Hilary Armstrong

Hilary Jane Armstrong, Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top, PC (born 30 November 1945) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Durham from 1987 to 2010.

The Right Honourable

The Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top

PC DL
Minister for the Cabinet Office
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
5 May 2006 – 27 June 2007
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byJim Murphy (Acting)
Succeeded byEd Miliband
Minister for Social Exclusion
In office
5 May 2006 – 27 June 2007
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byPhil Woolas
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Chief Whip of the House of Commons
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
In office
8 June 2001 – 5 May 2006
Prime MinisterTony Blair
DeputyKeith Hill
Bob Ainsworth
Preceded byAnn Taylor
Succeeded byJacqui Smith
Minister of State for Local Government
In office
2 May 1997 – 8 June 2001
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byDavid Curry
Succeeded byNick Raynsford
Minister of State for Housing and Planning
In office
2 May 1997 – 29 July 1999
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byRobert Jones
Succeeded byNick Raynsford
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition
In office
24 July 1992 – 12 May 1994
LeaderJohn Smith
Preceded byAdam Ingram
Succeeded byBruce Grocott
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
18 June 2010
Life Peerage
Member of Parliament
for North West Durham
In office
11 June 1987 – 12 April 2010
Preceded byErnest Armstrong
Succeeded byPat Glass
Personal details
Born (1945-11-30) 30 November 1945
Sunderland, United Kingdom
Political partyLabour
Spouse(s)Paul Corrigan
Alma materUniversity of East London
University of Birmingham
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life
Birmingham University

Armstrong was born on 30 November 1945 to Hannah P. Lamb and Ernest Armstrong, a Labour Party politician. She attended Monkwearmouth Grammar School before going on to take a BSc in sociology at West Ham Technical Institute (now the University of East London) and a Diploma in Social Work from the University of Birmingham.[1] A former social worker and university lecturer, Armstrong worked for VSO in Kenya before entering politics. She was first elected as Durham County Councillor for Crook North Division in 1985.

She was shortlisted for the vacant Sedgefield constituency in 1983, only to lose out to Tony Blair, who went on to be elected MP. Four years later, at the 1987 general election, she was elected to her father's North West Durham seat on his retirement, increasing his majority by 3,806 to 10,162.[2]

Parliamentary career

Armstrong was parliamentary private secretary to John Smith during his time as Labour leader, and played a large part in his successful fight to institute One member, one vote at Labour's party conference.

Armstrong was seen as a politician on the right of the Labour Party, and was close politically to her near neighbour Tony Blair and the New Labour agenda. However, she is also a member of the Amicus trades union (formerly MSF), and her trade union links were useful when she helped to shore up support for the rewriting of Clause IV.

In the 1992 general election, Armstrong retained her North West Durham constituency by defeating two future party leaders, Theresa May of the Conservatives, who became Prime Minister in 2016, and Tim Farron of the Liberal Democrats.[3]

In government

Armstrong spent two years as Minister for Housing and Planning and four years as Minister for Local Government in the Department for the Environment, Transport, and the Regions and then the Department for Transport, Local Government, and the Regions, before being promoted into the Cabinet of the United Kingdom as Chief Whip after the 2001 election. This was the high point of a political career which was low-key but generally successful; though she endured controversies over select committee membership and over allegations of strong arm tactics with Labour dissenters over military action in Afghanistan.[4]

Armstrong also faced criticism after government defeats in the Commons over the length of time suspected terrorists could be detained without charge, and incitement to religious hatred provisions in the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005. Press commentators speculated that in losing these votes through miscalculating government support, and in one instance letting the Prime Minister off the "Whip" because she believed the vote was won, Armstrong's position had become vulnerable.[5] However the rumours that she would resign the post[6] proved unfounded.

