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
John Blackburn (politician) John Blackburn (politician) John Graham Blackburn (2 September 1933 – 12 October 1994) was a Conservative member of Parliament in the United Kingdom. He represented the constituency of Dudley West from 1979 until his death in 1994. Blackburn attended school in Liverpool and studied at the University of Liverpool. From 1954 until 1963 he served as a police officer. He also served as a councillor in Wolverhampton. He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1979 general election, with a majority of 1139, gaining the seat from Labour and subsequently held the seat at the 1983, 1987 and