 |
|
| Name:
Mowlam, ('Mo'), Marjorie |
| Date
of Birth: 18 September 1949 |
| Roles / Positions:
Politician; British Labour Party; (Westminster) MP; Secretary of State for Northern Ireland May 1997-October 1999 |
|
| |
| |
Brief
Biography:
Mo Mowlam was educated at Coudon Court Comprehensive School, Coventry, and later the universities of Durham and Iowa, from where she was to graduate with a Ph.D. Before entering politics Mowlam lectured at the universities of Wisconsin and Florida in the United States of America before returning to Britain to teach at Newcastle University, and then became an administrator in adult education at the Northern College, Barnsley. For a time she was also to work as a political researcher. The 1987 general election saw her returned as the Labour MP for the constituency of Redcar (1987-2001) and over the next decade established herself within the party most notably as opposition spokesperson for Northern Ireland (1994-97).
Following Labour's election victory of May 1997, Mowlam was appointed as the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1997-99). Her arrival coincided with high expectations that the new administration would act swiftly to revitalise the stalled peace process. Her early months in office however were dominated by the controversy which surrounded her decision to allow an Orange Order march to proceed down the Garvaghy Road in Portadown in July 1997. This centred on allegations that she had given local nationalist residents an undertaking that she would inform them in advance whether the parade would be allowed to go ahead. In the end the march was allowed to take place but seemingly without any warning being given and for this apparent failure Mowlam was criticised for alleged duplicity.
In spite of this setback the announcement of a new Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire later in July 1997 contributed to the ending of the political stalemate. This led to Mowlam being at the forefront of the efforts to prepare the ground for the entry of Sinn Féin (SF) into the multi-party talks. This was to see an agreement being reached with the Irish government in July 1999 concerning the creation of an international body in July 1999 to deal with the issue of paramilitary decommissioning. When SF finally entered the negotiations in September 1997 she appealed to those unionist parties who had walked out of the negotiations in protest to return but without any success. Her commitment to the talks was however highlighted in January 1998 when she visited loyalist and republican prisoners in the Maze Prison to urge them to maintain their support for the peace process in spite of an upsurge in terrorist activity.
When the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) was signed in April 1998 Mowlam was widely praised for her close involvement in bringing it about. This was perfectly illustrated at the Labour Party conference in October 1998 when Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister, mentioned her by name during his speech and she was given a standing ovation. But this apparent popularity was not shared by all Northern Ireland politicians. In particular elements of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), had long considered her to be too sympathetic to nationalist or republican opinion. Such views were only further strengthened as the process of implementing the GFA proceeded throughout the rest of 1998 and 1999. Eventually this reached the extent where relations between the UUP and Mowlam had virtually broken down with calls for her resignation.
In October 1999 much to her own displeasure, a cabinet reshuffle, saw Mowlam replaced as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Her new post as the Cabinet Office Minister (1999-2001), largely involved the task of co-ordinating and promoting government policy. This was widely seen as demotion and sparked rumours that her relationship with Tony Blair had become strained. These were only further strengthened when in the summer of 2000 she announced her intention to retire from active politics at the next general election, which she then did in June 2001.
|
Book
References:
Elliott, Sydney. and Flackes, W.D. (1999), Northern Ireland: A Political Directory 1968-1999. Belfast: Blackstaff Press.
Hennessey, Thomas. (2000), The Northern Ireland Peace Process: Ending the Troubles? London: Gill & Macmillan.
Langdon, Julia. (1999), Mo Mowlam. London: Little, Brown.
Mowlam, Mo. (2002), Momentum: The Struggle for Peace, Politics, and the People. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Ramsden, John (ed.) (2002), The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century British Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
|
| Entry written by B.Lynn 5 December 2002]
|
|
