Farewell Shirley.. a trailblazer of politics
Rivals and colleagues pay tribute as SDP Gang of Four rebel Williams dies aged 90
SDP, Labour and Lib Dem “trailblazer” Shirley Williams has died aged 90.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey paid tribute to Baroness Williams of Crosby, saying she inspired millions.
As a Labour minister, she served in the governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan in the 70s, rising to become education secretary.
However, in 1981, having become disillusioned with Labour’s drift to the left under Michael Foot, she was one of the original “Gang of Four” to leave the party to form the centrist SDP, who later merged with the Liberals to become the Liberal Democrats.
Davey said: “Shirley has been an inspiration to millions, a Liberal lion and a true trailblazer. I feel privileged to have known her, listened to her and worked with her. Like so many others, I will miss her terribly. Political life will be poorer without her intellect, her wisdom and her generosity.”
Lady Williams entered Parliament as a Labour MP in 1964.
She was originally seen as being on the left of the party, but by the early 80s, alarmed at the direction Labour was taking under Michael Foot, she joined David Owen, Roy Jenkins and Bill Rodgers in the new SDP in an attempt to “break the mould of British politics”.
The party enjoyed some initial success in alliance with the Liberal Party, with Lady Williams winning Crosby for the SDP in a by-election, only to lose it two years later in the 1983 general election.
After the SDP failed to make the electoral breakthrough its founders had hoped for, she became an advocate of merger with the Liberals in what became the current Liberal Democrat Party.
In 1993, she was made a life peer, retiring as the party’s leader in the House of Lords in 2004.
Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Willie Rennie described Williams as a “force of nature”, saying she had been “one of the foremost female politicians of her generation”.
He said: “Shirley was a personal inspiration to me, sparking that initial interest in politics in the 1980s. She had the sharpest mind, a stubborn doggedness and a warm personality. “She was interested in people’s views, especially opponents. I still recall her gently holding the hand of an independence supporter on Dunfermline High Street as she listened intently to her opposing opinion. It lasted a good 10 minutes which on a busy campaign visit was a very long time.” Former prime minister Tony Blair said: “Shirley Williams was one of the greatest social democrats of the last century, an immense figure of progressive politics through the decades, consistent in her commitment to equality, to social justice, to liberal social democratic values and to internationalism. She will be greatly missed.” Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said she was “one of a kind”.