Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby (2014)

Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby , CH , PC (born July 27, 1930 in London - † April 12, 2021 ) was a British politician ( Liberal Democrats ), lecturer and author .

Live and act

Shirley Vivien Teresa Brittain Catlin was the daughter of the political scientist and philosopher Sir George Catlin (1896-1979) and his wife, the writer and journalist Vera Brittain (1893-1970). Shirley Williams had an older brother, John Edward Jocelyn Brittain Catlin (1927-1987).

In 1955 she married the British philosopher Bernard Williams , who held professorships at various universities in Great Britain and the USA and was knighted in 1999. They had a daughter (Rebecca) who is a lawyer and has two sons. The marriage was divorced in 1974. In 1987 she married Harvard professor Richard E. Neustadt († 2003). In 2009 her autobiography "Climbing the Bookshelves" was published.

Williams was a member of the House of Commons , from 1964 to 1974 for Hitchin and 1974 to 1979 for Hertford and Stevenage for the Labor Party , from 1981 to 1983 for Crosby for the Social Democratic Party . From February 28, 1974 to April 8, 1976 she was Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection. From September 10, 1976 to May 4, 1979 she was Secretary of State for Education and Science. At the same time she held the office of Paymaster General .

In 1981 she founded the Social Democratic Party as part of the then so-called Gang of Four (other members: Roy Jenkins , David Owen and Bill Rodgers ) , because she was more and more dissatisfied with the influence of the left wing on Labor and also her lower house mandate through the Labor defeat of 1979. In 1981 she was the first member of the SDP to be elected again in a by-election in the British Parliament.

In 1983 , although a member of the SDP board of directors, she lost her seat in Parliament again and was unable to win one in the 1987 elections due to British majority voting. She then supported the 1988 merger of the SDP with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats . Nevertheless, she moved to the United States in 1988 and was also involved in drafting the Constitution of the Russian Federation . In 1990 she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . In 1993 she returned to England and was raised to Life Peeress on February 1, 1993 as Baroness Williams of Crosby , of Stevenage in the County of Hertfordshire . This gave her a seat in the British House of Lords , where she was the successor to Bill Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank in June 2001, parliamentary group leader of the Liberal Democrats. In June 2004 she was succeeded in this office by Thomas McNally, Baron McNally . On February 11, 2016, she voluntarily resigned from the House of Lords.

She was a member of the European Leadership Network . She died on April 12, 2021 at the age of 90.

Political party

Williams was a Labor member from 1964 to 1981 , then switched to the Social Democratic Party (SDP). In 1988, the majority joined forces with the Liberals to form the Liberal Democrats. From 1982 to 1987, Williams was the first female president of the SDP.

Works (selection)

  • 1981: Politics is for People
  • 1985: A Job to Live: The Impact of Tomorrow's Technology on Work and Society
  • 1988: The New Party - The New Technology
  • 1993: Ambition and Beyond: Career Paths of American Politicians, with Edward L. Lascher, Jr.
  • 2003: God and Caesar: Personal Reflections on Politics and Religion
  • 2009: Climbing the Bookshelves: The Autobiography of Shirley Williams

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Shirley Williams: My family values, Interview by Tony Padman. In: The Guardian. May 15, 2015, accessed on April 21, 2021 (English): "My daughter Rebecca is a lawyer."
  2. ↑ John Edward Jocelyn Brittain-Catlin in the Find a Grave database . Accessed April 12, 2021.
  3. ^ Rt Hon the Baroness Williams of Crosby
  4. ↑ Kate Devlin: Baroness Shirley Williams death: Former minister dies, aged 90. In: independent.co.uk. April 12, 2021, accessed April 12, 2021 .
personal data
SURNAME Williams, Shirley, Baroness Williams of Crosby
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Catlin, Shirley; New Town, Shirley
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Liberal Democrats, member of the House of Commons, lecturer and author
DATE OF BIRTH July 27, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH April 12, 2021