Sylvia Heal

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Constituency Created
Succeeded byJames Morris
Member of Parliament
for Mid Staffordshire
In office
23 March 1990 – 16 March 1992
Preceded byJohn Heddle
Succeeded byMichael Fabricant
Personal details
Born
Sylvia Lloyd Fox

(1942-07-20) 20 July 1942 (age 81)
Shotton, Flintshire, Wales, UK
Political partyLabour
SpouseKeith Heal
RelationsAnn Keen, Alan Keen
Alma materSwansea University

Dame Sylvia Lloyd Heal

First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
from 2000 until she stood down from Parliament in 2010.

Early life

Born in Hawarden, Flintshire in north-east Wales, the daughter of Shotton steelworker John Lloyd-Fox and Ruby Hughes, she was educated at the Elfed Secondary Modern School (now Elfed High School) on Mill Lane in Buckley, the Coleg Harlech, and at Swansea University, where she was awarded a BSc in Economics in 1968.

She worked as a medical records clerk at the

Department of Employment for two years. For ten years from 1980 she worked as a social worker within a drug rehabilitation
centre. During her parliamentary interregnum she worked as a young carers officer with the National Carers Association from 1992 to 1997.

Parliamentary career

She was a member of the

Justice of the Peace in 1973. She was first elected to the House of Commons at the Mid Staffordshire by-election on 22 March 1990, which followed the suicide of the sitting Conservative MP John Heddle. She won the seat with a majority of 9,449 on a massive 21% swing from Conservative to Labour in a contest that was fought largely on the single issue of the Poll Tax. She lost the Mid Staffordshire seat two years later at the 1992 general election when she was ousted by the Conservative Michael Fabricant by a majority of 6,236. She was re-elected to Parliament at the 1997 general election for the new West Midlands
seat of Halesowen and Rowley Regis with a majority of 10,337 and remained the MP in the 2001 and 2005 general elections.

In her first spell in Parliament she served for two years as a member of the education select committee. She was also promoted to the front bench by Neil Kinnock in 1991 as a spokeswoman for health and women. Following her re-election in 1997 she was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence George Robertson and from 1999 his successor Geoff Hoon. She was appointed as a Deputy Speaker of the House in 2000, in which capacity she remained until her retirement from politics.

Sylvia Heal announced on 9 March 2010 that she would be stepping down at the 2010 general election,[1] and was succeeded by Conservative James Morris as MP.

She was appointed

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for political and public service.[2]

Personal life

Heal is the sister of Ann Keen, who was a Labour MP from 1997 to 2010, and sister-in-law to Alan Keen, who was a Labour MP from 1992 until his death in 2011.[3] She lives in Egham, Surrey, and she takes a keen interest in South Africa and enjoys gardening.[citation needed]

Electoral history

Local elections

Runnymede District Council Election 7 June 1973: Foxhills
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative B. Jarvis 873 57.6 New
Conservative G. Tollett 817
Conservative J. Walbridge 773
Liberal C. Boyde 399 26.3 New
Labour Sylvia Heal 243 16.0 New
Labour J. Pierce 180
Majority 474 31.3
Turnout 43.1
Conservative win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)
Runnymede District Council Election 6 May 1976: Egham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative R. Elliott 1,262 50.2
Conservative R. Try 1,120
Conservative A. Collins 1,076
Independent S. Oliver 552 22.0
Labour Sylvia Heal 442 17.6
Labour Joy Capper 442
Labour R. Jones 348
Liberal M. Brooks 255 10.2
Majority 710 28.3
Turnout 56.1
Conservative win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)

Parliamentary elections

Mid Staffordshire parliamentary by-election, 22 March 1990
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sylvia Heal 27,649 50.2 +24.4
Conservative Charles Prior 18,200 32.3 -18.3
Liberal Democrats Timothy Jones 6,315 11.2 -12.0
SDP
 Ian Wood 1,422 2.5 New
Green Robert Saunders 1,215 2.2 New
Ind. Conservative
 James Bazeley 547 1.0 New
Monster Raving Loony Screaming Lord Sutch 336 0.6 New
National Front
 John Hill 311 0.6 New
NHS Supporters Party Christopher Abell 102 0.2 New
Independent Nicholas Parker-Jenkins 71 0.1 New
Raving Loony Green Giant Stuart Hughes 59 0.1 New
Independent Lindi St Clair 51 0.1 New
Independent Bernard Mildwater 42 0.1 New
Christian Patriotic Alliance David Black 39 0.1 New
Majority 9,449 16.8
Turnout 56,359 77.5 -1.9
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +21.4
General election 1992: Mid Staffordshire[4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Fabricant 31,227 49.7 −0.9
Labour Sylvia Heal 24,991 39.8 +15.1
Liberal Democrats BJ Stamp 6,402 10.2 −13.0
Natural Law D Grice 239 0.4 New
Majority 6,236 9.9 −16.0
Turnout 62,859 85.6 +6.2
Conservative hold Swing −8.0
General election 1997: Halesowen and Rowley Regis[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sylvia Heal 26,366 54.1
Conservative John Kennedy 16,029 32.9
Liberal Democrats Elaine Todd 4,169 8.5
Referendum Alan White 1,244 2.6
National Democrats Karen Meads 592 1.2
Green Tim Weller 361 0.7
Majority 10,337 21.2
Turnout 48,761 73.6
Labour win (new seat)
General election 2001: Halesowen and Rowley Regis[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sylvia Heal 20,804 53.0 -1.1
Conservative Leslie Jones 13,445 34.2 +1.3
Liberal Democrats Patrick Harley 4,089 10.4 +1.9
UKIP Alan Sheath 936 2.4 New
Majority 7,359 18.8 -2.4
Turnout 39,274 59.8 -13.8
Labour hold Swing -1.2
General election 2005: Halesowen and Rowley Regis[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sylvia Heal 19,243 46.6 -6.4
Conservative Leslie Jones 14,906 36.1 +1.9
Liberal Democrats Martin Turner 5,204 12.6 +2.2
UKIP Nikki Sinclaire 1,974 4.8 +2.4
Majority 4,337 10.5 -10.3
Turnout 41,327 62.9 +3.1
Labour hold Swing -4.2

Publication

  • Couldn't Care More: Study of Young Carers and their Needs by Jenny Frank, foreword by Sylvia Heal, 1995, The Children's Society
    ISBN 0-907324-96-7

References

  1. ^ "Deputy speaker Sylvia Heal to stand down as MP". BBC News. 9 March 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  2. ^ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N8.
  3. ^ Watt, Holly (15 May 2009). "Ann and Alan Keen buy flat 10 miles from home: MPs' expenses". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  4. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  6. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Mid Staffordshire
1990–1992 		Succeeded by
New constituency Member of Parliament for Halesowen and Rowley Regis
1997–2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means
2000–2010 		Succeeded by
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