Helene Hayman, Baroness Hayman
Encyclopedia
Helene Valerie Hayman, Baroness Hayman, PC (born 26 March 1949 in Wolverhampton
as Helene Middleweek) was Lord Speaker
of the House of Lords
in the Parliament of the United Kingdom
. As a member of the Labour Party
she was a Member of Parliament
from 1974 to 1979, and became a Life Peer
in 1996. Outside politics, she has been involved in health issues, serving on medical ethics
committees and the governing bodies of bodies in the National Health Service
and health charities. In 2006, she won the inaugural election for the newly created position of Lord Speaker
.
and read law at Newnham College, Cambridge
, graduating in 1969; she was President of the Cambridge Union Society
in 1969. She worked for Shelter
from 1969 to 1971, and for the Social Services Department at the London Borough of Camden
from 1971 to 1974. In 1974 she became Deputy Director of the National Council for One-Parent Families.
She married Martin Hayman in 1974; together, they have four sons.
for Welwyn and Hatfield in the October 1974 UK general election
. On her election, she was the youngest member of the House of Commons, remaining the "Baby of the House
" until the by-election victory
of Andrew Mackay in 1977. She was the first woman to breastfeed
at Westminster
. She lost her seat, a marginal, to the Conservative
Christopher Murphy
at the 1979 general election
.
She was a member of the Bloomsbury Health Authority (later Bloomsbury and Islington Health Authority) from 1985 to 1992 and its Vice-Chair from 1988 onwards.
She served on the ethics committees of the Royal College of Gynaecologists from 1982 to 1997, and of the University College London
and University College Hospital
from 1987 to 1997. From 1992 to 1997, she was a member of the Council of University College, London, and chair of Whittington Hospital
NHS Trust
.
Helene Hayman was made a Life Peer in 1996, and took the title Baroness Hayman, of Dartmouth Park
in the London Borough of Camden
.
After the Labour Party
won the 1997 general election
, she served as a junior minister in the Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Department of Health
, before being appointed Minister of State
at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
in July 1999. She became a member of the Privy Council
in 2001, but left political office the same year to become chairman of Cancer Research UK
(2001–2005). She became chair of the Human Tissue Authority
in 2005. She was a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
(2002–2006) and of the Tropical Health and Education Trust (2005–2006). She was a member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in 2005-06.
She was a member of the Lords Select Committee on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill, 2004–05, and of the Lords Constitution Committee, 2005–06.
in the House of Lords
was separated from the office of Lord Chancellor
as part of the reforms under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005
, she was one of nine candidates to be put forward for the new role of Lord Speaker
. She was nominated as a candidate by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and seconded by Lord Walton of Detchant. Her narrow victory in the election was announced on 4 July 2006 and she became the first ever Lord Speaker. On her election, Lord McNally, the Liberal Democrat
leader in the House of Lords, called her the "Julie Andrews
of British politics". Like the Speaker in the House of Commons, but unlike the Lord Chancellor
who was also a judge and a government minister, the Lord Speaker resigns party membership and outside interests to concentrate on being an impartial presiding officer.
On 2 March 2011, the Lord Speaker gave a lecture to the Mile End Group in the Attlee Suite of Portcullis House. This was the third in a lecture series to commemorate the 1911 Parliament Act. A transcript can be read here.
On 9 May 2011, Baroness Hayman announced that she would not seek re-election for a second term as Lord Speaker; her successor will take office on 1 September 2011.
on the occasion of her state visit to Albania.
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
as Helene Middleweek) was Lord Speaker
Lord Speaker
The Lord Speaker is the speaker of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons: the Lord Speaker is elected by the members of the House of Lords and is expected to be politically impartial.Until July 2006, the role of...
of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
in the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. As a member of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
she was a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
from 1974 to 1979, and became a Life Peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
in 1996. Outside politics, she has been involved in health issues, serving on medical ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
committees and the governing bodies of bodies in the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
and health charities. In 2006, she won the inaugural election for the newly created position of Lord Speaker
Lord Speaker
The Lord Speaker is the speaker of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons: the Lord Speaker is elected by the members of the House of Lords and is expected to be politically impartial.Until July 2006, the role of...
.
Family life and career before entering politics
Helene Hayman is the daughter of Maurice and Maude Middleweek; her father was a dentist. She attended Wolverhampton Girls' High SchoolWolverhampton Girls' High School
Wolverhampton Girls' High School is a selective, single-sex school for girls at Wolverhampton in the West Midlands of England.-Overview:Wolverhampton Girls' High School, founded in 1911, educates girls from the age of 11 to 18. Its students are led by a headmistress along with a Board of Governors....
and read law at Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1871 by Henry Sidgwick, and was the second Cambridge college to admit women after Girton College...
, graduating in 1969; she was President of the Cambridge Union Society
Cambridge Union Society
The Cambridge Union Society, commonly referred to as simply "the Cambridge Union" or "the Union," is a debating society in Cambridge, England and is the largest society at the University of Cambridge. Since its founding in 1815, the Union has developed a worldwide reputation as a noted symbol of...
in 1969. She worked for Shelter
Shelter (charity)
Shelter is a registered charity in England and Scotland that campaigns to end homelessness and bad housing. It gives advice, information and advocacy to people in need, and tackles the root causes of bad housing by lobbying government and local authorities for new laws and policies to improve the...
from 1969 to 1971, and for the Social Services Department at the London Borough of Camden
London Borough of Camden
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
from 1971 to 1974. In 1974 she became Deputy Director of the National Council for One-Parent Families.
