Helen Liddell

Helen Lawrie Liddell (born 6 December 1950, in Coatbridge, Scotland) is a British politician, was MP for Monklands East, then for Airdrie and Shotts from 1994 to 2005, and is British High Commissioner to Australia. She is officially titled The Rt. Hon. Mrs Helen Liddell.

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 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 SNP). 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 Glenafter 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. She took up appointment as the UK's High Commissioner to Australia in the summer of 2005 which was a rare political appointment to a post normally reserved for career diplomats.

Like the majority of 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