Margaret Beckett was first elected to Parliament in 1974 serving as the Labour MP for Lincoln between 1974 and 1983. She has been the MP for Derby South since 1983, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 6,019.
The constituency of Derby South contains the city centre of Derby, its cathedral, and the city’s southern suburbs including the district of Peartree. Derby South is a relatively ethnically diverse seat with a significant proportion of Asian voters. A safe Labour seat, this constituency has been held continuously by the party ever since it was first created in 1950.
Born in 1943, Margaret Beckett is now the longest serving female MP in history.
In March 2022, she announced her intention to step down from the House of Commons at the next election.
First appointed as a government whip under Harold Wilson in 1975, she was promoted in 1976 by James Callaghan to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Education and Science.
She became spokeswoman on Social Security in 1984, and joined the Shadow Cabinet in 1989 as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. After the 1992 General Election she was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and served under John Smith as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. She became a Member of the Privy Council in 1993. She was the first woman to serve as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.
Following the sudden death of John Smith from a heart attack on 12 May 1994, Margaret Beckett became the interim Labour Party leader.
Under Tony Blair’s leadership, Margaret Beckett was the Shadow Secretary of State for Health, and then from 1995 the shadow President of the Board of Trade.
Margaret Beckett held a number of important positions in the Blair government. After the 1997 election she was appointed President of the Board of Trade (a position the title of which would later revert to Secretary of State for Trade and Industry); the first woman to have held the post. She was succeeded by Peter Mandelson in July 1998.
Beckett was then Leader of the House of Commons from 1998 until her replacement by Robin Cook in June 2001. After the 2001 General Election, Beckett became Secretary of State at the new Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Following the 2006 local elections, Tony Blair appointed Margaret Beckett as Foreign Secretary. She was the first woman to hold the post, and only the second woman to hold one of the great offices of state until 2007.
Beckett returned to government in the reshuffle on 3 October 2008 as the Minister of State for Housing in the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Beckett nominated Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership in 2015, allowing him to obtain the backing of enough MPs to enter the final ballot. Beckett later heavily lamented her decision for doing so. She supported Sir Keir Starmer in the 2020 leadership contest.
According to the Register of Members Interests, she employs her husband, Leo Beckett, as her Office Manager.
Beckett is know for her love of caravanning holidays.
Email: margaret.beckett.mp@parliament.uk
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Margaret-Beckett/
