Harriet Harman

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The Right Honourable Harriet Ruth Harman QC PC MP (born July 30, 1950, London) is a British solicitor and Labour politician.

She has been the Member of Parliament for Camberwell and Peckham since 1997, having previously been an MP for Peckham since 1982. She was educated at St Paul's Girls' School, London and the University of York. She is married to Labour Party Treasurer and trade union leader, Jack Dromey.

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Early career

Between 1978 and 1982 she was legal officer for the National Council for Civil Liberties, before becoming MP for Peckham in a by-election in 1982. She became Labour's front-bench spokesman for Social Services in 1984, and then Health in 1987. After the 1992 general election she was elected to the Shadow Cabinet and became shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, then Shadow Secretary of State for Health. While holding this post she was involved in a media controversy when she sent her eldest son to a grant maintained school, then her younger son to a grammar school. Labour policy opposed these forms of education, but she retained high office with the support of the Labour leader, Tony Blair, who moved her to the position of Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security.

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Ministerial positions in government

After Labour's victory in the 1997 general election, she became Secretary of State for Social Security and was given the task of reforming the Welfare State. However, she made little progress and fell out with her junior minister, Frank Field. During this period Harman became regarded as an over-promoted 'New Labour' apparatchik, and she was called 'Harriet Harrperson' by her fellow Labour MP Austin Mitchell. Both Harman and Field were sacked in a reshuffle in 1998.

She made a return to the front bench after the 2001 General Election with her appointment to the office of Solicitor General, thus becoming the first female Solicitor General ever.

It was reported in January 2004 that her son, in his first year at the University of Warwick, had been caught smoking marijuana, but not been expelled from his halls of residence in accordance with the university's policy. The media contrasted his treatment with that of another fellow first-year, who had died on the way home after suffering the usual punishment, getting lost, and wandering on to some train tracks.

After the 2005 General Election she became a Minister of State in the Department for Constitutional Affairs with responsibilities including constitutional reform, legal aid and court processes.

On 16 March 2006, Ms Harman relinquished her Ministerial responsibilities for electoral administration and reform of the House of Lords. She stated that this was to avoid any potential conflict of interest after her husband, the Treasurer of the Labour Party, announced that he would be investigating a number of loans made to the Labour Party which had not been disclosed to party officers. She retained her other responsibilities<ref>"Harman gives up Lords reform role" BBC, 16 March 2006</ref>.

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Gaffe on Question Time

Harman made a widely publicized gaffe on the BBC political talk-show programme Question Time on 18 March 2004 when she described Gordon Brown as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Political commentators have long suggested that Brown wishes to replace Tony Blair as prime minister, and Harman is rumoured to be one of Brown's chief supporters.

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References

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Publications

  • Sex Discrimination in Schools: How to Fight it by Harriet Harman, 1978, Civil Liberties Trust ISBN 0901108731
  • Justice Deserted: Subversion of the Jury by Harriet Harman et al, 1979, Civil Liberties Trust ISBN 0901108790
  • Violence Against Social Workers: The Implications for Practice by Dan Norris, foreward by Harriet Harman, Jessica Kingsley Publishers ISBN 1853020419
  • The Family Way: A New Approach to Policy Making by Harriet Harman et al, 1990, Institute for Public Policy Research ISBN 1872452159
  • The Century Gap: 20th Century Man/21st Century Woman by Harriet Harman, 1993, Vermilion ISBN 0091778190
  • Winning for Women by Harriet Harman and Deborah Mattinson, 2000, Fabian Society ISBN 0716305968
  • Women with Atitude by Susan Vinnicombe, John Bank, foreword by Harriet Harman, 2002, Routledge ISBN 0415287421
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External links

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