The Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 is an Act 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 ...
which allowed members of the public and press to attend meetings of certain public bodies. The Act is notable for having been initiated as a
private member's bill drawn up by
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
, and also for being introduced in a
maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.
Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
, a unique feat for successful legislation.
On 5 February 1960,
Thatcher's speech was delivered without notes, and was lauded as the best maiden speech amongst the
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 ...
new intake.
The Act was introduced primarily to prevent circumvention of rules prohibiting councils from excluding the press by calling a
Committee of the Whole
A committee of the whole is a meeting of a legislative or deliberative assembly using procedural rules that are based on those of a committee, except that in this case the committee includes all members of the assembly. As with other (standing) c ...
,
a tactic that had been used by
Labour-controlled councils during an industrial dispute in the printing industry in 1958. A similar bill had been introduced a number of years earlier by
Lionel Heald, who helped guide Thatcher through the legislative process.
References
External links
*
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1960
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