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'Harriet Ruth Harman' QC MP (born 30 July 1950) is a British solicitor and Labour politician. Since 24 June 2007, she has been the Deputy Leader and Party Chair of the Labour Party. On 28 June 2007 she was appointed Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Privy Seal and Minister for Women and Equality, and later also Secretary of State for Equalities on 26 July 2007[1]. She still however retains her role as Minister for Women bringing her total number of jobs to five.
Harman has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham since 1997, having previously been MP for Peckham since 1982.
Early Life
She was born in London to the physician Dr. John Bishop Harman FRCP (who was an expert witness in the trial of suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams) and his wife Anna, a solicitor, the only child of Group Captain Malcolm Spicer, RAF[1][2], son of James Spicer of Eltham, who was a member of the paper manufacturing family and a brother of the Liberal MP Sir Albert Spicer and also a brother of the surgeon and campaigner for women's rights, Louisa Martindale[3]. Her parents both came from non conformist backgrounds- her grandfather Nathaniel Bishop Harman was a prominent Unitarian [4] and the Spicer family were well known congregationalists. Between 1978 and 1982 she was legal officer for the National Council for Civil Liberties and as such was found in contempt of court in the important civil liberties case Home Office v. Harman [1983] 1 A.C. 280, 308, before becoming MP for Peckham in a by-election in 1982.
Family connections
She has significant family connections. Her father was a brother of Elizabeth Longford, the writer who biographed, amongst others, Queen Victoria and Wellington. Lady Longford was married to Francis Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, the lawyer and social reformer. Harman's first cousins include the writers Thomas Pakenham, Rachel Billington and the historian Antonia Fraser. Fraser is married to Harold Pinter, and was once married to the politician Sir Hugh Fraser and is the mother of Flora Fraser, another writer. Also, Harman's great-grand-parents were Arthur Chamberlain and Louisa Kenrick. Arthur Chamberlain was the brother of Joseph Chamberlain, the social reformer and radical politician who served under Gladstone and Salisbury. Louisa's cousin Harriet married Joseph Chamberlain and they were the parents of Sir Austen Chamberlain, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Foreign Secretary. Louisa Kenrick's sister Florence married Joseph Chamberlain after Harriet's death and they were the parents of Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937-1940.
Member of Parliament
Held on October 28th that year, she was elected with a majority of 3,931 votes. She became Labour's front-bench spokesperson for Social Services in 1984, and then Health in 1987. After the 1992 general election she was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet and became shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, then Shadow Secretary of State for Health. She was involved in a media controversy when she sent her eldest son to a grant maintained school, then her younger son to St Olave's Grammar School, Orpington. Labour policy opposed these forms of education, but she retained office with the support of the Labour leader, Tony Blair.
In government
After Labour's victory in the 1997 general election, she became Secretary of State for Social Security and was given the task of reforming the Welfare State. However, she made little progress and fell out with her junior minister, Frank Field. During this period Harman became regarded as an over-promoted 'New Labour' apparatchik, and she was called 'Harriet Harrperson' by her fellow Labour MP Austin Mitchell. Both Harman and Field were sacked in a reshuffle in 1998.
She made a return to the front bench after the 2001 general election with her appointment to the office of Solicitor General, thus becoming the first female Solicitor General.
Voting record
Harman has supported the Labour government Harriet Harman , and voted with the party in all but a few instances. Like most Labour MPs she supported the Iraq war, although during the Deputy Leadership campaign, she claimed that she would not have voted for it had she been in full possession of the facts, specifically about the non-existence of weapons of mass destruction. Voting Record — Harriet Harman MP, Camberwell & Peckham Full Voting Record — Harriet Harman MP, Camberwell & Peckham
Minister of State for Ministry of Justice
After the 2005 general election she became a Minister of State in the Department for Constitutional Affairs with responsibilities including constitutional reform, legal aid and court processes. During this time she was made an honorary silk (Queen's Counsel), gaining the letters "QC" after her name.
On 16 March 2006, Harman relinquished her Ministerial responsibilities for electoral administration and reform of the House of Lords. She stated that this was to avoid any potential conflict of interest after her husband, the Treasurer of the Labour Party, announced that he would be investigating a number of loans made to the Labour Party which had not been disclosed to party officers. She retained her other responsibilities.[5]
The Department for Constitutional Affairs was reorgainised into the new Ministry of Justice on 9 May 2007, where she became Minister of State. She officially relinquished the role when the government, led by Tony Blair, resigned on 27 June 2007.
