Alice Martha Bacon, Baroness Bacon, (10 September 1909 – 24 March 1993) was a British Labour Party politician born in

Normanton, West Yorkshire Normanton is a town in the civil parish of Normanton and Altofts, in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Wakefield and south-west of Castleford. The civil parish extends west and north to the River Calder, W ...

Early life and education

Bacon's father was secretary of the Whitwood branch of the National Union of Mineworkers and the family joined in local campaigns to alleviate poverty. She was educated at Normanton Girls' High School and Stockwell Teachers' Training College, before becoming a schoolteacher.

Political career

At the age of 16, Bacon delivered her first political speech, and she joined the Labour Party around the same time. In 1935, she became as Labour's

League of Youth The Labour League of Youth (LLY) was the youth organisation of the British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party from 1926 to 1960,Barberis, Peter; McHugh, John; Tyldesley, Mike. ''Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Gr ...

delegate to the Socialist Youth International Conference. Bacon was active in the

National Union of Teachers The National Union of Teachers (NUT; ) was a trade union for school teachers in Education in England, England, Education in Wales, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It was a member of the Trades Union Congress. In March 2017, NU ...

and became president of its West Yorkshire division in 1944. In 1938, Bacon was selected as the candidate for

Leeds North East Leeds North East is a constituency which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Fabian Hamilton of the Labour Party. Boundaries 1918–1950: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Crossgates, Roundhay, ...

, for which she became the MP in the 1945 general election, as the city's first woman MP. When constituency boundaries were revised for the 1955 general election, she transferred to Leeds South East constituency and served it as MP until she retired in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. Bacon was on the Labour Party's National Executive Committee from 1941 until 1970, and chaired it in 1950–1951. In the

1953 Coronation Honours The 1953 Coronation Honours were appointments by Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours on the occasion of her coronation on 2 June 1953. The honours were published in '' The London Gazette'' on 1 June 1953.New Zealand list: The rec ...

she was appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. When Labour returned to government under

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

's leadership in 1964, Bacon became a

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

at the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

up to 1967, serving under

Frank Soskice Frank Soskice, Baron Stow Hill, (23 July 1902 – 1 January 1979) was a British lawyer and Labour Party politician. Background and education Soskice was born in Geneva on 23 July 1902. His father was the exiled Jewish-Russian revolutionary ...

and

Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician and writer who served as the sixth President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliamen ...

in a period of liberalising reforms. She was appointed to the Privy Council in 1966. From 1967 to 1970 she was Minister of State at the

Department of Education and Science An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, where she campaigned for

comprehensive education Comprehensive may refer to: * Comprehensive layout, the page layout of a proposed design as initially presented by the designer to a client. *Comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, th ...

. On her retirement from the House of Commons, Bacon was created on 14 October 1970 Baroness Bacon ''of the

City of Leeds Leeds, also known as the City of Leeds, is a metropolitan borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Gar ...

and of Normanton in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

''. The

Leeds West Leeds West was a borough constituency covering the western part of the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire which was represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one M ...

Rachel Reeves Rachel Jane Reeves (born 13 February 1979) is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds West and Pudsey, formerly Leed ...

published '' Alice in Westminster: The Political Life of Alice Bacon'' in 2019 (

I.B. Tauris I.B. Tauris is an educational publishing house and imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. It was an independent publishing house with offices in London and New York City until its purchase in May 2018 by Bloomsbury Publishing. It specialises in non- ...

). Reeves writes of Bacon that she "was a pioneer in the world of education and politics whose success was founded on her determination to stay true to her working-class roots and the people she came into politics to serve", and that her commitment to comprehensive education was especially praiseworthy.

Memorial

Leeds Civic Trust Leeds Civic Trust is a voluntary organisation and registered charity established in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England in 1965. Affiliated to the national charity Civic Trust (England), Civic Voice, its stated purpose is "to stimulate public interes ...

Blue Plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

was unveiled by Rachel Reeves in 2019 in

Leeds Corn Exchange The Leeds Corn Exchange is a shopping mall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The structure, which was commissioned as a corn exchange, is a grade I listed building. History The first corn exchange in Leeds was located at the north end of Brig ...

Since 2018 the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

holds an annual Alice Bacon Lecture to celebrate pioneering and strong women. These have been given by

Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman, Baroness Harman, (born 30 July 1950), is a British politician and solicitor who served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Chair of the Labour Party (UK), Chair of the Labour Pa ...

(2018),

Baroness Hale of Richmond Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight, ...

(2019), (2020 not given due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

), Baroness

Doreen Lawrence Doreen Delceita Lawrence, Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon, (; born 1952 in Jamaica), is a British Jamaican campaigner and the mother of Stephen Lawrence, a black British teenager who was murdered in a racist attack in South East London in 1993. ...

(2021), Mary Beard (2022), Dame Sharon White (2023). The lecture was set up and hosted by a collaboration of

and the University's Centre for Democratic Politics (previously School of Politics and International Studies). In 2018 Baroness Bacon Beer was served on tap at

Strangers' Bar The Strangers' Bar is one of several bars in the Palace of Westminster, the home of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, situated near the House of Commons. It is open to Members of Parliament and officers of Parliament, their guests, and mem ...

for a week.

References

External links

*
Alice Bacon
at th
Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics
* * __FORCETOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon, Alice Baroness Bacon 1909 births 1993 deaths 20th-century British women politicians Chairs of the Labour Party (UK) Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers Leeds Blue Plaques Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 Politicians from Normanton, West Yorkshire 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 UK MPs who were granted peerages Labour Party (UK) councillors 20th-century English women 20th-century English politicians Women councillors in England