Afterwards, Conservative leader David Cameron mocked Armstrong during an exchange with Tony Blair, saying "She must be the first Chief Whip in history to put the Prime Minister in the frame for losing a key vote—which is an interesting career move, to say the least."[7] This was the second time David Cameron had attacked her during Prime Minister's Questions; on his debut as Leader of the Opposition on 7 December 2005, Cameron singled her out by saying, "That's the problem with these exchanges—the chief whip on the Labour side shouting like a child. Is she finished? Are you finished?"[8]

On 5 May 2006 Armstrong was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Minister for Social Exclusion. In 2006, Armstrong launched a petition on behalf of the Bethnal Green and Bow Labour Party against Labour turned Respect MP George Galloway's participation in Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother. She criticised Galloway for being paid as an MP during the time he was in the Big Brother house. Galloway responded by saying he planned to refund the taxpayer after his exit from the show as he would not know how much to refund until then.[9]

She formally resigned from the government on 27 June 2007 when Tony Blair resigned as Prime Minister. On becoming Prime Minister, Gordon Brown announced Armstrong's appointment as Chair of a Parliamentary Labour Party Manifesto Committee drawing up policy ideas covering children.

Post-Government

On 4 July 2009, Armstrong announced her intention to stand down at the 2010 general election.[10]

On 18 June 2010, she was created a life peer as Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top, of Crook in the County of Durham,[11] and was introduced in the House of Lords on 6 July 2010.[12]

She was interviewed in 2014 as part of The History of Parliament's oral history project.[13]

She is a member of the Joint Committee on the Draft Domestic Abuse Bill.

On 19 July 2019, Armstrong's North West Durham constituency party voted to expel her from the party after she and 67 other Labour peers published an advert in The Guardian on 17 July claiming that Jeremy Corbyn had “failed the test of leadership” over his handling of antisemitism complaints within Labour.[14] However, the vote was non-binding as only the National Executive has the mandate to expel members. She is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.[15]

Personal life

Armstrong is married to Paul Corrigan.

gollark: We inducted over infinitely many integers.
gollark: Yes.
gollark: We used all the budget on induction.
gollark: It wasn't trivial. I had to deploy highly advanced inductive methods to determine the extent of your bluffing.
gollark: I guessed *all but one person* wrong, which is not *everyone*.

References
  1. Armstrong of Hill Top. Who's who. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.5722.
  2. University of Keele – Political Science Resources – 1987 general election
  3. "Tim Farron: the Christian Lefty on course to be elected Liberal Democrat leader". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  4. BBC News – Hilary Armstrong MP profile
  5. The Times – Whips in turmoil as Blair's no-show castrates hate Bill
  6. The Guardian – Government suffers chaotic double defeat over bill to combat religious hatred
  7. BBC News – Blair to push ahead with reforms
  8. The Guardian – He's in front of you, Tony
  9. The Sunday Herald – Galloway: pledge to pay back taxpayers' money to cover absence (via FindArticles.com)
  10. "Two North East MPs standing down". BBC News Online. 4 July 2009.
  11. "No. 59467". The London Gazette. 23 June 2010. p. 11801.
  12. House of Lords Business, 22 June 2010
  13. "Hilary Armstrong interviewed by Emma Peplow". British Library Sound Archive. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  14. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/20/hilary-armstrong-ex-chief-whip-expel-labour-party
  15. "LFI Supporters in Parliament". Labour Friends of Israel. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Ernest Armstrong		 Member of Parliament
for North West Durham
1987–2010		 Succeeded by
Pat Glass
Political offices
Preceded by
Ann Taylor		 Government Chief Whip of the House of Commons
2001–2006		 Succeeded by
Jacqui Smith
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
2001–2006
Preceded by
Jim Murphy
Acting		 Minister for the Cabinet Office
2006–2007		 Succeeded by
Ed Miliband
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
2006–2007
Preceded by
Phil Woolas		 Minister for Social Exclusion
2006–2007		 Position abolished
Party political offices
Preceded by
Ann Taylor		 Labour Chief Whip of the House of Commons
2001–2006		 Succeeded by
Jacqui Smith
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