Margaret Christian Jay, Baroness Jay ( Garnett; 4 January 1913 – 21 January 2008) was an English

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Education and professional life

As a young girl, Garnett attended

St Paul's Girls' School St Paul's Girls' School is an independent day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England. History St Paul's Girls' School was founded by the Worshipful Company of Mercers in 1904, using part o ...

in London, where she befriended

Shiela Grant Duff Shiela Grant Duff (11 May 1913 – 19 March 2004) was a British author, journalist and foreign correspondent. She was known for her opposition to appeasement before the Second World War. Early years The youngest daughter of Adrian Grant Du ...

. She studied economics at

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

, from 1931 to 1933, when she married

Douglas Jay Douglas Patrick Thomas Jay, Baron Jay, PC (23 March 1907 – 6 March 1996) was a British Labour Party politician. Early life Educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford, Jay won the Chancellor's English Essay in 1927 and gained a ...

, who had tutored her in preparation for her Oxford University entrance exams. Joining the Labour Party, she was recruited by

Herbert Morrison Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, (3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965) was a British politician who held a variety of senior positions in the UK Cabinet as member of the Labour Party. During the inter-war period, he was Mini ...

to be a candidate for the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

(LCC); from 1934, she represented Hackney South, then Battersea South, and finally Battersea North. Later, she was elected to the new

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

before losing her seat in 1967. She remained involved in local politics, as chair of the Heath and Old Hampstead Society from 1967 to 1989, and president from 1993-2004, work she described as "the most worthwhile and satisfying in my life." On her death, she was described by a local newspaper as the "uncrowned queen of Hampstead". She left the Labour Party in 1981 for the newly formed

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 ...

, rejoining only after

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

became Prime Minister. She was the last survivor of the "

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

middle-class Labour grandes dames" whom Morrison had groomed to take over the LCC.

Family

She married politician Douglas Jay in 1933, aged 20. They had four children, but the marriage ended in divorce. A son, Peter Jay, is a journalist, leading economist and a former

British Ambassador to the United States The British Ambassador to the United States is in charge of the British Embassy, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to the United States. The official title is His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of America. T ...

. Peter Jay was married Margaret Callaghan, the daughter of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party

Jim Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...

, who went onto become

Leader of the House of Lords The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the majority party in the House of Lords who acts as ...

and

Minister for Women and Equalities The minister for women and equalities is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom which leads the Government Equalities Office. This is an independent department within the wider Cabinet Office that has responsibility for addressing all fo ...

under Tony Blair. Their twin daughters, Helen and Catherine, achieved a fashionable profile in the 1960s. At one time her son-in-law, married to Helen, was

Rupert Pennant-Rea Rupert Lascelles Pennant-Rea (born 23 January 1948) is a British businessman, journalist, and former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. He was Editor and later Chairman of The Economist Group. Early life The son of Peter Athelwold and Pa ...

, a former

deputy Governor of the Bank of England A Deputy Governor of the Bank of England is the holder of one of a small number of senior positions at the Bank of England, reporting directly to the Governor. According to the original charter of 27 July 1694 the Bank's affairs would be supervise ...

. Her niece is Virginia Bottomley, Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone, a

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 ...

politician and life peer. Her nephew is Lord Hunt of Chesterton, and her great-nephew is

Tristram Hunt Tristram Julian William Hunt, (born 31 May 1974) is a British historian, broadcast journalist and former politician who has been Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum since 2017. He served as the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Stoke ...

, former

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 ...

for Stoke-on-Trent Central and

Shadow Secretary of State for Education The Shadow Secretary of State for Education, also called the Shadow Education Secretary, is an office in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet responsible for Opposition policy on education and for holding the Secretary of State for Education, ...

, and now

Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum The Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum is the head of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, a post currently held by Tristram Hunt, who succeeded Martin Roth (museologist), Martin Roth, who died in August 2017, months after he announce ...

External links

The Papers of Peggy Jay
at th
Churchill Archives Centre

References

1913 births 2008 deaths Labour Party (UK) councillors Members of London County Council Members of the Fabian Society Members of the Greater London Council Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford People educated at St Paul's Girls' School Place of birth missing Place of death missing Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians Spouses of life peers Women councillors in England {{England-politician-stub