MPs gather for funeral of first ever female Commons speaker Betty Boothroyd

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Prime minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer are among the mourners attending the funeral of Baroness Betty Boothroyd, the first-ever woman elected speaker of the Commons.

Baroness Boothroyd, a former Labour MP, died in February at the age of 93. Her funeral is taking place at a church near her home in Cambridgeshire on Monday afternoon.

The hearse carrying Baroness Betty Boothroyd’s coffin – which had a white floral tribute on top – arrived at the church shortly before noon.

Mr Sunak walked up the path leading to the 12th century St George’s Church in the village of Thriplow, before being greeted outside the building. Mr Starmer shook hands with people greeting mourners outside before heading in.

The service is being held at the same time as Prime Ministers Questions in the House of Commons, with Dominic Raab and Angela Rayner standing in for their party leaders.

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Baroness Boothroyd entered parliament as the MP for West Bromwich West in 1974 and shattered 700 years of parliamentary tradition by being elected speaker in April 1992, staying on until October 2000.

She then entered the Lords as a crossbench peer in January 2001, serving in the upper chamber until her death last month.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the current speaker, described Lady Boothroyd as "one of a kind" after her death, as tributes poured in from MPs from across the house.

The former Labour prime minister Sir Tony Blair said at the time: “She was a truly outstanding speaker, presiding with great authority, warmth and wit, for which she had our deep respect and admiration.”

Born to mill worker parents in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, in 1929, Lady Boothroyd was a professional dancer from 1946 to 1948 and appeared in pantomime in London’s West End before going into politics.

She unsuccessfully contested four parliamentary seats before being elected to West Bromwich (later to become West Bromwich West) in May 1973.

Baroness Boothroyd also served as asssistant government whip before becoming a member of the European Parliament in 1975.

In 1987, the Labour MP was appointed deputy speaker of the Commons – a position she would hold until 1992 when Bernard “Jack” Weatherill announced he was stepping down as speaker. She won a vote by 372 votes to 238 against Conservative MP John Brooke.

“Elect me for what I am, and not for what I was born,” she said in her acceptance speech.

Lady Boothroyd refused to wear the traditional speaker’s wig, modernising the role. However, the former speaker banned women from breast feeding during select committee hearings.

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She stood down from her position as speaker in 2000 after eight years in the chair presiding over MPs.

In 2001, the former Labour MP was made a life peer, taking as her title Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell in the West Midlands, and published her autobiography. Some four years later in 2005 she was given an Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II.

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