Bid for Deputy Leadership
Harriet Harman announced her intention to stand for Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party when Tony Blair stood down as Prime Minister.[6] On 27 November 2006 Patrick Wintour reported that she had commissioned an opinion poll which found that she would be more popular with the electorate than any of the other likely candidates. She used this point to argue that she should become the next Deputy Prime Minister of the UK in an interview with the BBC.[7] Before this she suggested a woman and man leadership team was best for the electorate and this country.
On 24 June 2007, Harriet Harman won the contest and became Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.[8]
She received 50.43% of the vote in the final round of a closely-fought contest. Alan Johnson had led in all but the first of the previous rounds, but the members' votes after re-distribution in each of the 4 elimination rounds - particularly the votes re-allocated from Jon Cruddas according to second preference - led her to narrowly beating Johnson in the final round.
Despite her win however since Harriet Harman did not have the support of any major Unions she had to take out a personal loan to fund her campaign for deputy leadership, which her opponents did not. As a result compared to other glossy leaflets sent out by her rivals Harriet Harman had to use pretty basic campaign tools. As such after her victory she is £20,000 in debt, whether the unions and/or the party will help her with this is unknown.
Return to Cabinet
Harman is known as a key Brownite and has been closely assosiated with him since the 1980's. Therefore, She was appointed to sit in newly-appointed Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons (combining these post with the Deputy Leadership and Chairmanship of the Labour Party). She also holds the post of Secretary of State for Equalities as well as Minister for Women the result being that she has five roles.
Controversy over the Iraq War
Harman has been accused of going back on a pledge to apologize for its policy on Iraq. During the deputy leadership campaign Harman had participated in a live debate on Newsnight with the other deputy leadership candidates. Jeremy Paxman asked the candidates whether, if knowing what they knew now, any of the candidates would have voted against the war[9], Harman responded by saying that "if I'd have known if there weren't weapons of mass destruction I wouldn't have voted for the war. Clearly it was a mistake. It was made in good faith. But I think with a new leadership we have to acknowledge the bitterness and anger that there has been over Iraq and that we were wrong."
Later, when asked by Paxman if the Labour Party should say sorry for what happened, Jon Cruddas said that it should; Harman replied "Yep, I agree with that". When Cruddas further said that the Labour Party could "rebuild a sense of trust and a dialogue with the British people" by acknowledging its culpability in the situation in Iraq, Harman replied "and I agree with that". On June 25, her first day in the job, Harman appeared to backtrack on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme and asked for evidence to be provided of where she had stated that the Party should apologise.
Speeding Conviction Controversy
Harman was fined £400 and banned from driving for seven days after being convicted of driving at 99mph on a motorway. The sentence was widely criticised given that Harman's salary at the time was £115,989 plus full parliamentary pay. [2]
References
1. ''Forthcoming Marriages'', ''The Times'', February 26, 1946
2. ''Births'', ''The Times'', August 1, 1950
3. Louisa Martindale, Spartacus Educational
4. ''Obituary'', ''The Times'', December 8, 1945
5. Harman gives up Lords reform role
6. Harman intends Labour deputy bid
7. Interview: Harriet Harman Brian Wheeler
8. Harriet Harman elected deputy leader of Labour Party Mark Sellman
9. Video of Deputy Leadership debate, Newsnight, BBC 2
Publications
★ ''Sex Discrimination in Schools: How to Fight it'' by Harriet Harman, 1978, Civil Liberties Trust ISBN 0-901108-73-1
★ ''Justice Deserted: Subversion of the Jury'' by Harriet Harman et al, 1979, Civil Liberties Trust ISBN 0-901108-79-0
★ ''Violence Against Social Workers: The Implications for Practice'' by Dan Norris, foreword by Harriet Harman, Jessica Kingsley Publishers ISBN 1-85302-041-9
★ ''The Family Way: A New Approach to Policy Making'' by Harriet Harman et al, 1990, Institute for Public Policy Research ISBN 1-872452-15-9
★ ''The Century Gap: 20th Century Man/21st Century Woman'' by Harriet Harman, 1993, Vermilion ISBN 0-09-177819-0
★ ''Winning for Women'' by Harriet Harman and Deborah Mattinson, 2000, Fabian Society ISBN 0-7163-0596-8
★ ''Women with Attitude'' by Susan Vinnicombe, John Bank, foreword by Harriet Harman, 2002, Routledge ISBN 0-415-28742-1
External links
★ Harriet Harman- official website
★ Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Harriet Harman MP
★ TheyWorkForYou.com - Harriet Harman MP
★ Labour in Southwark
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