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
Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party (UK) leader, and not by party-wide elections. Government and other official titles often accompanying the deputy party leadership are Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Secretary of State and/or Deputy Leader of the Opposition, or their equivalent, and may be indicated by a single front bench MP being assigned to stand in for the party leader at the Despatch Box during Prime Minister's Questions when the party leader is absent. Perhaps because of the often unofficial nature of the position, reliable sources can sometimes differ over who the deputy actually is or was. The term has sometimes been mistakenly