12 Facts About Jo Richardson

Josephine Richardson was a British Labour Party politician.

Jo Richardson was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, and attended Southend High School for Girls.

Jo Richardson's mother was a member of the Congregational Church.

Jo Richardson co-ordinated the Keep Left Group within the party, and went on to become the secretary of the Tribune Group before co-ordinating the Victory for Socialism Campaign.

Jo Richardson contested the parliamentary seats of Monmouth in 1951 and 1955, Hornchurch in 1959, and Harrow East in 1964.

Jo Richardson was elected Member of Parliament for Barking at the February 1974 election, and held the seat until her death at the age of 70 in 1994.

Jo Richardson was seen as a peace campaigner on the hard left of the Labour Party.

Jo Richardson was a member of the Socialist Campaign Group, but resigned in 1988 in protest at Tony Benn's decision to challenge Neil Kinnock for the leadership.

Jo Richardson was a central figure of the feminist left, helped to expand women's rights in Britain, and was the head of a group of women MPs that supported the anti-pornography position.

Jo Richardson served as an executive member of the National Council for Civil Liberties during a time in which the Paedophile Information Exchange, a pro-paedophile activist group, was affiliated with it.

Jo Richardson wrote to PIE journal Childhood Rights, saying that she supported that organisation's campaign against corporal punishment.

Jo Richardson co-authored the pamphlet Keeping Left with Richard Crossman, Michael Foot and Ian Mikardo.