Hilary Armstrong

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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 (age 78)
Paul Corrigan
Alma materUniversity of East London
University of Birmingham
WebsiteOfficial website

Hilary Jane Armstrong, Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top,

DL (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
.

Early life

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][2] 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.[3]

Parliamentary career

Armstrong was

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

trades union (formerly MSF).[citation needed] Her union ties helped her gain support in rewriting Clause IV.[4]

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.[5]

In government

Armstrong spent two years as Minister for Housing and Planning and four years as Minister for Local Government in the

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.[6] However the rumours that she would resign the post[7] 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."[8] 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?"[9]

On 5 May 2006 Armstrong was appointed

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.[10]

She formally resigned from the government on 27 June 2007 when Tony Blair resigned as Prime Minister, she was succeeded by Ed Miliband the following day. 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.[citation needed]

Post-Government

On 4 July 2009, Armstrong announced her intention to stand down at the 2010 general election.[11]

On 18 June 2010, she was created a

County of Durham,[12] and was introduced in the House of Lords on 6 July 2010.[13]

She was interviewed in 2014 as part of The History of Parliament's oral history project.[14]

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

complaints within Labour.[15] 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.[16]

Personal life

Armstrong is married to

Paul Corrigan
.

References

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for North West Durham

19872010
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Government Chief Whip of the House of Commons
2001–2006
Succeeded by
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
2001–2006
Preceded by Minister for the Cabinet Office
2006–2007
Succeeded by
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
2006–2007
Preceded by Minister for Social Exclusion
2006–2007
Position abolished
Party political offices
Preceded by Labour Chief Whip of the House of Commons
2001–2006
Succeeded by