Lindsey Brewerton obituary

Lindsey Brewerton
Lindsey Brewerton had a passion for politics and joined the International Socialists.

Lindsey Brewerton, who has died aged 57 from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, was one of a group of midwives who supported the consultant obstetrician Wendy Savage when she was suspended from practice; Savage was cleared of all charges and reinstated in 1986.

Having sharpened her political teeth in the 1970s, fighting to keep St Leonard's hospital in Hackney, north London, open, Lindsey was also at the forefront of two successful strikes at the London hospital (later the Royal London) in the late 80s over changes to pay and conditions for nurses and midwives.

In 1991, as a steward at the public sector union Nupe, Lindsey led a campaign at the Royal London which resulted in Anita Ceesay, a midwifery sister, being reinstated after she had been unfairly dismissed. The campaign hit the national news and led to changes at the Royal London in attitudes to staff exposed to abuse at work.

She was born Lindsey Roth and brought up in north London, with her brother Phil and sister Mandi. Her parents were both from large Jewish families, and family was at the centre of Lindsey's childhood.

In the late 1970s she joined Phil working at Dillons bookshop. Here she met her future husband Norman Brewerton, and developed her passion for politics, joining the International Socialists, now the Socialist Workers party. In the 80s Lindsey trained as a nurse and then a midwife at the London hospital.

Lindsey had a great talent for making friends. She maintained friendships from her schooldays, her student days and her working life, and with those she got to know as a new parent. In 1998, when Lindsey and Norm moved to Devon with their two children, she kept up strong links with London, and would claim that a weekend in the city would renew her energy and invigorate her.

Lindsey trained as a health visitor in Somerset. She worked in the early Sure Start projects and was involved in the development of the Hamp Children's Centre, in Bridgwater. Shortly before she became ill, she played a central role in a successful campaign to prevent community health services in Somerset moving out of the NHS.

Lindsey is survived by Norm, and their children Nicole and Tom.