Constance Mary Hart, Baroness Hart of South Lanark, (née Ridehalgh; 18 September 19247 December 1991), known as Dame Judith Hart, was a British
Labour Party politician. She served as a government minister during the 1960s and 1970s before entering the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
in 1988.
Early life and education
Hart was born on 18 September 1924 in
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
, Lancashire, England.
Her mother died when she was eleven years old; a year later, she adopted the name Judith on a train to London. She was educated at
Clitheroe Royal Grammar School
; "Founded on Rock"
, established =
, closed =
, type = Grammar school;Academy
, religious_affiliation =
, president =
, head_label = Headteacher
, head = James Keulemans
, r_head_label = Deputy He ...
, the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
and the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
.
Political career
After joining the
Labour Party aged 18, Hart was unsuccessful Labour candidate for
Bournemouth West in 1951. She stood again in
Aberdeen South in 1955 in "The Battle of the Housewives" but lost to
Lady Tweedsmuir. She was elected as member for
Lanark
Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...
in 1959, winning by 700 votes after she arranged postal votes for displaced miners. She held the seat until 1983. Thereafter she sat for
Clydesdale Clydesdale is an archaic name for Lanarkshire, a traditional county in Scotland. The name may also refer to:
Sports
* Clydesdale F.C., a former football club in Glasgow
* Clydesdale RFC, Glasgow, a former rugby union club
* Clydesdale RFC, South ...
until 1987.
She held ministerial office as joint Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland is a junior ministerial post (of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State rank) in the Government of the United Kingdom, supporting the Secretary of State for Scotland. The post is also know ...
from 1964 to 1966,
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...
,
Commonwealth Office
The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs was a British Cabinet minister responsible for dealing with the United Kingdom's relations with members of the Commonwealth of Nations (its former colonies). The minister's department was the Common ...
(1966–1967),
Minister of Social Security (1967–68),
Paymaster-General
His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The incumbent Paymaster General is Jeremy Quin MP.
History
The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the posit ...
(with a seat in the Cabinet) from 1968 to 1969, and as
Minister of Overseas Development
The minister of state for development and Africa, formerly the minister of state for development and the secretary of state for international development, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom.
The off ...
from 1969 to 1970, 1974 to 1975 (when she resigned) and 1977 to 1979. In so doing, she became the fifth woman to have been included in a government cabinet in the history of Britain. She was also the first female Paymaster-General in Britain.
In opposition, Hart was frontbench spokesman on overseas aid from 1970 to 1974 and 1979 to 1980. Her views were often controversial and in 1972 she was mailed a bomb over her controversial work with the Labour Party's Southern African Liberation Fund. In 1974, when Labour returned to power, Hart was nearly passed over for a ministerial post due to her and her husband's connections to communism. Prime Minister
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
eventually decided to appoint her as Minister of Overseas Development, but she was never again appointed to Cabinet due to security concerns.
A trained sociologist, Hart frequently spoke and wrote on international development. She wrote several books, including ''Aid and Liberation: A Socialist Study of Aid Politics'', which she published in 1973. In 1979, Hart developed a plan to redistribute British aid to prioritise the poorest countries, but Wilson disagreed with her approach, as it conflicted with diplomatic and trade priorities. He attempted to demote her to a post in the Department for Transport; Hart resigned in protest.
She was Co-Chairman of the
Women's National Commission
The Women's National Commission (often shortened to WNC) was an advisory non-departmental public body (NDPB) set up in 1969 by former Prime Minister Harold Wilson to advise the United Kingdom's government on women's views, and to act as an umbrell ...
(appointed by the government) from 1969 to 1970. Within the Labour Party she was a member of the
National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties:
* National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa
* Australian Labor Party National Executive
* Nationa ...
from 1969 to 1983, serving as Vice-Chairman in 1980–81, and as Chairman in 1981–82. She was appointed a
Privy Counsellor
The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the British monarchy, sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises Politics of the United King ...
in 1967, and appointed a
DBE in 1979.
On 8 February 1988, she was 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 ...
, as Baroness Hart of South Lanark, of Lanark in the County of
Lanark
Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...
.
Personal life
She met her husband, Dr Anthony Bernard Hart (always known as Tony), at an Association of Scientific Workers meeting. They married in 1946 and had two sons. He was also politically active, but when they were both selected as candidates for the Labour party in 1959, he withdrew his candidacy to support her campaign.
The family relocated to London in 1961 to allow Hart more family time. When Hart was appointed Minister of State for Commonwealth Affairs in 1966, her mother-in-law moved in to help with the children.
According to her son, Hart was a functional alcoholic and smoked 60 cigarettes a day.
Death
She died of bone cancer at the
Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton
Queen Mary's Hospital, formerly Queen Mary's Convalescent Auxiliary Hospitals, is a community hospital in Roehampton in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is run by St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The hosp ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, in 1991, aged 67.
Titles and honours
* Miss Judith Ridehalgh (1936–1946)
* Mrs Judith Hart (1946–1959)
* Judith Hart MP (1959–1967)
* The Rt. Hon. Judith Hart MP (1967–1979)
* The Rt. Hon. Dame Judith Hart DBE MP (1979–1988)
* The Rt. Hon. The Baroness Hart of South Lanark DBE PC (1988–1991)
References
Sources
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart of South Lanark, Judith Hart, Baroness
1924 births
1991 deaths
Deaths from cancer in England
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
Scottish Labour MPs
Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
United Kingdom Paymasters General
Hart, Judith
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Alumni of the London School of Economics
Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II
Labour Party (UK) life peers
People from Burnley
People from Lanark
UK MPs 1959–1964
UK MPs 1964–1966
UK MPs 1966–1970
UK MPs 1970–1974
UK MPs 1974
UK MPs 1974–1979
UK MPs 1979–1983
UK MPs 1983–1987
Female members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom
People educated at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School
Chairs of the Labour Party (UK)
20th-century Scottish women politicians
20th-century Scottish politicians
Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970