Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd (8 October 1929 – 26 February 2023), was a British politician who served as a member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000. A member of the Labour Party, she served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1992 to 2000. She was previously a Deputy Speaker from 1987 to 1992. She was the first and as of 2026, the only woman to serve as Speaker. Boothroyd later sat in the House of Lords as, in accordance with tradition, a crossbench peer.
Boothroyd was born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, in 1929, as the only child of Ben Archibald Boothroyd (1886–1948) and his second wife Mary (née Butterfield, 1901–1982), both textile workers.
Boothroyd was educated at council schools and went on to study at Dewsbury College of Commerce and Art (now Kirklees College). Boothroyd joined the Labour Party as a teenager. She attended Labour League of Youth rallies in Huddersfield, Leeds and Wakefield to listen to speeches by Labour politicians Clement Attlee, Jennie Lee, Aneurin Bevan and Alice Bacon.
Boothroyd's first job was at Bickers department store in Dewsbury. From 1946 to 1952, she worked as a dancer, as a member of the Tiller Girls dancing troupe, briefly appearing at the London Palladium in the West End. A foot infection brought an end to her dancing career and she entered politics, something then unusual, as the political world was heavily male-dominated and mostly aristocratic.
During the mid-to-late 1950s, Boothroyd worked as secretary to Labour MPs Barbara Castle and Geoffrey de Freitas. In 1960, she travelled to the United States to see the Kennedy campaign. She subsequently worked in Washington, DC as a legislative assistant to American Congressman Silvio Conte, between 1960 and 1962. When she returned to London, she resumed her work as a secretary and political assistant to various senior Labour politicians including Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Harry Walston. In 1965, she was elected to a seat on Hammersmith Borough Council, in Gibbs Green ward, where she remained until 1968.
Standing for the Labour Party, Boothroyd contested several seats – Leicester South East in 1957, Peterborough in 1959, Nelson and Colne in 1968, and Rossendale in 1970 – before being elected Member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich in a by-election in May 1973. She represented the constituency for 27 years and was succeeded by Adrian Bailey in 2000.
In 1974, Boothroyd was appointed an assistant Government Whip. In 1975, she became a Government-appointed member of the then European Common Assembly (ECSC) until she was discharged in 1977. In 1979, she became a member of the Select committee on Foreign Affairs, until 1981, and of the Speaker's Panel of Chairmen, until 1 January 2000. She was a member of the Labour Party National Executive Committee (NEC) from 1981 to 1987, and the House of Commons Commission from 1983 to 1987.
Following the 1987 general election Boothroyd became a Deputy Speaker to the Speaker Bernard Weatherill. She was the second female Deputy Speaker in British history after Betty Harvie Anderson. In 1992 she was elected Speaker by a cross-party majority 372 to 238 votes, becoming the first woman to hold the position and the first Opposition MP to be elected Speaker. After her election, MPs broke with Commons protocol by standing and applauding her to her chair.
There was debate about whether Boothroyd should wear the traditional Speaker's Wig. She chose not to but stated that any subsequent Speakers would be free to choose to wear the wig or not; none have since done so. In answer to the debate as to how she should be addressed as Speaker, Boothroyd said: "Call me Madam".
In 1992, Boothroyd was named Parliamentarian of the Year.
In July 1992, Boothroyd expelled Dennis Skinner from the Commons when he refused to withdraw remarks that John Gummer was a "wart" and a "little "squirt." In July 1994, Boothroyd "forced" Rod Richards to apologise to her and the house for calling Peter Hain a "liar". She also suspended Northern Ireland MP Ian Paisley for "un-Parliamentary language."
In 1993, the Government won a vote on the Social Chapter of the Maastricht Treaty due to her casting vote (exercised in accordance with Speaker Denison's rule). It was subsequently discovered that Boothroyd's casting vote had not been required, as the votes had been miscounted, and the Government had won by one vote.
Boothroyd was keen to get young people interested in politics, and in the 1990s appeared as a special guest on the BBC's Saturday morning children's programme Live & Kicking. She featured on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs in 1993. Her favourite track was Rock-A-Bye by Judy Garland, her book was A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth and her luxury item was the Mace of the House of Commons.
In March 1997, Boothroyd banned bleepers and electronic prompters from the Commons chamber.
In May 1997, Boothroyd was re-elected as Speaker unopposed, polling a doubled majority of 15,423. She was nominated by Gwyeth Dunwoody.
Boothroyd represented the Commons internationally by speaking at Parliamentary lower houses, including the United States House of Representatives, the Russian Duma and the Indian Lok Sabha. She met political leaders including President of South Africa Nelson Mandela and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
On 12 July 2000, following Prime Minister's Questions, Boothroyd announced to the House of Commons she would resign as Speaker after the summer recess. Tony Blair, then prime minister, paid tribute to her as "something of a national institution". Blair's predecessor, John Major, described her as an "outstanding Speaker". She stepped down as Speaker and resigned as an MP on 23 October 2000. In farewell speech she said: "Remember always that the privileges that this House enjoys were dearly won and must never be squandered." She was succeeded by Michael Martin.
Her signature catchphrase in closing Prime Minister's Questions each week was "Time's up!"