElhone disclaimed the label of 'Bennite'. She supported separate

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

schools, and opposed

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

while supporting nationalisation and unilateral

nuclear disarmament Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space * Nuclea ...

Parliamentary career

On 2 December 1982 Queen's Park voters went to the polls; McElhone was elected with a majority of 5,694 votes over the Scottish National Party. She said that her victory was inevitably tinged with sadness, but was a triumphant night for the Labour Party. She made her maiden speech on 17 January 1983, in a debate on housing in Scotland, noting that her husband had chosen the same subject for his maiden speech. She criticised the past housing schemes in her constituency including the

Hutchesontown C Hutchesontown C was a Comprehensive Development Area (CDA) of an area of Hutchesontown, a district in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Its centrepiece were two Brutalist 20-storey slab blocks at 16-32 Queen Elizabeth Square, designed by Sir Basi ...

project by

Sir Basil Spence Sir Basil Urwin Spence, (13 August 1907 – 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Modern ...

, for which he had won awards but which had become uninhabitable owing to damp. At

Prime Minister's Questions Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs, officially known as Questions to the Prime Minister, while colloquially known as Prime Minister's Question Time) is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom, currently held as a single session every W ...

on 17 February 1983, she accused

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

of misleading women with a

confidence trick A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have ...

, and called for a June general election.

Boundary changes

Before McElhone was selected, it was known that boundary changes, due to take place at the following general election, would abolish the separate Glasgow Queen's Park constituency and merge the majority of it with parts of five others in the new Glasgow Central constituency. McElhone was determined to fight her corner, against Bob McTaggart (sitting MP for the old Glasgow Central constituency) and Jimmy Wray who insisted on his right to stand in the selection contest despite Labour Party rules rendering him ineligible. Wray was eventually ruled out, and McTaggart was regarded as the favourite as he benefited from the votes of Wray's supporters. McTaggart won, and McElhone did not stand at the 1983 general election.

Subsequent career

After her brief term in Parliament, McElhone fought for election to

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...

Regional Council in

Bellahouston Bellahouston ( gd, Baile Ùisdean, sco, Hughstoun) is a district in the southwest of Glasgow. It is bordered by Dumbreck, Ibrox, Pollokshields, Craigton. History Bellahouston Estate in the parish of Govan was purchased in 1726 by James Row ...

Mosspark Mosspark ( gd, Pàirc na Mòna) is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated south of the River Clyde, in the southwest of the city. History Mosspark and the lands of East and Mid-Henderston were incorporated into Glasgow in ...

division in a by-election in March 1985, and won with a majority of 1,632. She became vice-chairman of the Finance Committee in 1987, criticising the Government for reducing the rate support grant paid to councils. As a Regional councillor in 1989, McElhone pressed for the development of a sports and community centre on waste ground opposite

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox, Glasgow, Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers F.C., Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest List of foot ...

, persuading the council,

Rangers F.C. Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...

and the

Scottish Development Agency Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

to provide funding. She was mentioned as a possible Labour candidate for the Glasgow Central seat after the death of Robert McTaggart in March 1989, but decided not to run. McElhone was one of five 'experienced members' named by the Scottish Labour Party to sit on a panel vetting applications to be Labour candidates at the 1999 Scottish Parliament elections. Members of the panel had to be people who were not interested in themselves standing. She joined an 'action group' campaigning for the Dixon Community, a voluntary group helping the elderly lead independent lives, which was facing closure because of the costs of repairing its headquarters building. She was also a member of an independent panel appointed by the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

in 2000 to decide on an application by

Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...

to raise the roof of

Edinburgh Waverley railway station Edinburgh Waverley railway station (also known simply as Waverley; gd, Waverley Dhùn Èideann) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. It is the north ...

."Panel chosen for Waverley bid", ''Edinburgh Evening News'', 12 February 2000, p. 8.

References

External links

ITN news report
on the Queen's Park by-election, featuring Helen McElhone's victory speech {{DEFAULTSORT:McElhone, Helen 1933 births 2013 deaths Gorbals Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Scottish Labour MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Glasgow constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1979–1983 Scottish Labour councillors 20th-century Scottish women politicians 20th-century Scottish politicians Women councillors in Glasgow