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 Labour Party (Ireland) as leader in 2002 following the poor results for the Labour Party in the general election, when the Labour Party was returned with only 21 seats, the same number of seats as it had held before that General Election. Former Democratic Left TD Pat Rabbitte became the new leader, the first to be elected directly by the members of the party. In the June 2004 elections to the European Parliament, Proinsias De Rossa retained his seat for Labour in the Dublin constituency. This was Labour's only success in the election. In 2004, Labour entered into an election pact in advance