Hilary Armstrong

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The Rt Hon Hilary Armstrong
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Minister for Social Exclusion
In office
May 5, 2006 – present
Preceded by	John Murphy
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Born	November 30, 1945
Constituency	Durham North West
Majority	13,443 (34%)
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Paul Corrigan

Hilary Jane Armstrong (born 30 November 1945, Sunderland) is a British Labour Party politician. She has been Member of Parliament for North West Durham since 1987. On May 5, 2006 she was appointed as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Social Exclusion and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the UK Government.

She was first promoted into the Cabinet of the United Kingdom as Chief Whip after the 2001 election, after spending four years as Minister for Local Government, in which time she was responsible for introducing controversial new local government structures. She was re-appointed as Chief Whip following Labour's third-term victory in the 2005 General Election.

Her promotion to the UK Cabinet was the high point of a career which has been low-key but inexorably successful; it had taken something of a knock with controversies over select committee membership and over allegations of strong arm tactics with Labour dissenters over military action in Afghanistan.

Armstrong also faced criticism after government defeats in the Commons over the length of time suspected terrorists can be detained without charge and incitement to religious hatred in the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005. Press commentators have speculated that in losing these votes through miscalculating government support and letting the Prime Minister off the "Whip", Armstrong's position had become vulnerable^{[citation needed]}. Conservative Party leader David Cameron mocked Armstrong during an exchange with Tony Blair, saying “She must be the first Chief Whip in history to put the Prime Minister in the frame for losing a key vote — which is an interesting career move, to say the least.” This was the second time David Cameron had attacked her during Prime Ministers Questions, on his debut as leader of the opposition on 7th December 2005 she was singled out by him when he said "That's the problem with these exchanges - the chief whip on the Labour side shouting like a child. Is she finished? Are you finished?"[1]

Armstrong was educated at Monkwearmouth School, West Ham College of Technology and the University of Birmingham. A former social worker and university lecturer, Armstrong worked for VSO in Kenya before entering politics. She was first elected as Durham County Councillor for Crook North Division in 1985.

The daughter of Labour MP Ernest Armstrong, she was shortlisted for the vacant Sedgefield constituency in 1983, only to lose out to Tony Blair. Four years later, she was elected to her father's North West Durham seat on his retirement, by which time she already had her own track record as a campaigner for the North East. She remains a doughty defender of the region's interests and has advocated radical reform of Local government in the United Kingdom to combat the stagnation of single-party rule.

Seen as a politician on the centre left, Armstrong has remained close to her near neighbour Tony Blair and loyal to New Labour's reforming agenda.

She was parliamentary private secretary to the late John Smith during his time as Labour leader, and played a large part in his successful fight to institute one member one vote at Labour's conference.

A member of the Amicus trades union (formerly MSF), her trades union links also came in useful when she helped to shore up support for the rewriting of Clause IV.

Armstrong is married to a leading academic, Professor Paul Corrigan. In 2001 he was appointed as a special advisor to her close Cabinet colleague, Alan Milburn, who was then Secretary of State for Health. He then served as Special Advisor to Milburn's successor, Dr John Reid. Corrigan is credited as the man behind the Labour government's policy on "Foundation Hospitals". In 2006, Paul Corrigan returned to the government as a policy adviser to the Prime Minister. She is a keen supporter of Sunderland F.C.. Prof Corrigan's enthusiastic championing of the role of the private sector in public service provision has long been a source of concern for some of Armstrong's trades union colleagues.

In the 2005 general election, Labour suffered a 6.8% swing to the Liberal Democrats in the North West Durham constituency however it is still considered a "safe seat".

[edit] External links

• Hilary Armstrong MP official site
• Cabinet Office
• 10 Downing Street - Hilary Armstrong official biography
• North West Durham Labour Party - Hilary Armstrong MP official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Hilary Armstrong MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Hilary Armstrong MP

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Ernest Armstrong	Member of Parliament for North West Durham 1987 – present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Ann Taylor	Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury 2001-2006	Succeeded by Jacqui Smith
	Chief Whip 2001-2006
Preceded by Jim Murphy (acting)	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 2006 – present	Incumbent