Shirley Williams Has Died

[drmorgans]

The former Labour Cabinet minister and founder of the Social Democratic Party has died aged 90. She sat as a Lib-Dem peer in the Lords.

[davebro]

//Unfortunately our voting system is unkind to small parties and very unkind indeed ultimately to political mavericks.//

//That nightmare so haunted Cameron, that he caved in to UKIP, to avoid history repeating//

Yes - with 4 million UKIP votes nationwide & only one seat in parliament I think that exposed our electoral system for the farce it is!

[ichkeria]

It’s worth repeating for the umpteenth time that Cameron “caved in” to his own Eurosceptics. He never took UKIP seriously.
In fact of course he never seriously thought he’d lose a referendum or he’d never have put it in the manifesto. In fact he probably didn’t think he’d even need to call it.
In fact ironically a lot of UKIP those have since joined the Tories. Now that UKIP is effectively dead in body as well as in mind, it’s plain that Cameron’s scheme was up there as one of the most disastrously misjudged ever. It’s a shame Dame Shirley ended up in the political wilderness. She had more political weight in her little finger than 10 Camerons

[ToraToraTora]

ich: "It’s worth repeating for the umpteenth time that Cameron “caved in” to his own Eurosceptics. He never took UKIP seriously. " - have day off, he was terrified of Lord Nige, why else would he promise a referendum?

[ToraToraTora]

"It’s a shame Dame Shirley ended up in the political wilderness. She had more political weight in her little finger than 10 Camerons " - how? she had no clue, backed the wrong thing all the time, was never in a party that could make any headway, constantly misread the population of the UK, terrible politician.

[Mamyalynne]

Just a note Tora, I can only speak for myself here, I was paying respect to a lady who has died.

No thrall involved.

[Ellipsis]

RIP Dame Shirley

[ichkeria]

“ had no clue, backed the wrong thing all the time, was never in a party that could make any headway, constantly misread the population of the UK, terrible politician”

I naturally disagree but in any case I don’t think it alters my point re Cameron :-)

[New Judge]

As a point of order, Shirley Williams was a Baroness (Baroness Williams of Crosby) not a Dame. She declined a DBE when it was offered to her by James Callaghan.

[jourdain2]

I haven't read any other answers - my reaction is 'Oh no, I'm so sorry that she is no longer here. Politics apart, she was a very decent, honest woman, who did her best'.

[Peter Pedant]

nice woman wrexks education for half a century
god I am glad it is not me

[Bazile]

Can't we just pay our respects ,without all the criticisms ?

[Jackdaw33]

It cannot be denied that the SDP and its successors, the Alliance and the Lib-Dems, kept the Tories in power for almost two decades by splitting the left-wing vote.

[Khandro]

Rest in Peace Shirley, but the leftist ideology you pushed, along with your friends onto the British educational system, destroyed many good long-established successful grammar schools.

[naomi24]

^ True.

[emmie]

sad i know, but she got to a good age, i didn't go along with her politics, being a one time Labour MP, then one of the gang of 4.

i remember her mother Vera Brittain, who wrote my favourite book Testament of Youth.

[ichkeria]

Thanks NJ
“Dame” didn’t feel right when I was posting.
However I was over my wiki quota ;-)

[Paigntonian]

I thought Labour won a landslide in 1997.

[emmie]

labour did win a landslide in 97

[emmie]

she wasn't a Labour MP in 97 i dont believe

[ToraToraTora]

paigntonian: " thought Labour won a landslide in 1997. " - a party called (new) Labour won in 1997 but they were essentially a Thatcherrite Tory government led by TGL admirer Tony Blair. No one seriously thinks they were real Labour. The last real Labour election victory was in 1974 and even that was a tiny majority.