Margaret McCrorie Herbison (11 March 1907 – 29 December 1996) was a
Scottish Labour politician who was
Minister of Social Security from 1964 to 1967.
Early life
Herbison was born on 11 March 1907 in
Shotts
Shotts is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located almost halfway between Glasgow () and Edinburgh (). The village has a population of about 8,840. A local story has Shotts being named after the legendary giant highwayman Bertra ...
, Lanarkshire to Maria Jane McCrorie and John Herbison, a coal miner.
She was schooled at Dykehead primary school and
Bellshill Academy. She attended the
University of Glasgow
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, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
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graduating with an
MA in English in 1928. While at university she chaired its Labour Party branch.
From 1930 to 1945 Herbison worked as a teacher of English and history at Maryhill primary school and
Alan Glen's secondary school, both in Glasgow. She also worked as an economics tutor at the
National Council of Labour Colleges The National Council of Labour Colleges (NCLC) was an organisation set up in the United Kingdom to foster independent working class education.
The organisation was founded at a convention held in the Clarion Club House, Yardley, Birmingham on 8/9 ...
, and served on the Miners' Welfare Commission. During this time she was active in local Labour politics.
Political career
After the death of her father in the coalmine in which he worked, his miners' lodge nominated her as a candidate for the North Lanarkshire constituency. She won the nomination, and subsequently took the seat at the
General Election of 1945 from the Conservative
Sir William Anstruther Grey.
In government, she held office as Joint Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from 1950 to 1951, as
Minister of Pensions and National Insurance from 1964 to 1966, and as
Minister of Social Security from 1966 to 1967. She was opposition spokesperson on Scotland (1951–1956, 1959–1962), Education (1956–1959), and Pensions (1958–1959 and 1962–1964).
She was a Member of Labour
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 ...
, and Labour Party Chairman in 1957. In 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 ...
, she was Chairman of Select Committee on Overseas Aid in 1969–70. She was a British delegate to the
Council of Europe, and is believed to be the only woman - among 101 members - to attend the very first sitting of the Council's
Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg in August 1949.
Personal life
A lifelong member of the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...
, from 1970 to 1971 she became the first woman to serve as
.
In 1970 the University of Glasgow awarded her an honorary degree.
In 1970 she was named 'Scotswoman of the Year'.
She died of cancer on 29 December 1996 at St Mary's Hospital, Lanark.
References
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External links
*
Parliamentary Archives, Papers of Margaret Herbison MP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herbison, Peggy
1907 births
1996 deaths
People from Shotts
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
Scottish Labour MPs
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
UK MPs 1945–1950
UK MPs 1950–1951
UK MPs 1951–1955
UK MPs 1955–1959
UK MPs 1959–1964
UK MPs 1964–1966
UK MPs 1966–1970
Lords High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Chairs of the Labour Party (UK)
20th-century Scottish women politicians
20th-century Scottish politicians
Deaths from cancer in Scotland
Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951
Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970
People educated at Bellshill Academy
Politicians from North Lanarkshire