Glenda Jackson – From ‘laziest MP’ to unstoppable scourge of the new coalition

Published: 15 July, 2010
by RICHARD OSLEY

HAMPSTEAD and Kilburn MP Glenda Jackson has followed up her nail-biting election scare by exploding into life at the House of Commons.

She has taken to her feet to deliver a collection of speeches, intervened in debates and pressed ministers on a series of issues.

The 74-year-old Labour MP has signed a raft of Early Day Motions, attended committee meetings, des­patch­ed press statements at a rate her office has never released before – and even joined Facebook to reach out to more constituents.

Her activity is said by Labour Party members to show up as “hollow” the claims made during May’s General Election campaign that she was London’s laziest MP.

Lib Dem rivals, in contrast, say the election campaign has forced Ms Jackson to become a more active MP.

Privately, some Labour members in Camden have joked that she has been on her feet more in the past eight weeks than the whole year before she won back her place in Parliament with a narrow 42-vote victory over the Conservatives. They believe she is a different force in opposition and happy to be in the thick of the action when facing cuts ordered by central government.

Although she famously did not always follow the party line when Labour was running the country, she no longer risks being disciplined  by the whips for speaking out. She has taken full advantage to speak on the economy, school places and migration.

Last week, she even commented on how murdered Raoul Moat, the gunman who shot himself in Rothbury after a stand-off with police, might have been stopped. In another debate, on the economy, the Oscar-winning actress’s now regular appearances in the House led to Speaker John Bercow joking in an aside to MPs that he could listen to her “without interruption for some hours”. 

He later added: “It is always a pleasure to listen to her fantastic enunciation... but shorter interventions would be helpful.”

Her speech on the Finance Bill at the end of last month has been most lauded by colleagues and used as evidence against those who thought the former transport minister’s most energetic days were behind her.

Her voice ringing out across the chamber, she reminded the House of the Thatcher years, which saw “thrown onto the scrapheap, the greatest national resource of this country, it’s people”. 

And she went on to attack Lib Dem MPs for accepting a rise in VAT – dubbing them the “30 pieces of silver party” for their deal with the Tories.

“They spent money on posters that talked about the VAT bombshell – and they signed up for it,” she said. 

Insiders are insistent that her renewed activity is due to the dire economic conditions and not the scare of coming so close to losing her seat.

She maintained throughout the election campaign that economic issues outranked petty squabbles between candidates and the repeated moan from some voters that she lived too far away, in south London.

It was always felt among Labour members that the “laziest MP” tag came from a “cheap trick” from the Lib Dems, who searched Hansard records to tally up how many times she had spoken in Parliament. 

Lib Dem candidate Ed Fordham said at the time: “Ms Jackson’s record shows she simply isn’t doing the job people expect of her. We need an MP who is active in the community and in Parliament.”

Kilburn Labour councillor Mike Katz said this week: “She has been very busy and it shows how hollow the comments made during the election campaign were. 

“She is still taking on constituency business, helping residents but at this time, with the scale of cuts being ordered by the government, she obviously wants to be there standing up for people who live here as well.”

But Lib Dem group leader in Camden, Councillor Keith Moffitt, said: “It looks as if the election campaign has shown a few things to her. Nobody made up the statistics about her record. They were official records and maybe the election made her think about how much she was doing. 

“Hampstead and Kilburn could have a much better MP but it is pleasing that the pressure we put on during the campaign has made her more active.”

Critic – What she has said

On the government’s proposed anonymity for rape defendants:  “Is not the underlying factor that, in my view, the government are proposing the view that rape is an ‘avoidable’ crime? Would not the according of anonymity to an alleged perpetrator simply reinforce that total fallacy, which it is so difficult to change?”

On the budget: “It is the poorest who pay the most. They are in the worst housing, their job opportunities are nil. There is nothing in this budget that will help create employment and one of the worst aspects is that it will slash the confidence of those who need confidence most to get out there and be competitive in an ever-shrinking jobs market.”

On Building Schools for the Future: “Both [Camden and Brent]  are facing a serious shortfall in places... His [Michael Gove, education secretary] failure to give information to parents, pupils, schools and my local authorities on which schools will go ahead and which will not, and on what funding will be available to provide additional places, was an absolute and utter disgrace.”