Friday, April 18, 2008

Gwyneth Dunwoody: Rest in Peace


Gwyneth Dunwoody MP has died. A battler and a character first elected in Exeter (1964-1970), but latterly (1974-2008) MP for Crewe/Crewe & Nantwich. Longest serving woman MP (39+ years) and longest continuous woman MP (34+ years). Formidable and independent chair of Transport Select Committee since 1997.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

a nasty pro hunting, pro fur wearing individual, good riddance

Chris Paul said...

ouch, you oh so brave animal libber you

Anonymous said...

She was downright rude and her 'social justice' amounted to being a Parliamentary spokesperson for the fur industry and being a supporter of bloodsports. I for one will not mourn someone who spent her time defending sadism and barbarism.

Harry Barnes said...

Anonymous and John Barrett express views which at one time tended to shape my own attitude to Gwyneth, but I changed my views about her radically when I came to know her and saw her in action in the Commons -see http://threescoreyearsandten.blogspot.com/2008/04/understanding-gwyneth.html

tory boys never grow up said...

I totally agree with Harry - if everyone in the Labour Party agreed with each other it wouldn't be tenable not to say extremely boring. Gwyneth had the skill of combining an independent voice with loyalty to the Party - something which others still need to learn (Bob Marshall Andrews springs to mind). I don't think that there was ever any question of her running off to the SDP.

I once had the pleasure of sitting next to Gwyneth for an hour at Conference and her running commentary was an absolute delight even though I didn't always agree with the political stance being put forward.

What really sticks in my craw at the moment are all the saccharine tributes from the Tories - I'm sure Gwyneth would have a marvellous put down for them.

Chris Paul said...

Thanks Harry and TBNGU. Anon and JB comments are harsh. The real downside of the animal welfare tendancy is this utter disrespect for human beings and for alternative views.

This is Harry's link.