Hilary Armstrong, Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top

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Hilary Armstrong, Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top

Hilary Jane Armstrong, Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top , PC (born November 30, 1945 in Sunderland ) is a British politician ( Labor Party ). She represented the constituency of North West Durham from 1987 to 2010 as a Member of the House of Commons .

life and career

Armstrong was in 1945 as a subsidiary of Labor - politician Ernest Armstrong and his wife Hannah P. Lamb in Sunderland born and attended the Monkwearmouth Grammar School , the West Ham College of Technology , where she with a Bachelor of Sciences (BSc) graduated, and the University of Birmingham , where she graduated in social work ( social work obtained).

Before entering politics, she worked in Kenya from 1967 to 1969 for the international development aid organization Voluntary Service Overseas (VOS) as a teacher at the Murray Girls' Head School in Mwatate . She later worked as a social worker in the Social Services Department of Newcastle upon Tyne City Council from 1970 to 1973 and in Sunderland from 1973 to 1975 as part of the Southwick Neighborhood Action Project . From 1975 to 1986 she was a university lecturer ( lecturer ) in community and youth work ( Community and Youth Work ) at the University of Sunderland . In 1985 she was first elected a member of Durham County Council for the Crook District and was a member until 1988.

For the constituency of Sedgefield , she first ran for election to the House of Commons in 1983 . She was defeated by Tony Blair . In the 1987 general election , she succeeded her father, for whom she had previously worked as a secretary and research assistant from 1986 to 1987, in his constituency of North West Durham and was able to increase his majority by 3,806 votes to 10,162 votes.

Membership in the House of Commons

Armstrong was the opposition spokesperson for education from 1988 to 1993 . In 1988 she was a member of the Education Select Committee . She was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Smith during his time as Labor chairman from 1992 to 1994 and played an important role in his successful struggle to introduce the One member one vote (OMOV) system at Labor Party conferences . Armstrong was a member of the Labor Party National Executive Committee from 1992 to 1994 and from 1996 to 2006.

From 1994 to 1995 she was opposition spokesperson for finance and economics, and from 1995 to 1997 for the environment and London . Also 1995 to 1997 she was Shadow Minister for Local Government ( Shadow Minister for Local Government ). Armstrong was seen as a center-right politician within the Labor Party and was politically close to Tony Blair and New Labor . She was, however, also a member of the Amicus - union (previously MSF ) and its trade union connections were useful in that they support the amendment of Clause IV sought the Labor Party program.

Armstrong served four years as Minister of State in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions from 1997 to 2001 ; From 1997 to 1999 she was responsible for Local Government and Housing , and later from 1999 to 2001 for Local Government and English Regions . In 1999 she became a member of the Privy Council .

After the 2001 general election , she was promoted to the Cabinet as Chief Whip . This was the culmination of a political career that was unremarkable but largely successful, though controversial due to membership in special committees and allegations of harsh tactics in dealing with Labor members who oppose military operations in Afghanistan . Armstrong was also criticized after the government defeated the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 and voted twice in the House of Commons in early 2006 on how long terror suspects can be detained without charge and legal regulations that could be viewed as inciting religious hatred suffered at the Religious Hatred Bill 2005 . Armstrong, in her function as Chief Whip, had misjudged the government majority for the laws in advance; It was also revealed that Tony Blair had left the meeting before the vote, after Armstrong had informed him that, due to a certain majority, he would not be required to be present at the vote. The rumors that she would resign, however, did not come true.

Shortly thereafter, Armstrong was ridiculed by then opposition leader David Cameron in a parliamentary debate with Tony Blair . Cameron said, "She will be the first Chief Whip in history to put the Prime Minister in the position of losing an important vote - which is an interesting career move." This was the second time Cameron had seen her during Prime Ministers Questions attack. When he made his debut as opposition leader on December 7, 2005, he said: “That's the problem with these exchanges, the Chief Whip on the Labor side screams like a kid. Is she done? Are you ready?"

