Judith Hart 1924-1991

Rt Hon Dame Judith Hart DBE, later Baroness Hart of South Lanark

Until recently she was the longest serving female MP

Became Labour MP for Lanark in 1959. She was joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary for State for Scotland 1964–66, Minister of State for Commonwealth Affairs 1966–67, and Minister of Social Security 1967–68.

She entered the cabinet in 1968 as Paymaster General and became Minister of Overseas Development in 1969, but was no longer a member of the cabinet. In March 1974 she again became Minister of Overseas Development.

MP for Lanark 1959 - 1979 and Clydesdale 1979 – 1987

She was made a Dame in 1979 and a life peer in 1988

(Helen Liddell became the first woman secretary of State for Scotland in 2001.)

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