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EspañolSHIRLEY WILLIAMS, BARONESS WILLIAMS OF CROSBY
(Redirected from Shirley Williams)
'Shirley Williams, The Baroness Williams of Crosby', PC (born 27 July 1930), is a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Member of Parliament (MP), she was one of the "Gang of Four" rebels who founded the SDP (Social Democratic Party) in 1981 (The SDP later merged with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats). After being made a peer in 1993, she was Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords from 2001 to 2004. In June 2007, Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown appointed Williams to his Government as Advisor on Nuclear Proliferation.
Born 'Shirley Vivien Teresa Brittain Catlin', Williams is the daughter of political scientist and philosopher Sir George Catlin, and novelist Vera Brittain. She began her career as a journalist after graduating from Somerville College, Oxford several years after Margaret Thatcher's graduation from the same college. She also was a Fulbright Scholar and studied at Columbia University in New York City. Williams was first married to the philosopher Sir Bernard Williams from 1955 to 1974, and then married to Richard E. Neustadt, a professor at Harvard University, from 1987 until his death in 2003.
Baroness Williams served as a full professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government from 1988 to 2001 and thereafter as Public Service Professor of Electoral Politics, Emerita.
Baroness Williams was a pupil at Talbot Heath School in Bournemouth, Dorset.
At the 1964 general election, Williams was elected as Labour MP for the constituency of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, and rose quickly to a junior ministerial position. Between 1971 and 1973 she served as shadow Home Secretary. In 1974 she became Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection under Harold Wilson, and, when Wilson was succeeded in 1976 by James Callaghan, she became Secretary of State for Education and Paymaster General, two cabinet positions held at the same time.
Williams lost her seat to Bowen Wells in the Labour Party general-election defeat of 1979 (her seat was renamed Hertford and Stevenage in 1974). In 1981, unhappy with the influence of the far left in the Labour Party, she resigned from it to form the SDP, along with Roy Jenkins, David Owen and Bill Rodgers. Later that year, following the death of Conservative Sir Graham Page, she won a by-election in Crosby in Merseyside, becoming the first elected SDP MP.
Despite becoming SDP President, she lost her seat in the 1983 general election after Conservative-led redistricting. She then stood for Cambridge in the 1987 general election, but lost to the Conservative candidate. Williams supported the SDP's 1988 merger with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats. Also during this time, Williams served as a BBC broadcaster on "In Conversation with Shirley Williams" and has appeared on many television and radio programmes, including as a commentator on BBC's "Question Time" more than any other panelist.
In 1988, Williams moved to the United States, but, not surprisingly, remained active in politics and public service in the UK, USA, and internationally. She helped draft constitutions in Russia, Ukraine, and South Africa; served as director of Harvard's Project Liberty, an initiative designed to assist the emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe; as UN Special Representative to the former Yugoslavia; and as a member of the European Union's Comite des Sages, among other top policy positions.
Williams was awarded a life peerage with the title The Baroness Williams of Crosby, of Stevenage in the County of Hertfordshire, PC, in 1993.
Among other nonprofit boards, Williams serves on the Advisory Council of the Institute for Public Policy Research, (USA) Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Chatham House (president), the Twentieth Century Fund, and the Washington-based think-tank Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI).
In June 2007, Williams conditionally accepted a formal Brown Government position as Advisor on Nuclear Proliferation provided she could serve as an independent advisor. At this writing, the Office of Prime Minister is reviewing her conditions.
Baroness Williams, among other ongoing activities, is reportedly working on her autobiography.
Shirley Williams has published several books including:
★ ''God and Caesar: Personal Reflections on Politics and Religion'',(2003).
★ ''New Party - The New Technology'' (1988).
★ ''A Job to Live'' (1985).
★ ''Politics is for People'', (1981).
There is a substantial article on Shirley Williams by Phillip Whitehead in the ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', by Greg Rosen (ed), Politicos Publishing, 2001.
