Margaret Beckett the hassle, the scrutiny from [the press]. That’s a world that was beyond him until he was elected leader". Margaret Beckett Dame Margaret Mary Beckett (; born 15 January 1943) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby South since 1983. She was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party under John Smith from 1992 to 1994, and briefly served as Leader of the Labour Party after Smith died suddenly. She later served in the Cabinet under Prime Minister Tony Blair in a number of roles, becoming Britain's first female Foreign Secretary
History of the foreign relations of the United Kingdom by his misperceptions and fallacious judgments. Britain thought disarmament was the key to peace. France, with its profound fear of German militarism, strenuously opposed the idea. In the early 1930s, most Britons saw France, not Germany, as the chief threat to peace and harmony in Europe. France did not suffer as severe an economic recession, and was the strongest military power, but still it refused British overtures for disarmament. The Labour Party came to power in 1924 under Ramsay MacDonald, who served as party leader, prime minister and foreign secreetary. The party had a distinctive and suspicious foreign policy based