Helene Valerie Hayman, Baroness Hayman, (''née'' Middleweek; born 26 March 1949) is a British politician who was

Lord Speaker The Lord Speaker is the presiding officer, chairman and highest authority of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons: the Lord Speaker is elected by the membe ...

of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

in 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 suprem ...

. As a member of the Labour Party she was 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 ...

from 1974 to 1979, and became a life peer in 1996. Outside politics, she has been involved in health issues, serving on medical

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

committees and the governing bodies of bodies in the

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 " ...

and health charities. In 2006, she won the inaugural election for the newly created position of

Early life, education and early career

The daughter of Maurice (a dentist) and Maude Middleweek, Hayman attended

Wolverhampton Girls' High School (Game Before the Prize) , established = 1911 , closed = , type = Grammar school;academy , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = Headteacher , head = Trudi Young , r_head = , cha ...

and read law at

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

, graduating in 1969; she was President of the

Cambridge Union Society The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1815, it is the oldest continuously running debati ...

in 1969. She worked for

Shelter Shelter is a small building giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger. Shelter may also refer to: Places * Port Shelter, Hong Kong * Shelter Bay (disambiguation), various locations * Shelter Cove (disambiguation), various locatio ...

from 1969 to 1971, and for the Social Services Department at the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and ...

from 1971 to 74, when she was named Deputy Director of the National Council for One-Parent Families.Helene Hayman profile at ''Who's Who 2009'', A & C Black.

Personal life

She married Martin Heathcote Hayman (born 20 December 1942) in 1974; they have four sons.

Political career

She participated on William F. Buckley's ''Firing Line'' television programs in January 1972 as a member of a panel discussing "The Irish Problem" and featuring then-MP

Bernadette Devlin McAliskey Josephine Bernadette McAliskey (née Devlin; born 23 April 1947), usually known as Bernadette Devlin or Bernadette McAliskey, is an Irish civil rights leader, and former politician. She served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Ulster in Nort ...

. and again on the 20th August 1973 episode with

Malcolm Muggeridge Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (24 March 1903 – 14 November 1990) was an English journalist and satirist. His father, H. T. Muggeridge, was a socialist politician and one of the early Labour Party Members of Parliament (for Romford, in Essex). In ...

on the theme "Has America Had It?". She contested the

Wolverhampton South West Wolverhampton South West is a constituency created in 1950 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Stuart Anderson of the Conservative Party. It was represented by the Conservative Party for 47 years after its ...

constituency in the February 1974 election. She was elected as the

for Welwyn and Hatfield in the October 1974 general election. On her election, she was the youngest member of 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 ...

, remaining the "

Baby of the House Baby of the House is the unofficial title given to the youngest member of a parliamentary house. The term is most often applied to members of the British parliament from which the term originated. The title is named after the Father of the Hous ...

" until the by-election victory of Andrew MacKay in 1977. She was the first woman to

breastfeed Breastfeeding, or nursing, is the process by which human breast milk is fed to a child. Breast milk may be from the breast, or may be expressed by hand or pumped and fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that brea ...

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 ...

. She lost her seat, a marginal, to the

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 in ...

Christopher Murphy at the 1979 general election. She was a member of the Bloomsbury Health Authority (later Bloomsbury and Islington Health Authority) from 1985 to 1992, and its Vice-Chair from 1988 onwards. She served on the ethics committees of the Royal College of Gynaecologists from 1982 to 1997, and of the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

and

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lond ...

from 1987 to 1997. From 1992 to 1997, she was a member of the Council of University College, London, and chair of

Whittington Hospital Whittington Hospital is a district general and teaching hospital of UCL Medical School and Middlesex University School of Health and Social Sciences. Located in Upper Holloway, it is managed by Whittington Health NHS Trust, operating as Whittin ...

NHS Trust An NHS trust is an organisational unit within the National Health Services of England and Wales, generally serving either a geographical area or a specialised function (such as an ambulance service). In any particular location there may be several ...

. Hayman was made a life peer on 2 January 1996, and took the title Baroness Hayman, of

Dartmouth Park Dartmouth Park is a district of north west London in the Borough of Camden, north of Charing Cross. The area adjoins Highgate and Highgate Cemetery (to the north) and Kentish Town (to the south). Parliament Hill is to the west. The nearest Un ...

in the

. After the Labour Party won the 1997 general election, she served as a junior minister in the Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions and the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

, before being appointed

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 ...

at the

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

in July 1999. She became a member of the Privy Council in 2001, but left political office the same year to become chairman of

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

(2001–2005). She became chair of the

Human Tissue Authority The Human Tissue Authority (HTA) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom. It regulates the removal, storage, use and disposal of human bodies, organs and tissue for a number ...

in 2005. She was a Trustee of the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

(2002–2006) and of the Tropical Health and Education Trust (2005–2006). She was a member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in 2005–2006. She was a member of the Lords Select Committee on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill, 2004–2005, and of the Lords Constitution Committee, 2005–2006.

Lord Speaker

In May 2006, after the position of

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

in the

was separated from the office of

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

as part of the reforms under the

Constitutional Reform Act 2005 The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c 4) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, relevant to UK constitutional law. It provides for a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to take over the previous appellate jurisdiction of the Law L ...

, she was one of nine candidates to be put forward for the new role of

. She was nominated as a candidate by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and seconded by Lord Walton of Detchant. Her narrow victory in the election was announced on 4 July 2006 and she became the first ever Lord Speaker. On her election,

Lord McNally Thomas McNally, Baron McNally, PC (born 20 February 1943) is a British politician and a former Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. Early life McNally was born in Blackpool. A Catholic of Irish descent, he attended St J ...

, the

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

leader in the House of Lords, called her the " Julie Andrews of British politics". Like the Speaker in the House of Commons, but unlike the

who was also a judge and a government minister, the Lord Speaker resigns party membership and outside interests to concentrate on being an impartial presiding officer. On 2 March 2011, Hayman gave a lecture to the Mile End Group in the Attlee Suite of Portcullis House. This was the third in a lecture series to commemorate the 1911 Parliament Act. On 9 May 2011, Hayman announced that she would not seek re-election for a second term as Lord Speaker; her successor was

Baroness D'Souza Frances Gertrude Claire D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza, (''née'' Russell; born 18 April 1944) is a British scientist and politician. She held the office of Lord Speaker from 1 September 2011 to 31 August 2016. Early life, education and early career ...

Honours and awards

*Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to the House of Lords. *On 21 September 2010: copy of the key of the city of

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

on a visit to Albania at the invitation of the Speaker of the Albanian Parliament. * Honorary Fellow,

References

External links

A lecture on House of Lords reform delivered by Baroness Hayman
at the

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

Offices held

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayman, Helene 1949 births Living people People from Wolverhampton Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers Labour Friends of Israel Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Crossbench life peers Presidents of the Cambridge Union UK MPs 1974–1979 Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge People educated at Wolverhampton Girls' High School Lords Speaker 20th-century British women politicians 20th-century English women 20th-century English people