Eirene Lloyd White, Baroness White (née Jones; 7 November 1909 – 23 December 1999) was a British Labour politician and journalist.

Early life

White was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, the daughter of Dr Thomas Jones, commonly known as "TJ", a noted civil servant, educationalist and friend of the establishment. She was educated at

St Paul's Girls' School St Paul's Girls' School is a private day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in west London, England. The school is included in The Schools Index as one of the world's 150 best private schools and among top ...

, London, and

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

, where she read

Philosophy, Politics and Economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...

. She spent a year in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

before working for the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

. Back in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, she studied housing policies and the problems of the homeless.

Career

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, White joined the

Women's Voluntary Service The Royal Voluntary Service (known as the Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) from 1938 to 1966; Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) from 1966 to 2004 and WRVS from 2004 to 2013) is a voluntary organisation concerned with helping people in need ...

and became Welsh Regional Secretary. She was recruited by the

Ministry of Labour A ministry of labour ('' UK''), or labor ('' US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, and s ...

to help with the training of workers in Wales, particularly women, for the war effort. She also worked as a civil servant at the

Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

until 1945 and after the War as a political correspondent for both the ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...

'' and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. In 1948, she married fellow

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

lobby correspondent John Cameron White. White stood in the 1945 general election in

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

without success. She was elected a member of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee in the women's section in 1947. She was elected Labour MP for East Flint in 1950, one of the first female MPs in Wales. An early

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...

encouraged the government to relax

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

laws. Annoyed by fights between left and right, she stepped down from the NEC in 1953 but returned in 1959 until 1972. When Labour came to power 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 ...

in 1964, White became parliamentary under-secretary at the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America (particularly the Thirteen Colo ...

, in 1966

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 ...

for

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

and in 1967 Minister of State at the

Welsh Office The Welsh Office () was a department in the Government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Wales. It was established in April 1965 to execute government policy in Wales, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Wales, a post wh ...

for three years. White managed to hang on to her marginal constituency for 20 years, at one election by just 72 votes. White served as chairman of the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

and of the Labour Party NEC 1968–9. She was a governor of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

and a member of the board of Trade Films Council. In 1970, she retired from the House of Commons and was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

on 12 October 1970 taking the title Baroness White, ''of

Rhymney Rhymney (; ) is a town and a community (Wales), community in the county borough of Caerphilly (county borough), Caerphilly, South Wales. It is within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshir ...

in the County of Monmouth''. Later posts included president of Coleg Harlech and governor of the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales (, ) in Aberystwyth is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the l ...

. She was chairman of the Land Authority for Wales (1976–80), deputy chairman of the

Metrication Board The Metrication Board was a non-departmental public body that existed in the United Kingdom to promote and co-ordinate Metrication in the UK, metrication within the country. It was set up in 1969, four years after the metrication programme was a ...

(1972–76), and a member of the

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

on Environment Pollution (1974–81). She was Deputy Speaker of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

from 1979 to 1989. She was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Laws) from the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

in 1983. On 10 June 2022, a

purple plaque The Purple Plaques () scheme in Wales, UK aims to install plaques on buildings to increase recognition of the lives of women who have had a significant and long-lasting impact associated with Wales. The scheme was initiated by several members of ...

was unveiled at

Flint Town Hall Flint Town Hall () is a municipal structure in the Market Square, Flint, Flintshire, Wales. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Flint Town Council, is a Grade II listed building. History The first municipal building in Flint was a ha ...

in her honour, recognizing the fact that she was one of the first three women to represent Wales in the UK Parliament, and indeed Wales's only female MP for ten years.

Personal life

In 1948, she married fellow

lobby correspondent John Cameron White (1911–1968). They had no children.

Death

She died, aged 90, in

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; , , archaically , ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a "Gateway to Wales"; it is approximately from the England–Wales border, border with England and is loca ...

. A viewfinder monument was erected on the summit of Allt yr Esgair 393 metres/1290 feet (Grid Ref SO126243).

References

External links

* * https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/dec/27/guardianobituaries Obituary in The Guardian
Eirene White Papers
at the

Eirene White
at the

Dictionary of Welsh Biography The ''Dictionary of Welsh Biography'' (DWB) (also ''The Dictionary of Welsh Biography Down to 1940'' and ''The Dictionary of Welsh Biography, 1941 to 1970'') is a biographical dictionary of Welsh people who have made a significant contribution to ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Eirene 1909 births 1999 deaths 20th-century British women politicians Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Chairs of the Fabian Society Chairs of the Labour Party (UK) Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Welsh constituencies White, Eirene White, Baroness Members of the Fabian Society Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 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 Welsh Labour MPs 20th-century British journalists Governors of the British Film Institute