15 Facts About Maureen Colquhoun

Maureen Morfydd Colquhoun was a British economist and Labour politician.

Maureen Colquhoun was Britain's first openly lesbian member of Parliament.

Maureen Colquhoun was educated at a local convent school, a commercial college in Brighton, then at the London School of Economics and later worked as a literary research assistant.

Maureen Colquhoun joined the Labour Party in her late teens.

Maureen Colquhoun served as a councillor in Shoreham-by-Sea, from 1971 to 1974.

Maureen Colquhoun had identified 4,500 jobs appointed by Ministers, and 174 public bodies that were almost entirely male.

In 1976, Maureen Colquhoun was among nine Labour MPs advocating in a letter to The Times an "alternative policy" on Northern Ireland, including the removal of British troops from the country.

Maureen Colquhoun drew a negative response from members of her constituency party, in an area with a significant non-white population, for appearing to defend Enoch Powell in January 1977.

Maureen Colquhoun thought that sometimes it was wrong for members of her party to stop listening to what he was saying, and that the "real bogeymen are in the Labour Party" who do not improve the conditions for people in the multi-racial inner-cities.

Maureen Colquhoun campaigned for elective abortion services and for women's prisons to be abolished.

Maureen Colquhoun complained to the Press Complaints Commission, which ruled in the two women's favour.

Maureen Colquhoun wanted to put the past behind her and work with her local party, but the Vice-Chair of the General Management Committee said he thought that was impossible as many members were unwilling to work for Maureen Colquhoun's re-election, the prospects for which he thought were not promising.

Maureen Colquhoun moved to the Lake District where she was a member of the Lake District's National Park Authority between 1998 and 2006.

Maureen Colquhoun served as a parish councillor on Lakes Parish Council standing in the Ambleside ward until May 2015, when she was de-seated in that year's elections.

Maureen Colquhoun died on 2 February 2021, at the age of 92.