The next in our series on women MPs by the House of Commons Hansard Writing Team.

In 1987, following disappointing election results, a merger was negotiated between the Social Democrat and Liberal parties, which took effect in 1988. At the brink of their Westminster careers at the time were two politicians, Ray Michie (1934-2008) and Diana Maddock (1945-2020).

Michie had won Argyll and Bute in 1987, becoming the only female Liberal MP in that Parliament and the first woman Liberal MP in Scotland. In 1993, Maddock took Christchurch for the Liberal Democrats in one of the biggest by-election swings in British political history and the largest achieved by a woman. Both were the first women to represent their constituencies, and both went on to serve in the House of Lords and to achieve an exemplary record in public service.

Michie was, in her words, brought up in the “Liberal faith and philosophy”. Her father, John Bannerman, stood unsuccessfully for Parliament for the Liberal party eight times, including once in Argyll, before being made a life peer, whereas her mother, too, was a stalwart Liberal party member. Michie herself became chair of the Argyll Liberal Association from 1973 to 1976, and then vice-chair of the Scottish Liberal Party from 1977 to 1979.

Michie was a speech therapist by profession, working for the Argyll and Clyde Health Board in 1977. Later, while in the House of Lords, she would become vice-president of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Michie won the seat of Argyll and Bute on her third attempt, defeating Conservative Minister John Mackay. She represented her scattered constituency of peninsulas and islands for three Parliaments, dedicating herself to local issues, including crofting and fishing. She dealt with the aftermath of the Antares fishing boat accident in 1990 and the Chinook crash on the Mull of Kintyre in 1994. She was so successful that she increased her majority from 1,400 to nearly 7,000.

Michie promoted the use of the Gaelic language, which, she said, “lies at the heart of our traditions, culture and heritage.” She took the oath of allegiance in the Commons in Gaelic and in 2001 was the first Member to do so in the House of Lords. A strong advocate of Scottish self-government, she said that if the Government failed to deliver a Scottish Parliament “they will hear the cry ‘Let my people go’ gathering volume and becoming ever louder”. When the Parliament was re-established in 1998, she called it her “greatest moment of satisfaction”.

Michie was her party’s spokesperson on transport and rural development from 1987 to 1988, on Scotland from 1988 to 1997 and on women’s issues from 1988 to 1994. She served on the Scottish Affairs Committee from 1992 to 1997.  During her last term in the Commons, from 1997-2001, she was appointed by Betty Boothroyd as one of the panel of MPs who chaired legislative Committees. She chaired her first Committee—on the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Bill in 1997—from 8.30 pm until 4.35 am.

Michie chose not to contest the 2001 general election due to her husband’s illness and the difficulty of managing such a large, remote constituency. Following her retirement, she became a life peer. On her death in May 2008, Gordon Brown paid tribute to her in Prime Minister’s Questions, calling her an “outstanding parliamentarian”.

Born in Lymington, Hampshire, Maddock was the daughter of Reginald Derbyshire, who worked for the Atomic Energy Authority, and his wife, Margaret, who ran a home for Dorset County Council. On leaving school, Maddock went to a teacher training college in Bromsgrove, followed by Portsmouth Polytechnic. From 1966, she taught English in schools in Southampton before heading to Stockholm to teach English as a foreign language.

Maddock was once asked in an interview what made her go into politics. She replied: “Nothing in particular. I got involved when I gave up work to have a child, and was canvassed by a Liberal woman politician, who later came and asked me to join the party, so I did.” That was in 1976. From 1984, she served as the party’s group leader on Southampton City Council. In 1992, she failed to win the seat of Southampton, Test but in 1993, following the death of Robert Adley, she took Christchurch, turning a Conservative majority of more than 23,000 into a Liberal Democrat majority of more than 16,000—a swing of 35.4%. At the time, it was the largest swing against any British Government since 1918.

Maddock was her party’s spokesperson on housing, women’s issues and family policy. She was well versed in environmental issues, successfully piloting her Home Energy Conservation Bill through the House in 1995. This required a local authority to produce “measures…necessary to achieve energy savings of 30 per cent. from the homes in its area”. Her interest in energy conservation had been sparked while she was teaching in Sweden; she told the House that the amount of energy required for a well-insulated flat in Sweden was far less than that required for her small house in England, despite temperatures regularly dipping well below 0°.

In 1997, after narrowly losing her seat to Conservative Christopher Chope, Maddock was made a life peer. She served as president of the Liberal Democrats from 1998 to 2000, and was viewed by party members as “one of us”.  In the Lords she sat on the European Union Committee (2002–2005) and the Works of Art Committee, later the Lord Speaker’s Advisory Panel on Works of Art (2010–2020), which she chaired from 2014 until her death.  She served as the Housing Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords until 2004, and latterly as Deputy Chief Whip. She was also a member of Northumberland County Council (2005–2008) and of Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Council (2007–2009).

In 2001, she married Alan Beith, then the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, who would later become Lord Beith. She died on 26 June 2020, and was credited by her party leader, Ed Davey, with helping “shape the heart of the Liberal Democrat Party.”

Hansard Writing Team

Links:

Ray Michie maiden speech: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1987-07-13/debates/99a7e87b-90f5-41dc-95b6-57115e7ab391/Adjournment(Summer)#contribution-ae2762b1-a4e1-4257-8ba1-7c9d9ed7fb40

Debate on future Government of Scotland: http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1987/nov/23/future-government-of-scotland#S6CV0123P0_19871123_HOC_467

Article in The Guardian, “Four years in 40 words”: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/apr/10/houseofcommons.election20011

Committee stage of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Bill: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmstand/a/st971125/pt2/71125s01.htm

Tribute from Gordon Brown: https://www.heraldscotland.com/default_content/12755076.former-mp-ray-michie-dies-74/[CC1] 

European Database interview with Diana Maddock (Internet archive link) : https://web.archive.org/web/20040110065419/http://www.db-decision.de:80/Interviews/UK/Maddock.htm

Diana Maddock maiden speech: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1993-10-28/debates/861a3e0d-1eb6-4b89-a54d-7e0d998fc6b4/OppositionDay

The Home Energy Conservation Act 1995: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/10/enacted

Second Reading of the Home Energy Conservation Bill:

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1995/jan/20/home-energy-conservation-bill

Diane Maddock oral history interview https://sounds.bl.uk/Oral-history/The-History-of-Parliament-Oral-History-Project

Diana Maddock obituary: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/12/lady-maddock

Tribute to Diana Maddock: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/baroness-diana-maddock-dead-liberal-democrat-a4481956.html

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