She married Martin Hayman in 1974; together, they have four sons.
Political career
She contested the Wolverhampton South West constituency in the February 1974 election. She was elected as the Member of ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Welwyn and Hatfield in the October 1974 UK general election
United Kingdom general election, October 1974
The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...
. On her election, she was the youngest member of the House of Commons, remaining the "Baby of the House
Baby of the House
Baby of the House is the unofficial title given to the youngest member of a parliamentary house. The term is most often applied to members of the British parliament.-Australia:In Australia the term is rarely used...
" until the by-election victory
Birmingham Stechford by-election, 1977
The Birmingham Stechford by-election, in Birmingham, on 31 March 1977 was held after Labour Member of Parliament Roy Jenkins resigned his seat following his appointment as President of the European Commission. A seat that had been solidly Labour since its formation in 1950, it was won by Andrew...
of Andrew Mackay in 1977. She was the first woman to breastfeed
Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from female human breasts rather than from a baby bottle or other container. Babies have a sucking reflex that enables them to suck and swallow milk. It is recommended that mothers breastfeed for six months or...
at Westminster
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. She lost her seat, a marginal, to the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Christopher Murphy
Christopher Murphy
Christopher Philip Yorke Murphy is a British Conservative Party politician.Murphy was born in Plymouth, Devon. Unsuccessful Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Stepney and Poplar at the February 1974 and October 1974 General Election...
at the 1979 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
.
She was a member of the Bloomsbury Health Authority (later Bloomsbury and Islington Health Authority) from 1985 to 1992 and its Vice-Chair from 1988 onwards.
She served on the ethics committees of the Royal College of Gynaecologists from 1982 to 1997, and of the University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
and University College Hospital
University College Hospital
University College Hospital is a teaching hospital located in London, United Kingdom. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is closely associated with University College London ....
from 1987 to 1997. From 1992 to 1997, she was a member of the Council of University College, London, and chair of Whittington Hospital
Whittington Hospital
The Whittington Hospital is a British hospital in Archway, Islington, London. It is named after Richard Whittington.It is a district general hospital, although it is also a teaching hospital of the UCL Medical School and Middlesex University School of Health and Social Sciences.- History :Although...
NHS Trust
NHS Trust
A National Health Service trust provides services on behalf of the National Health Service in England and NHS Wales.The trusts are not trusts in the legal sense but are in effect public sector corporations. Each trust is headed by a board consisting of executive and non-executive directors, and is...
.
Helene Hayman was made a Life Peer in 1996, and took the title Baroness Hayman, of Dartmouth Park
Dartmouth Park
Dartmouth Park is a district of north London in the London Borough of Camden, on the slope of the hill that rises up to Highgate from Kentish Town.-History:...
in the London Borough of Camden
London Borough of Camden
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
.
After the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
won the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, she served as a junior minister in the Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Department of Health
Department of Health (United Kingdom)
The Department of Health is a department of the United Kingdom government with responsibility for government policy for health and social care matters and for the National Health Service in England along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwise devolved to the Scottish,...
, before being appointed Minister of State
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister...
at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom government department created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889 and at that time called the Board of Agriculture, and then from 1903 the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and from 1919 the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries...
in July 1999. She became a member of the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
in 2001, but left political office the same year to become chairman of Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK is a cancer research and awareness charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Its aim is to reduce the number of deaths from cancer. As the world's largest independent cancer...
(2001–2005). She became chair of the Human Tissue Authority
Human Tissue Authority
The Human Tissue Authority is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom that regulates the removal, storage, use and disposal of human bodies, organs and tissue for a number of scheduled purposes such as research, transplantation, and education and training.It was created by the Human...
in 2005. She was a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...
(2002–2006) and of the Tropical Health and Education Trust (2005–2006). She was a member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in 2005-06.
She was a member of the Lords Select Committee on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill, 2004–05, and of the Lords Constitution Committee, 2005–06.
Lord Speaker
In May 2006, after the position of SpeakerSpeaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
was separated from the office of Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
as part of the reforms under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005
Constitutional Reform Act 2005
The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provided for a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to take over the existing role of the Law Lords as well as some powers of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and removed the functions of Speaker of...
, she was one of nine candidates to be put forward for the new role of Lord Speaker
Lord Speaker
The Lord Speaker is the speaker of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons: the Lord Speaker is elected by the members of the House of Lords and is expected to be politically impartial.Until July 2006, the role of...
. She was nominated as a candidate by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and seconded by Lord Walton of Detchant. Her narrow victory in the election was announced on 4 July 2006 and she became the first ever Lord Speaker. On her election, Lord McNally, the Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
leader in the House of Lords, called her the "Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
of British politics". Like the Speaker in the House of Commons, but unlike the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
who was also a judge and a government minister, the Lord Speaker resigns party membership and outside interests to concentrate on being an impartial presiding officer.
On 2 March 2011, the Lord Speaker gave a lecture to the Mile End Group in the Attlee Suite of Portcullis House. This was the third in a lecture series to commemorate the 1911 Parliament Act. A transcript can be read here.
On 9 May 2011, Baroness Hayman announced that she would not seek re-election for a second term as Lord Speaker; her successor will take office on 1 September 2011.
Honours and awards
: On 21 August 2010 received a copy of the key of the city of TiranaTirana
Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...
on the occasion of her state visit to Albania.