★ Baroness Williams of Crosby profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
'Shirley Williams, The Baroness Williams of Crosby', PC (born 27 July 1930), is a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Member of Parliament (MP), she was one of the "Gang of Four" rebels who founded the SDP (Social Democratic Party) in 1981 (The SDP later merged with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats). After being made a peer in 1993, she was Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords from 2001 to 2004. In June 2007, Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown appointed Williams to his Government as Advisor on Nuclear Proliferation.
Born 'Shirley Vivien Teresa Brittain Catlin', Williams is the daughter of political scientist and philosopher Sir George Catlin, and novelist Vera Brittain. She began her career as a journalist after graduating from Somerville College, Oxford several years after Margaret Thatcher's graduation from the same college. She also was a Fulbright Scholar and studied at Columbia University in New York City. Williams was first married to the philosopher Sir Bernard Williams from 1955 to 1974, and then married to Richard E. Neustadt, a professor at Harvard University, from 1987 until his death in 2003.
Baroness Williams served as a full professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government from 1988 to 2001 and thereafter as Public Service Professor of Electoral Politics, Emerita.
Baroness Williams was a pupil at Talbot Heath School in Bournemouth, Dorset.
| Contents |
| Political career |
| Further reading |
| External links |
Political career
At the 1964 general election, Williams was elected as Labour MP for the constituency of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, and rose quickly to a junior ministerial position. Between 1971 and 1973 she served as shadow Home Secretary. In 1974 she became Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection under Harold Wilson, and, when Wilson was succeeded in 1976 by James Callaghan, she became Secretary of State for Education and Paymaster General, two cabinet positions held at the same time.
Williams lost her seat to Bowen Wells in the Labour Party general-election defeat of 1979 (her seat was renamed Hertford and Stevenage in 1974). In 1981, unhappy with the influence of the far left in the Labour Party, she resigned from it to form the SDP, along with Roy Jenkins, David Owen and Bill Rodgers. Later that year, following the death of Conservative Sir Graham Page, she won a by-election in Crosby in Merseyside, becoming the first elected SDP MP.
Despite becoming SDP President, she lost her seat in the 1983 general election after Conservative-led redistricting. She then stood for Cambridge in the 1987 general election, but lost to the Conservative candidate. Williams supported the SDP's 1988 merger with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats. Also during this time, Williams served as a BBC broadcaster on "In Conversation with Shirley Williams" and has appeared on many television and radio programmes, including as a commentator on BBC's "Question Time" more than any other panelist.
In 1988, Williams moved to the United States, but, not surprisingly, remained active in politics and public service in the UK, USA, and internationally. She helped draft constitutions in Russia, Ukraine, and South Africa; served as director of Harvard's Project Liberty, an initiative designed to assist the emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe; as UN Special Representative to the former Yugoslavia; and as a member of the European Union's Comite des Sages, among other top policy positions.
Williams was awarded a life peerage with the title The Baroness Williams of Crosby, of Stevenage in the County of Hertfordshire, PC, in 1993.
Among other nonprofit boards, Williams serves on the Advisory Council of the Institute for Public Policy Research, (USA) Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Chatham House (president), the Twentieth Century Fund, and the Washington-based think-tank Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI).
In June 2007, Williams conditionally accepted a formal Brown Government position as Advisor on Nuclear Proliferation provided she could serve as an independent advisor. At this writing, the Office of Prime Minister is reviewing her conditions.
Baroness Williams, among other ongoing activities, is reportedly working on her autobiography.
Further reading
Shirley Williams has published several books including:
★ ''God and Caesar: Personal Reflections on Politics and Religion'',(2003).
★ ''New Party - The New Technology'' (1988).
★ ''A Job to Live'' (1985).
★ ''Politics is for People'', (1981).
There is a substantial article on Shirley Williams by Phillip Whitehead in the ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', by Greg Rosen (ed), Politicos Publishing, 2001.
External links
★ Baroness Williams of Crosby profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
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