Lena May Jeger, Baroness Jeger (''née'' Chivers; 19 November 1915 – 26 February 2007) was a British Labour MP during two periods. She followed her husband as Member of Parliament for Holborn and St Pancras South, holding the seat from 1953 to 1959. She retook the seat in 1964, retaining it until 1979, when she became 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 ...

Early life

She was born Lena May Chivers in

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms ...

, Middlesex. Her father was a

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. She was educated at Southgate County School in north London, and read English and French at

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public research university located in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. Established in 1823 as the London Mechanics' ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. She was vice-president of the National Union of Students. She joined the civil service in 1936, initially in HM Customs & Excise. During the Second World War she worked at the Ministry of Information and the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

. A fluent Russian speaker, she edited the ''British Ally'', a newspaper published by the British government in the Soviet Union. She also worked at the British Embassy in Moscow. In 1948, she married Dr Santo Jeger, a

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

by profession, who had been Member of Parliament for St Pancras South East since the 1945 UK general election. She left the civil service in 1949, and worked for ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' from 1951 to 1954.

Political career

Jeger was elected to the St. Pancras Borough Council (1945–59) and the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

(1952–55), on which she represented Holborn and St Pancras South. Her husband died in 1953 and she was selected as Labour's candidate in the resultant by-election in Holborn and St Pancras South. She won the by-election, held on her birthday, by 1,976 votes, slightly increasing the Labour majority. She just retained her seat at the 1955 general election by 931 votes, but lost the seat to the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

in the 1959 general election by 656 votes, losing to

Geoffrey Johnson-Smith Sir Geoffrey Johnson-Smith, (16 April 1924 – 11 August 2010) was a British Conservative politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1959 to 2001, with only a brief interruption in the 1960s. He was also a television presenter. Ear ...

. After a period working for ''The Guardian'', she regained her seat in the 1964 general election. The seat was renamed Camden, Holborn and St Pancras South in 1974, and she retained it until the 1979 general election. Despite the Conservative election victory, her seat was retained by Labour's

Frank Dobson Frank Gordon Dobson (15 March 1940 – 11 November 2019) was a British Labour Party politician. As Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St. Pancras from 1979 to 2015, he served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Health from 1997 ...

. Jeger served on the Labour Party's National Executive Committee from 1968 until 1980, becoming chair in 1979. Following her retirement from the House of Commons she was created a

as Baroness Jeger, ''of St Pancras in

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

'', on 11 July 1979. In 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 ...

, she served as opposition spokesman on health, and then on social security. She was chairman of the party in 1979 to 1980, and was the first peer to take the chair at the Labour party conference, at Blackpool in September 1980. She continued to write occasional pieces for ''The Guardian'' from 1964 to 2003, particularly obituaries. Frank Dobson said of her career, "She pursued causes which may have become fashionable now, but were highly controversial when she espoused them." Jeger believed that MPs should "give a lead to public opinion and not always follow it."

Death

Lena Jeger suffered from poor health in her last years. She was treated at the

Royal Marsden Hospital The Royal Marsden Hospital is a specialist National Health Service oncology hospital in London based at two sites in Brompton, in Kensington and Chelsea, and Belmont in Sutton. It is managed by The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and supp ...

for cancer, and was granted a

leave of absence The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they ar ...

from the

. She died from breast cancer at a nursing home in

Haywards Heath Haywards Heath ( ) is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, ...

, aged 91, on 26 February 2007. She had no children.

References

External links

Catalogue of the Jeger papers
at th

of the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeger, Lena 1915 births 2007 deaths 20th-century English journalists 20th-century English women politicians 21st-century English journalists Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London British civil servants Chairs of the Labour Party (UK) Civil servants in HM Customs and Excise Civil servants in the Ministry of Information (United Kingdom) Deaths from breast cancer in England Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Members of London County Council Members of St Pancras Metropolitan Borough Council People educated at Southgate School People from Wood Green The Guardian journalists UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 Women councillors in England Obituary writers