On 5 May 2006 Armstrong became the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster , to the Minister of the Cabinet Office ( Minister for the Cabinet Office ) and the Minister for Social Exclusion appointed. 2006 launched Armstrong a petition for the Labor Party in the constituency Bethnal Green and Bow against the participation of the Respect -Abgeordneten George Galloway in the mission of Celebrity Big Brother on Channel 4 . She criticized Galloway for continuing to get paid as a MP while in the Big Brother house. Galloway responded by stating that he was planning to compensate the taxpayer after he moved out, since he did not know at this point how much MPs he would receive until he moved out.

Armstrong formally resigned from office on June 27, 2007 when Tony Blair resigned as Prime Minister. Gordon Brown , after becoming Prime Minister, announced her appointment as Chair of a Parliamentary Labor Party Manifesto Committee , which would develop party goals for the advancement of children. On July 4, 2009, she announced that she would no longer run for the 2010 general election.

Membership in the House of Lords

On June 18, 2010, she was named a Life Peer as Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top , of Crook in the County of Durham, and was officially inducted into the House of Lords on July 6, 2010 . She was assisted by Sally Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Huyton , and Leslie Griffiths . She gave her inaugural address on October 5, 2010.

On the website of the House of Lords, she states regional and global development, education , environmental policy , social exclusion and non-profit business enterprises ( social enterprises ) as her political interests . She mentions the Central African Republic , Kenya , South Africa , Tanzania and Uganda as countries of particular interest .

Further offices and memberships

Armstrong was Vice-Chair of the British Council from 1994 to 1997 . She is a member of the Advisory Board of the waste disposal company SITA UK and of the publishing house and event organizer GovNet Communications . Her rapid change after leaving politics to business to SITA UK , a waste management company that had received government contracts for waste disposal, aroused criticism from the public. During her time as Minister of State with responsibility for local government, Armstrong was able to exert a decisive influence on the system and regulations of waste disposal.

When NHS Foundation Trust of County Durham and Darlington is non-executive director . Armstrong is Chair of Community Energy Solutions and a Board Member at the Westminster Foundation for Democracy . She is also the Chair of the Tony Blair Sports Foundation and a member of the Trustee of the Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative (AGI), VSO International , Cyrenians (Tyneside and North East) and Emmaus UK .

Family and personal life

Armstrong has been married to the Labor politician and university professor Paul Corrigan (* 1948) since 1992 . Corrigan's appointment as personal adviser to Alan Milburn , the former Cabinet Secretary for Health ( Secretary of State for Health ) in 2001 brought Milburn accusations of nepotism one. The obligation Corrigan as an expert on the privatization of the public sector was also a reason for concern of Armstrong's colleagues from trade union circles .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Profile: Hilary Armstrong article on BBC News , May 5, 2006.
  2. ↑ Clause IV ( Memento of the original from May 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Text concordance at TheCitizen.org  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.thecitizen.org.uk
  3. ↑ Whips in turmoil as Blair's no-show castrates hate Bill Sunday Times article , February 1, 2006.
  4. ↑ Government suffers defeat over chaotic double bill to combat religious hatred article in: The Guardian , from 1 February, 2006.
  5. ↑ Blair to push ahead with reforms article on BBC News , July 1, 2006.
  6. ↑ He's in front of you, Tony article in The Guardian , December 7, 2005.
  7. ↑ Galloway: pledge to pay back taxpayers' money to cover absence BIG article in: Sunday Herald , January 15, 2005.
  8. ↑ Two North East MPs standing down BBC News article , July 4, 2009.
  9. ↑ Introduction: Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top Introduction to the House of Lords at theyworkforyou , debate of July 6, 2010
  10. ↑ House of Lords Business Introduction to the House of Lords on the British Parliament website
  11. ↑ Ex-minister for bins accused of selling out after getting job with top waste firm Daily Mail article , August 15, 2008
  12. ↑ Hilary Jane Armstrong, Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top on thepeerage.com , accessed August 20, 2015.
  13. ↑ Milburn is accused of cronyism over adviser Article by the Independent , June 29, 2001
personal data
SURNAME Armstrong, Hilary, Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Armstrong, Hilary Jane
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British politician (Labor), Member of the House of Commons
DATE OF BIRTH November 30, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Sunderland