Who is bessie braddock

We had to have change. The conditions of the workers had to be improved. The bosses had to be forced to give up some of their enormous profits. The only way to achieve this was by fighting, and we fought all the time. Throughout the Second World War, she had been an ambulance driver, serving through all 68 of the major air raids that struck Liverpool.

She remained a Member of Parliament for nearly a quarter of a decade, over the course of which she fiercely championed the rights of the working class, and the National Health Service. She also took a special interest in mental health, maternity, child welfare and youth crime.

Home Explore the BBC. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving. BBC Local. Bessie Braddock By Paul Coslett. This was the beginning of a turbulent and colourful period of over 40 years in local and national politics.

Throughout her political career, Bessie never left her working class roots in Liverpool, and continued to campaign to relieve the suffering which she had witnessed at such a young age. Pages: [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ] Next Your comments 1 terry cleary from hong kong - 16 January "i was born in liverpool, but lived in widnes, i attended st edwards college sandfield park liverpool the story about winston churchills verbal exchange with lady astor about him being drunk and she being ugly is said to have been between churchill and bessie braddock ".

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National Museum of Labour History. During the war she worked in Liverpool's ambulance service, before winning the Exchange division for Labour in the general election. With her formidable physique and outspoken manner, Braddock was a pugnacious presence in parliament, and a keen supporter of the —51 Attlee ministry's reform agenda, particularly the establishment of the National Health Service in She served on Labour's National Executive Committee between and Her combative style led to a brief suspension from parliament in For most of her parliamentary career she remained a member of Liverpool's council, and was a central figure in the controversy that arose in the s over the city's decision to acquire and flood the Tryweryn Valley in Wales for the construction of a reservoir.

From the early s she moved steadily to the right wing of her party, and was increasingly acerbic in her judgements of her former colleagues on the left.