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
General Secretary of the Labour Party media-savvy, youthful staff and Party that worked for Labour's landslide victory in the 1997 general election. Crucial to this period was the transformation of the party apparatus from an alternative centre of power to the parliamentary leadership (largely a product of the 1970s when the party conference repeatedly disowned government policy), to being more congruent with the leadership's ideas for progress. In fact the roots of the transformation probably date back to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the party's communication director in 1985, but under Blair (and Sawyer) rapidly accelerated. Margaret McDonagh became Labour's first permanent female General Secretary