1. Janet Fookes was previously a member of the House of Commons from 1970 to 1997, representing the constituencies of Merton and Morden and Plymouth Drake.
10 Facts About Janet Fookes
1. 2.
Janet Fookes was a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons from 1992 to 1997, and presently is a Deputy Speaker in the House of Lords.
3.
Janet Fookes worked as a teacher from 1958 to 1970.
4.
Janet Fookes was elected a Member of Parliament representing Merton and Morden in 1970.
5.
Drake was never a safe seat, but Janet Fookes managed to survive many strong challenges in each general election she fought, including winning by a majority of just 34 at the October 1974 general election.
6.
Janet Fookes served as one of three Deputy Speakers of the House of Commons from 1992 to 1997.
7.
Janet Fookes retired from the House of Commons in 1997, when the number of Plymouth seats fell from three to two, after 27 years as an MP: as she humorously put it, "longer than a life sentence".
8.
Janet Fookes was a member of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
9.
Janet Fookes is an Ambassador for unemployment charity, Tomorrow's People Trust.
10.
Janet Fookes had previously been made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1989 New Year's Honours, and became Deputy Lieutenant of East Sussex in 2001.