Member News
In an interview with The House Magazine, Baroness Williams recounts how close the Social Democratic Party came to power in 1983.
"A day before the party’s launch, Roy [Jenkins] and I agreed that it would be at least 20 years before it achieved any major breakthrough," she said.
"We thought there would be more volatility and that it would be quite hard to survive at all – we didn’t envisage an incremental slow rise, which is what we’re looking at now with the Lib Dems."
"We got really close in 1983, closer than even we could believe, but we were slapped right across the kisser by the corrupt voting system kept carefully in place by the two old parties."
And she recalls that her decision not to stand against Jenkins for the party leadership after defecting from Labour was in part down to the sense of "awe" she held him in.
"In most women, even today, there’s a tendency to be the bridesmaid, not the bride," she said.
Speaking to The House Magazine, Baroness Williams also recounts her experiences as new MP in 1964.
"The institution was very uneasy about women, and I was treated as a sweet little featherhead – particularly by the Conservative and older union-leader MPs," she said.
"Harold Wilson was the only prime minister I ever encountered, including my favourite Jim Callaghan, who had no sense of gender prejudice at all."
Also in this week's House Magazine Sam Macrory considers the public administration committee’s report on parliamentary oversight of the GOATs, Prof Paul Whiteley examines the effect of the Ashcroft affair on the polls and Chris Moncrieff offers his take on the world of Westminster.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd