Baroness Betty Boothroyd Biography
Betty Boothroyd was born in Dewsbury to poor working class parents. Her early life were unremarkable - she failed her 11 plus, and her father's unemployment during Great Depression made life difficult. The experience of growing up in the great depression had an influence on her later Socialist politics.
Her first career direction was in the opposite direction to that of a life in politics. With the encouragement of her father, Betty Boothroyd trained to be a dancer and gained employment, briefly appearing in the London Palladium in 1946. However, a foot infection brought an end to her dancing career, so she returned to her native Yorkshire with few prospects to speak of.
She became interested in local Labour politics and over time became Yorkshire's representative on the National committee for the Labour league of youth. In 1952, she won a prize by Dennis Healey for speaking.
After many failed election bids, she finally won a seat to parliament in 1973, winning the seat of West Bromwich. In 1992, she was elected speaker of the House of Commons with a landslide majority. She soon gained respect on both sides of the house for her fair mindedness and adherence to Parliamentary tradition. She managed to combine authority with a fairness and gentleness.
Since 2005, she has been the chancellor of Open University . In 1995, she was awarded an honorary degree from Oxford University at the same time as Bradford born David Hockney.