Shirley Catherine Wynne Summerskill (born 9 September 1931) is a British Labour Party politician and former government minister, who served as the Member of Parliament for Halifax from 1964 to 1983.

Early life

Summerskill was born in London, the daughter of Dr E. Jeffrey Samuel and

Edith Summerskill Edith Clara Summerskill, Baroness Summerskill, (19 April 1901 – 4 February 1980) was a British physician, feminist, Labour politician and writer. She was appointed to the Privy Council in 1949. Early life Summerskill attended Eltham Hill ...

, the latter of whom became a Labour MP and a minister in Clement Attlee's government. Summerskill 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 ...

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 ...

, and trained as a doctor at St. Thomas's Hospital. She was a member of the executives of the

Socialist Medical Association The Socialist Health Association (SHA, called the Socialist Medical Association before May 1981) is a socialist medical association based in the United Kingdom. It is affiliated to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party as a Socialist society (Lab ...

and of the

Medical Practitioners' Union Doctors in Unite is a trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. It was formerly known as the Medical Practitioners' Union (MPU) before its affiliation with Unite (trade Union), Unite. Origin The union was founded as the Panel Medical Practi ...

. In the 1950s, Edith wrote a series of letters to her young daughter Shirley, ''Letters to My Daughter'' (1957), primarily concerned with their shared interest in women's rights.

Parliamentary career

After unsuccessfully contesting the

1962 Blackpool North by-election The by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Blackpool North, in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, was held on 13 March 1962. The by-election was called following the elevation to the peerage of the incumbent Toby Low, 1st Baro ...

, Summerskill was elected as Member of Parliament for Halifax in the 1964 general election. After being a Labour shadow minister for Health from 1970 to 1974, she served as a junior minister in 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 ...

throughout the 1974–79 Labour government, under two Home Secretaries,

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 ...

and

Merlyn Rees Merlyn Merlyn-Rees, Baron Merlyn-Rees, (né Merlyn Rees; 18 December 1920 – 5 January 2006) was a British Labour Party politician and Member of Parliament from 1963 until 1992. He served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1974–1 ...

. In 1980, she was interviewed by the BBC's ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

'' current affairs programme about Britain's preparations for a

nuclear attack Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can prod ...

. When Labour returned to opposition after the

Conservative 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 civiliza ...

victory at the 1979 general election, Summerskill became an opposition spokesperson on Home Affairs. She lost her seat at the 1983 general election to the Conservative Roy Galley.

Outside Parliament

Summerskill authored two novels, ''A Surgical Affair'' (1963) and ''Destined to Love'' (1986). In ''

Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...

'', she listed her recreations as music, reading and attending literature classes. She was Medical Officer for the Blood Transfusion Service from 1983 to 1991.

Personal life

Sumerskill married lawyer and future Labour MP John Ryman in 1957; they divorced in 1971. Her nephew,

Ben Summerskill Ben Jeffrey Peter Summerskill (born 6 October 1961) is chair of The Silver Line and director of the Criminal Justice Alliance, a consortium of 135 charities working across the GB criminal justice pathway. He was the chief executive of the UK- ...

, was chief executive of the UK gay equality charity Stonewall from 2003 to 2014.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Summerskill, Shirley 1931 births Living people Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 20th-century English medical doctors 20th-century British women politicians Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Daughters of life peers 20th-century English women 20th-century English people Spouses of British politicians