Helen Liddell, Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke

The Right Honourable The Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke PC
British High Commissioner to Australia
In office 1 September 2005 – 1 October 2009
Preceded by	The Lord Goodlad
Succeeded by	The Baroness Amos
Secretary of State for Scotland
In office 24 January 2001 – 12 June 2003
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	John Reid
Succeeded by	Alistair Darling
Economic Secretary to the Treasury
In office 3 May 1997 – 27 July 1998
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Angela Knight
Succeeded by	Patricia Hewitt
Member of Parliament for Airdrie and Shotts
In office 1 May 1997 – 5 May 2005
Preceded by	Constituency Created
Succeeded by	John Reid
Member of Parliament for Monklands East
In office 30 June 1994 – 1 May 1997
Preceded by	John Smith
Succeeded by	Constituency Abolished
Personal details
Born	6 December 1950 (1950-12-06) Coatbridge, United Kingdom
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Alistair Liddell
Children	1 son, 1 daughter
Alma mater	University of Strathclyde
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Helen Lawrie Liddell, Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke (born 6 December 1950) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Monklands East from 1994 to 1997, and then for Airdrie and Shotts until 2005, whereafter she became the British High Commissioner to Australia until 2009. She also served as a Cabinet Minister as Secretary of State for Scotland.

On 28 May 2010 it was announced in the Dissolution Honours List that she would be made a life peer.

Early life

She was born Helen Lawrie Reilly, the daughter of a Catholic father and a Protestant mother, and she was educated at St. Patrick's Catholic High School on Muiryhall Street in Coatbridge, and attended at the same time as John Reid, whom she later replaced as Secretary of State for Scotland and also made way for as MP for Airdrie and Shotts.

She gained a BA in Economics from the University of Strathclyde. She is a member of the Labour Party and was the first female General Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party at the age of 26 from 1977-8.

Early career

A former BBC Scotland economics journalist from 1976-7, Liddell has taken flak for her closeness to media proprietor Robert Maxwell. Working as aide she famously followed him on one occasion in to a Gents' toilet while being recorded by a TV crew, she was also the public affairs director of Maxwell's Scottish Daily Record.

After Maxwell's disgrace she tried to distance herself from him claiming that she had never worked for Maxwell.

Parliamentary career

She contested East Fife in October 1974.

Liddell was first elected to Parliament in 1994, at the closely fought Monklands East by-election following John Smith's death.

She was Secretary of State for Scotland from 2001 to 2003, a position whose powers had been transferred to the Scottish Executive after devolution in 1999. She was a controversial character, dubbed Stalin's granny, Attila the Hen and the Nat Basher in Chief (because of her constant attacks on the Scottish National Party). In addition she angered the monks of Buckfast Abbey when she called on them to stop selling Buckfast Tonic Wine in Scotland. She was also dubbed Minister for Monarch of the Glen after several visits to the set of the hit BBC series.

The disclosure that she was able to work French lessons into her ministerial diary raised questions about the relevance of Scottish Secretary's job post-devolution and it was abolished as a full-time position in 2003, when the Scotland Office was rolled into the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

After politics

She took up appointment as the UK's High Commissioner to Australia in the summer of 2005. She was succeeded in the role by Valerie Amos in October 2009.

Like all former Cabinet ministers, she remains a member of the Privy Council.

Personal life

She married Alistair Liddell in 1972 and they have one son and one daughter.

Further reading

• Torrance, David, The Scottish Secretaries (Birlinn 2006)

External links

• Guardian Politics Ask Aristotle - Helen Liddell
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Helen Liddell MP
• Satirical website dedicated to Helen Liddell

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by John Smith	Member of Parliament for Monklands East 1994–1997	Constituency abolished
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Airdrie and Shotts 1997–2005	Succeeded by John Reid
Political offices
Preceded by Angela Knight	Economic Secretary to the Treasury 1997–1998	Succeeded by Patricia Hewitt
Preceded by John Reid	Secretary of State for Scotland 2001–2003	Succeeded by Alistair Darling
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by The Lord Goodlad	British High Commissioner to Australia 2005–2009	Succeeded by The Baroness Amos