Betty Boothroyd planned to criticise PMs for abusing patronage powers
Draft of former speaker’s final speech said prime ministers should not give peerages to friends or people with ‘fat bank accounts’
December 2023
The Observer's obituaries of 2023
Betty Boothroyd remembered by David Nott
The surgeon on the first female speaker of the Commons, a patient turned friend, whose warmth, resilience and wisdom made her the perfect patron of his charity
March 2023
‘We needed a massive amount of resilience’: the female Labour MPs from the class of ’87
At the general election that year, the number of women in the Commons jumped to (an albeit still tiny) 41. Some talk about the sexism – and the solidarity
Sunak sets out Northern Ireland trade deal to MPs as Labour vow to back agreement – as it happened
2:34
'I love parliament': the life of Britain's first female speaker, Betty Boothroyd – video obituary
In a tough era for women, Betty Boothroyd smashed parliament’s glass ceiling
Margaret Hodge, Rachel Reeves and Harriet Harman
Betty Boothroyd dies aged 93
Betty Boothroyd – a life in pictures
Lady Boothroyd obituary
December 2022
Betty! A Sort of Musical review – fitfully funny take on the life of Betty Boothroyd
Betty! A Sort of Musical review – Maxine Peake brings Boothroyd’s story to the stage
December 2021
Betty Boothroyd musical to chart rise from dancer to Commons Speaker
Betty! starring Maxine Peake views parliamentarian’s life through lens of drama group in Dewsbury village hall
July 2019
Rory Stewart outlines 'alternative parliament' to stop no-deal Brexit
Tory MP says Betty Boothroyd could be enlisted as Speaker if Johnson prorogues parliament
May 2017
How Betty Boothroyd eased our 7/7 anxiety
Letters: Reader Graham Head shares a memory of the aftermath of the 7/7 attacks on London, and how Baroness Boothroyd helped calm tensions among one group of commuters with a simple act of humanity
August 2015
Labour heading for scrapheap if it elects Jeremy Corbyn, says Betty Boothroyd
Former Speaker of the Commons claims the leadership frontrunner’s hard-left supporters are peddling same ‘claptrap’ that gripped party in the 1980s
July 2015
Votes or vetos? Betty Boothroyd joins experts to blast English laws proposal
Former Speaker and other parliamentary experts savage Tory plans that could ‘play into hands of nationalists’, as well as endangering union and both houses
December 2008
Gwyneth Dunwoody
Obituaries 2008: The longest-serving woman MP died on 17 April, aged 77, following emergency heart surgery.Baroness Betty Boothroyd, the former Commons speaker recalls her unique gifts
February 2008
Pressure mounts on Speaker amid complaints over his expenses
Michael Martin under growing pressure to explain his use of parliamentary expenses and allowances
April 2005
Order of Merit for Boothroyd and Attenborough
Buckingham Palace announced that Betty Boothroyd, the former Speaker of the Commons, Sir David Attenborough, the television naturalist, and Sir Michael Howard, the distinguished military historian, are to be added to the Order of Merit.
October 2001
When the Speaker speaks out
Julian Glover
Michael Martin, the Speaker of the House of Commons, should have kept quiet on refugee vouchers, says Julian Glover.
