Lena Jeger, Baroness Jeger

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Geoffrey Johnson Smith
Succeeded byFrank Dobson
In office
19 November 1953 – 18 September 1959
Preceded bySanto Jeger
Succeeded byGeoffrey Johnson-Smith
Personal details
Born
Lena May Chivers

(1915-11-19)19 November 1915
Yorkley, Gloucestershire, England
Died26 February 2007(2007-02-26) (aged 91)
Royal Marsden Hospital
Political partyLabour
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1948; died 1953)​
Birkbeck College, University of London

Lena May Jeger, Baroness Jeger (née Chivers; 19 November 1915 – 26 February 2007) was a British Labour MP during two periods. She followed her husband as Member of Parliament for Holborn and St Pancras South, holding the seat from 1953 to 1959. She retook the seat in 1964, retaining it until 1979, when she became a life peer.

Early life

She was born Lena May Chivers in

HM Customs & Excise.[1]

During the Second World War she worked at the

Foreign Office. A fluent Russian speaker, she edited the British Ally, a newspaper published by the British government in the Soviet Union.[2]

She also worked at the British Embassy in Moscow. In 1948, she married Dr

The Manchester Guardian from 1951 to 1955.[citation needed
]

Political career

Jeger was elected to the

Geoffrey Johnson Smith.[3]

After a period working for The Guardian, she regained her seat in the 1964 general election.[4] The seat was renamed Camden, Holborn and St Pancras South in 1974, and she retained it until the 1979 general election. Despite the Conservative election victory, her seat was retained by Labour's Frank Dobson.[5]

Jeger served on the Labour Party's National Executive Committee from 1968 until 1980, becoming chair in 1979.[6] Following her retirement from the House of Commons she was created a life peer as Baroness Jeger, of St Pancras in Greater London, on 11 July 1979.[7] In the House of Lords, she served as opposition spokesman on health, and then on social security.[3]

She was chairman of the party in 1979 to 1980, and was the first peer to take the chair at the Labour party conference, at Blackpool in September 1980.[8] She continued to write occasional pieces for The Guardian from 1964 to 2003, particularly obituaries.

Frank Dobson said of her career, "She pursued causes which may have become fashionable now, but were highly controversial when she espoused them."[9] Jeger believed that MPs should "give a lead to public opinion and not always follow it."[6]

Death

Lena Jeger suffered from poor health in her last years. She was treated at the

Royal Marsden hospital for cancer,[8] and was granted a leave of absence from the House of Lords.[10] She died, aged 91, on 26 February 2007. She had no children.[3]

References

  1. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U21932. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  2. ^ "Obituary: Lena Jeger". Camden New Journal. 8 March 2007. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "Baroness Jeger", The Times, p. 78, 2 March 2007, retrieved 16 March 2014
  4. ^ "Veteran Labour peeress dies at 91". BBC News. 2 March 2007. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  5. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/98661. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  6. ^ a b "Baroness Jeger", The Guardian, 3 March 2007, retrieved 16 March 2014
  7. ^ "No. 47907". The London Gazette. 17 July 1979. p. 9009.
  8. ^ a b "Lady Jeger", The Daily Telegraph, 16 March 2007, retrieved 16 March 2014
  9. Birkbeck University
    : 15.
  10. ^ Minutes and Order Paper – Minutes of Proceedings, House of Lords, retrieved 16 March 2014

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Holborn and St Pancras South
1953–1959 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Holborn and St Pancras South
1964–1979 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
Chair of The Labour Party

1979–1980 		Succeeded by
Alex Kitson
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