Annie Patricia Llewelyn-Davies, Baroness Llewelyn-Davies of Hastoe, (; 16 July 1915 – 6 November 1997), was a British Labour Party 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 ...

. In 1973 she became the first woman to take charge of a whip's office in either of the houses of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, and she served in the 1974 to 1979 Labour Government as

Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms The Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms is a post in the Government of the United Kingdom that has been held by the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the ...

(Government Chief Whip).

Early and personal life

Llewelyn-Davies was born in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

in 1915 to Charles Percy Parry and Sarah Gertrude Parry (née Hamilton). She studied at Wallasey High School, Birkenhead High School, Liverpool College, Huyton and

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status ...

. In 1934 she married Alexander Francis Rawdon Smith, a research physiologist; they had no children. After this marriage was dissolved, in 1943 she married Richard Llewelyn Davies, and their surname was hyphenated when Richard was elevated to the peerage as Lord Llewelyn-Davies. They had three daughters.

Political career

Llewelyn-Davies entered the civil service in 1940 and served in the

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport ...

, the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

, the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

and the

Commonwealth Relations Office The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations 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 Commo ...

. She resigned to contest the Wolverhampton South-West parliamentary seat for Labour during the 1951 general election, but was defeated by the incumbent

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell, (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, classical scholar, author, linguist, soldier, philologist, and poet. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974) and was Minister of Health (1 ...

. She subsequently unsuccessfully contested the Wandsworth Central seat in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

and

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 ...

, but didn't stand for parliament again. With support of those in the Wilson government and the backing of close friend

Richard Crossman Richard Howard Stafford Crossman (15 December 1907 – 5 April 1974) was a British Labour Party politician. A university classics lecturer by profession, he was elected a Member of Parliament in 1945 and became a significant figure among the ...

, who described her in his diaries as "the ''real'' politician" when her husband was elevated to the peerage, she was created a life peer as Baroness Llewelyn-Davies of Hastoe, of

Hastoe Hastoe (Halstowe or Halstoe in the 13th century) is a hamlet in the civil parish of Tring. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, 1.7m south of the town of Tring in the county of Hertfordshire and on the county boundary with Buckinghamshire. The hi ...

in the County of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

on 29 August 1967. She went on to serve as a Government whip in 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 ...

between 1969 and 1970, and as Opposition Deputy Chief Whip from 1972. In 1973 she was elected Chief Whip, becoming the first woman to take charge of a whip's office in either house. On the return of the Labour Party to government in 1974 she became

(Government Chief Whip). In 1975, she became 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 ...

. From 1979 to 1982 she was once again Opposition Chief Whip. From 1982 to 1987, she was Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords, an office carrying with it the role of Chairman of the European Communities Committee.

Death

She died on 6 November 1997, aged 82, in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

, at the home of former Conservative minister Lord Alport, who nursed her during the final years of her life. They sought solace in each other following the death of their partners, which developed into a love affair. They kept their relationship secret because she feared it would damage him politically, and she declined to marry him. Shortly after her death Alport met academic Mark Garnett, who was working for

Sir Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

on his memoirs, and he asked him to write his life story. Speaking to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Garnett said of the meeting: "He was wearing a black tie and he mentioned the recent death of a 'close friend'. ... It was only later that I realised that the light had gone out in his life."

References

External links

*
The Peerage website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Llewelyn-Davies of Hastoe, Pat Llewelyn-Davies, Baroness 1915 births 1997 deaths 20th-century British women politicians Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms Labour Party (UK) life peers Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 People from Birkenhead People from Colchester People from Dacorum (district) Spouses of life peers Civil servants in the Commonwealth Relations Office