Williams, Shirley Vivien Teresa Brittain, Baroness Williams Of Crosby

Related Category: British and Irish History: Biographies

1930–, British politician. Daughter of the political scientist and philosopher Sir George Catlin and the novelist Vera Brittain, she entered Parliament in 1964 as a member of the Labour party. She served (1976–79) as education minister in the Labour government, but in 1981 she left the party and became a founder and president (1982–88) of the Social Democratic party (SDP). In Nov., 1981, she was the first SDP member to win election to Parliament; she lost her seat in 1983. Williams, who was created a life peer in 1993, was married to the philosopher Sir Bernard Williams from 1955 to 1974.