Sylvia Heal
Encyclopedia
Sylvia Lloyd Heal is a British
Labour Party
politician who was the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Halesowen and Rowley Regis from 1997
to 2010, having previously been the MP for Mid Staffordshire
from 1990 to 1992
. She served as the First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means
and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
.
, north-east Wales
, the daughter of Shotton
steelworker John Lloyd-Fox and Ruby Hughes, she was educated at the Elfed Secondary Modern School (now Elfed High School
) on Mill Lane in Buckley
, the Coleg Harlech
, and at Swansea University
, where she was awarded a BSc
in Economics
in 1968.
She worked as a medical records clerk at the Chester Royal Infirmary
for six years from 1957. In 1968 she was appointed as a social worker with the Department of Employment for two years. For ten years from 1980 she worked as a social worker within a drug rehabilitation
centre. During her parliamentary interregnum she worked as a young carers officer with the National Carers Association from 1992-7.
for four years from 1960, and was appointed as a Justice of the Peace
in 1973. She was first elected to the House of Commons at the Mid Staffordshire
by-election
on 22 March 1990, which followed the suicide
of the sitting Conservative
MP John Heddle
. She won the seat with a majority of 9,449 on a massive 21% swing from Conservative to Labour in a contest that was fought largely on the single issue of the Poll Tax. She lost the Mid Staffordshire seat two years later at the 1992 general election
when she was ousted by the Conservative Michael Fabricant
by a majority of 6,236. She was re-elected to Parliament at the 1997 general election
for the new West Midlands
seat of Halesowen and Rowley Regis with a majority of 10,337 and remained the MP in the 2001 and 2005 general elections.
In her first spell in Parliament she served for two years as a member of the education select committee. She was also promoted to the front bench
by Neil Kinnock
in 1991 as a spokeswoman for health and women. Following her re-election in 1997 she was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary
to the Secretary of State for Defence
George Robertson
and from 1999 his successor Geoff Hoon
. She was appointed as a Deputy Speaker of the House in 2000, in which capacity she remained until her retirement from politics.
Sylvia Heal announced on 9 March 2010 that she would be stepping down at the 2010 general election, and was succeeded by Conservative James Morris as MP.
, who was a Labour MP from 1997 to 2010, and sister-in-law to Alan Keen
, who was a Labour MP from 1992 until his death in 2011. She lives in Egham
, Surrey
, and she takes a keen interest in South Africa
and enjoys gardening
.
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician who was the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Halesowen and Rowley Regis from 1997
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
to 2010, having previously been the MP for Mid Staffordshire
Mid Staffordshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Mid Staffordshire was a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom from 1983 until 1997.It covered a swathe of territory across the centre of Staffordshire, stretching from Lichfield and Rugeley in the south to Stone in the north....
from 1990 to 1992
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
. She served as the First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means
Committee of Ways and Means
The Committee of Ways and Means is a government body that is charged with reviewing and making recommendations for government budgets. The term "Ways and Means" originated with the English Parliament and refers to the provision of revenue to meet national expenditure requirements and to forward...
and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
.
Early life
Born as Sylvia Lloyd Fox in HawardenHawarden
Hawarden is a village in Flintshire, North Wales. Hawarden forms part of the Deeside conurbation on the Welsh/English border. At the 2001 Census, the population of Hawarden Ward was 1,858...
, north-east Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, the daughter of Shotton
Shotton, Flintshire
Shotton is a town in Flintshire, north Wales, lying on the River Dee. The name derives from the Old Norse words sjò and tùn . It is continuous with the towns of Connah's Quay and Queensferry in what is called Deeside...
steelworker John Lloyd-Fox and Ruby Hughes, she was educated at the Elfed Secondary Modern School (now Elfed High School
Elfed High School
Elfed High School is a high school on Mill Lane in Buckley, Flintshire, in northeast Wales.-Admissions:The student population is 750. It is a predominantly English speaking school, but the Welsh language and ethos is integrated throughout the broad ranging curriculum offered to students...
) on Mill Lane in Buckley
Buckley
Buckley is a town and community in Flintshire, located in north-east Wales. It is situated 2 miles from the county town of Mold and is contiguous with the nearby villages of Ewloe, Alltami and Mynydd Isa...
, the Coleg Harlech
Coleg Harlech
Coleg Harlech is a further education college for mature students in Harlech, Gwynedd.It is Wales' only long-term, mature students education college and was established in 1927 by Thomas Jones , Cabinet Secretary to both David Lloyd George and Stanley Baldwin, to continue the work of Workers'...
, and at Swansea University
Swansea University
Swansea University is a university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Swansea University was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it changed its name to the University of Wales Swansea following structural changes...
, where she was awarded a BSc
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
in 1968.
