Patricia Hollis, Baroness Hollis of Heigham

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The Right Honourable
The Baroness Hollis of Heigham
PC DL
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In office
11 June 2001 – 10 May 2005
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterSir Tony Blair
Preceded byHer self
Succeeded byThe Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Security
In office
6 May 1997 – 11 June 2001
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterSir Tony Blair
Preceded byOliver Heald
Succeeded byHer self
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
1 June 1990 – 13 October 2018
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born24 May 1941 (1941-05-24)
Died13 October 2018 (2018-10-14) (aged 77)
Political partyLabour
Alma materGirton College, Cambridge
University of California
Columbia University

Patricia Lesley Hollis, Baroness Hollis of Heigham, PC, DL (née Wells; 24 May 1941 – 13 October 2018[1]) was an historian and a Labour member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom.

Biography[edit]

Early life and education[edit]

Hollis was educated at Plympton Grammar School, at Girton College, Cambridge (BA), the University of California and Columbia University, New York (both where she was Harkness Fellow from 1962 to 1964), and at Nuffield College, Oxford (MA, DPhil).[2] While in the United States, Hollis was active in the civil rights movement, picketing segregated restaurants and helping hold voter registration drives in Mississippi.[3][4][5]

She was married to Martin Hollis, a Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia from 1965 until his death in 1998: they had two sons.[6]

Academic career[edit]

She was a lecturer in modern history, reader and Dean at the University of East Anglia in Norwich from 1967 until 1990. Amongst her academic publications was Ladies Elect: Women in English Local Government, 1865-1914, about the work of the Women's Local Government Society. She became Patron of this society when it was re-formed.[7]: 3 [8]

She served as a National Commissioner for English Heritage from 1988 until 1991.

Political life[edit]

Patricia Hollis contested the Great Yarmouth constituency for Labour at the February 1974 general election, the October 1974 election and at the 1979 general election.[5] She became involved in local politics early in her career, serving on Norwich City Council from 1968 to 1991, and as Leader of the Council from 1983 to 1988.[4] Hollis served on the Press Council from 1988 to 1990. and was a director of Radio Broadland from 1983 until 1997.

She was created a life peer as Baroness Hollis of Heigham, of Heigham in the City of Norwich on 1 June 1990[9] and was an Opposition Whip in the House of Lords between 1990 and 1995, and Opposition Spokeswoman on Housing, Local Government, the Environment, Disability and Social Security from 1990. While in opposition she carried through the Lords the proposals for pension sharing on divorce which have now become law.

Hollis was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions (previously Department of Social Security) from 5 May 1997 to the 2005 reshuffle,[4]

She was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society,[10] an honorary fellow of Girton College, Cambridge and the author of several books on women's history and on labour history. Her book Jennie Lee - a life (1997), won the Orwell Prize for political biography and the Wolfson History Prize for the history book of the year.[10]

Personal life[edit]

Hollis was criticised in 2009 when it was claimed that she and her partner, Lord Howarth of Newport, lived next door to each other but both continued to claim expenses from the House of Lords.[11]

Hollis died in October 2018, aged 77, following a long illness.[12][4]

Honours[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Death of a Member: Baroness Hollis of Heigham". UK Parliament. 15 October 2018.
  2. ^ "Baroness Patricia Hollis - Anglia Ruskin University". Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Baroness Patricia Hollis - Harkness Fellows". Harkness Fellows. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Bloom, Dan (15 October 2018). "Labour peer Baroness Hollis dies aged 77 after victory over Tax Credit cuts". mirror. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  5. ^ a b PoliticsHome.com (24 January 2013). "Anything but retiring". PoliticsHome.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Obituary: Professor Martin Hollis". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  7. ^ Baldwin, Anne; Robinson, Jane; Clarke, Lesley (2018). From Suffrage to Citizenship - celebrating 100 pioneers (PDF). Women's Local Government Society. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  8. ^ Hollis, Patricia (1989). Ladies Elect. Oxford University Press. p. 566. ISBN 9780198221579.
  9. ^ "No. 52160". The London Gazette. 6 June 1990. p. 10163.
  10. ^ a b Sanghani, Radhika (27 October 2015). "Who is Baroness Hollis? Meet the woman who took down George Osborne". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  11. ^ Prince, Rosa (3 June 2009). "MPs' expenses: Lord Howarth claimed £1.4m London town house as second home". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  12. ^ Cope, Lauren. "'Champion of Norwich' and Labour peer dies aged 77". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  13. ^ "Baroness Patricia Hollis - ARU".
  14. ^ "Honorary graduate cumulative list 2017" (PDF). The Open University. p. 11.
  15. ^ "'Intelligent, passionate, courageous' – tributes pour in for Baroness Hollis". 15 October 2018.

Other sources[edit]

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