Barbara Castle Barbara Castle Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, PC, GCOT ("née" Betts; 6 October 1910 – 3 May 2002) was a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Blackburn from 1945 to 1979, making her the longest-serving female MP in the history of the House of Commons until that record was broken in 2007 by Gwyneth Dunwoody. She later became the Member of the European Parliament for Greater Manchester from 1979 to 1989 and subsequently a member of the House of Lords, having been granted a life peerage in 1990. One of the most significant
History of the Cape Colony from 1899 to 1910 P. Schreiner. They had, however, been the leading parliamentary exponents of Bond policy for a considerable time. The elections for the legislative assembly followed in April and, partly in consequence of the re-infranchisement of the ex-rebels, resulted in a decisive majority for the Merriman ministry. There were returned 69 members of the South African party, 33 Unionists and 5 Independents, among them the ex-premiers Sir Gordon Sprigg and Mr Schreiner. The change of ministry was not accompanied by any relief in the financial situation. While the country districts remained fairly prosperous (agricultural and pastoral products increasing), the transit trade and