Margaret Beckett 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 in 2006. Beckett was first elected to Parliament in 1974 for Lincoln and held junior positions in the governments
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan was downgraded in November 1991 when then First Secretary Qahhor Mahkamov was appointed to the newly created executive position of President of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic. Mahkamov was the last First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan to also serve as head of state of Tajikistan when he resigned his office on August 31, 1991 following his support of the August Coup in Moscow. One of the most celebrated First Secretaries was Bobojon Ghafurov, a renowned scholar who wrote numerous works on the history of Tajikistan. See List of Presidents of Tajikistan for leadership of Tajikistan from 1991–present.