SDP founder had long been tipped to be Britain’s first female PM, but she lacked the cut-throat ambition
Her warmth filled a hall. She was one of the few politicians loved during their political lifetime, a national treasure well before she retired. She had that talent for speaking human which should not be so rare in politics. A star of stage at Oxford, she once considered an acting career and she could indeed have challenged Judi Dench to a mellifluous voice contest. But with that golden voice came a sincerity that echoed from deep within, instantly recognised by her audiences.
As Labour education minister in the late 1970s, Shirley Williams was celebrated on her side and vilified by the right for pushing forward the new comprehensive system, though in fact it was her successor in that department, Margaret Thatcher, who swept away many more grammar schools. Championing an end to dividing children into sheep and goats at the age of 11, with no more casting rejects into secondary moderns, went to the heart of her social justice politics.