She worked as a medical records clerk at the Chester Royal Infirmary
Chester Royal Infirmary
The former Chester Royal Infirmary is located in City Walls Road, Chester, Cheshire, England. The original hospital building has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.-History:...
for six years from 1957. In 1968 she was appointed as a social worker with the Department of Employment for two years. For ten years from 1980 she worked as a social worker within a drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
centre. During her parliamentary interregnum she worked as a young carers officer with the National Carers Association from 1992-7.
Parliamentary career
She was a member of the Young Socialists National CouncilLabour Party Young Socialists
The Labour Party Young Socialists was the name of the youth section of the British Labour Party from 1965 until 1993. The LPYS was the most successful of the youth sections of the Labour Party in the post war period, at one point having nearly 600 branches and attendances at its national...
for four years from 1960, and was appointed as a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
in 1973. She was first elected to the House of Commons at the Mid Staffordshire
Mid Staffordshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Mid Staffordshire was a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom from 1983 until 1997.It covered a swathe of territory across the centre of Staffordshire, stretching from Lichfield and Rugeley in the south to Stone in the north....
by-election
Mid Staffordshire by-election, 1990
The Mid Staffordshire constituency of the United Kingdom Parliament held a by-election on 22 March 1990. The result was the election of Labour candidate Sylvia Heal to succeed the previous Conservative Member of Parliament John Heddle, who had precipitated the byelection by committing...
on 22 March 1990, which followed the suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
of the sitting Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP John Heddle
John Heddle
Bentley John Heddle , known as John Heddle, was a British Conservative Party politician.Heddle was Member of Parliament for Lichfield and Tamworth from 1979 to 1983, and for Mid Staffordshire from 1983 until his death in 1989 at the age of 46...
. She won the seat with a majority of 9,449 on a massive 21% swing from Conservative to Labour in a contest that was fought largely on the single issue of the Poll Tax. She lost the Mid Staffordshire seat two years later at the 1992 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
when she was ousted by the Conservative Michael Fabricant
Michael Fabricant
Michael Louis David Fabricant is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Lichfield in Staffordshire.-Early life:...
by a majority of 6,236. She was re-elected to Parliament at the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
for the new West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
seat of Halesowen and Rowley Regis with a majority of 10,337 and remained the MP in the 2001 and 2005 general elections.
In her first spell in Parliament she served for two years as a member of the education select committee. She was also promoted to the front bench
Frontbencher
In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then known as being on the frontbench and are described as...
by Neil Kinnock
Neil Kinnock
Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock is a Welsh politician belonging to the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995 and as Labour Leader and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from 1983 until 1992 - his leadership of the party during nearly nine years making him...
in 1991 as a spokeswoman for health and women. Following her re-election in 1997 she was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to the Secretary of State for Defence
Secretary of State for Defence
The Secretary of State for Defence, popularly known as the Defence Secretary, is the senior Government of the United Kingdom minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence, chairing the Defence Council. It is a Cabinet position...
George Robertson
George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen
George Islay MacNeill Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, is a British Labour Party politician who was the tenth Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, between October 1999 and early January 2004; he succeeded Javier Solana in that position...
and from 1999 his successor Geoff Hoon
Geoff Hoon
Geoffrey "Geoff" William Hoon is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Ashfield from 1992 to 2010...
. She was appointed as a Deputy Speaker of the House in 2000, in which capacity she remained until her retirement from politics.
Sylvia Heal announced on 9 March 2010 that she would be stepping down at the 2010 general election, and was succeeded by Conservative James Morris as MP.
Personal life
Heal is the sister of Ann KeenAnn Keen
Ann Lloyd Keen is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Brentford and Isleworth from 1997, until she was defeated by Conservative candidate Mary Macleod in 2010.-Early life:...
, who was a Labour MP from 1997 to 2010, and sister-in-law to Alan Keen
Alan Keen
David Alan Keen was a British Labour Co-operative politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Feltham and Heston from 1992 until his death.-Early life:...
, who was a Labour MP from 1992 until his death in 2011. She lives in Egham
Egham
Egham is a wealthy suburb in the Runnymede borough of Surrey, in the south-east of England. It is part of the London commuter belt and Greater London Urban Area, and about south-west of central London on the River Thames and near junction 13 of the M25 motorway.-Demographics:Egham town has a...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, and she takes a keen interest in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and enjoys gardening
Gardening
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants are grown for consumption , for their dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use...
.
Publication
- Couldn't Care More: Study of Young Carers and their Needs by Jenny Frank, foreword by Sylvia Heal, 1995, The Children's Society ISBN 0-907324-96-7
External links
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Sylvia Heal MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Sylvia Heal MP
- BBC politics
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