Britannist

Reporter John Craig said on Sky Television News at 1.06 am on 18.4.2008 about The Late Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody "She was one of the giants of an MP. She was MP in Exeter but lost her seat in 1970. She came back as MP for Crewe and was briefly a junior Minister. She was even named as a possible Speaker. She was one of the great Select Committee Chairmen. She was a backbench star. My goodness she could give some of those witnesses attending the Transport Committee a torrid time. Some in the Blair Government (allegedly) thought that she was a troublemaker because in the eyes of the Government of Blair her Committee reports embarrassed them - they tried to get rid of her as Transport Committee Chairman."

Mr. Craig added "She was sponsored by the National Union of Railwaymen to be MP for the great railway town of Crewe." He also said "She was the last of the MPs elected in Harold Wilson's victory of 1966 - she was an independent spirit who will be sorely missed in the Commons and she had real gravitas." He concluded "A sad day."

Former Labour MP Tam Dalyell told Sky Television News "Gwyneth could have been 'Mother of the House of Commons' had she not lost her seat at Exeter in 1970." 'Mother (or 'Father') of the House of Commons' is a title held by the MP with the longest continuous period of membership of the Commons. Mr. Dalyell said that Exeter was "an unholdable seat as far as the Labour Party was concerned."

"She was a stalwart MP much-loved by her constituents" a Labour Party statement read out on Sky News said.

youcanhandlethetruth

Though I initially held the same view as eublues, Britannist gives an excellent explanation and shows that there are still MP's in the HoC with a consciensce to do the right thing irrespective of their party.

Britannist's point also shows how much party politics has changed and is changing today - unfortunately for the worse.
The party today is undoubtedly not the same Labour party of old and "the end of an era" seems quite an accurate assessment with respect to her.

But this should give hope to us all to lobby those in government to work on our behalf - whether we are with their party or not - they should still represent people's concerns and be pushed to do so.

I am not one to speak in favour of the political system which has failed so many, but we should remember they are human beings - well some of them are anyway !

If you read her website, a lot of her views represent a conservative view and she doesn't seem like a typical new-Labour MP.

Quite sad.

I wonder which Labour upstart will replace her...

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Before tyranny and television, "conspiracy theorists" never existed.

cointelpro/halfwits: Akria,Clippo,Besoeker,Bear,Eurosceptic Antlantacist,MikeUK

Britannist

Thank you for your kind words YCHTT.

Britannist

Yes, the loss of Mrs. Dunwoody - the last of the MPs elected in 1966 still in the Commons - means that it is the end of an era. The europhile plan to infilrate the Labour Party and turn it from a naturally pro-sovereignty (anti-EU) party into a party largely led and operated by lightweight dreary unprincipled careerists who hate this country who are committed to the euro and EU Superstate is almost complete.

Britannist

Which is why she was popular - she never allowed herself to be turned into a 'New' Labour Blair clone.

Britannist

Exactly the same thought crossed my mind.

One thing is for sure - whoever replaces Mrs. Dunwoody as Labour candidate at Crewe-Nantwich will be a europhile. It appears that every time there is a vacancy for the Labour candidacy in a seat held by a a eurosceptic or anti-EU Labour MP s/he is replaced by a 'New' Labour Blairite europhile.

Britannist

Britannist

Former Conservative Parliamentary candidate Iain Dale is saddened, as we all are, to hear of the loss of Mrs. Dunwoody (please click on the following link and see the article in the section dated 17.4.2008):

Iain Dale's Diary

Britannist

Brief extracts from the article by Iain Dale on the link given in the last posting to this thread:

"I've had it confirmed that Gwyneth Dunwoody passed away this evening... Very sad. A real character and a great example of an independent minded MP. She will truly be mourned by everyone in politics. She would have made a truly great Speaker. She was a great mimic and delighted in self deprecation. There aren't many politicians who will be missed as much by their political opponents as their allies, but Gwyneth is one."

Britannist

Mrs. Dunwoody, whose Commons Transport Committee described the EU Galileo satellite system as an “EU vanity project”, was among those in the Labour Party campaigning for a referendum on the EU Constitution (Lisbon Treaty):

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...=OTC-Autonolnk

Galileo is an EU vanity project, say MPs - 12 Nov 2007 - Computing