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Doreen Massey, Baroness Massey of Darwen

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The Right Honourable
The Baroness Massey of Darwen
Official portrait, 2017
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
26 July 1999 – 20 April 2024
Life peerage
Personal details
Born
Doreen Elizabeth Hall

(1938-09-05)5 September 1938
Died20 April 2024(2024-04-20) (aged 85)
Chailey, East Sussex, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Leslie Massey
​
(m. 1966)​
Children3
Alma mater

Doreen Elizabeth Massey, Baroness Massey of Darwen (née Hall; 5 September 1938 – 20 April 2024), was a British life peer and a Labour member of the House of Lords.

Early life and education

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Massey was born Doreen Elizabeth Hall to Mary Ann Hall (née Sharrock) and Jack Hall on 5 September 1938. Raised in Darwen, Lancashire, she was educated Darwen Grammar School, where she was head girl, and attended the University of Birmingham, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French in 1961 and a Diploma of Education in 1962. At Birmingham, she was the vice-president of the student union and gained blues in hockey and cricket. Massey later studied at the University of London, Institute of Education, gaining a Master of Arts degree in 1985.[1][2][3]

Career

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A former teacher and education advisor, she was the director of the Family Planning Association from 1989 to 1994. She was made a life peer as Baroness Massey of Darwen, of Darwen in the County of Lancashire, on 26 July 1999.[4] She was introduced on 1 November 1999 to the House of Lords[5] where she served as a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Integrated and Complementary Healthcare.

Massey was an honorary associate of the National Secular Society,[6] patron of Humanists UK, and vice chair of the All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group.[7]

On 15 September 2010, Massey, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in The Guardian, stating their opposition to Pope Benedict XVI's state visit to the UK.[8]

On 28 January 2019 Massey was the only person to remove her name from an open letter published in The Guardian opposing the "US attempt at regime change" in Venezuela. The letter was signed by Shadow Ministers, MPs, union leaders, Labour Party NEC members, cultural figures, academics, anti-war campaigners and others.[9]

LGBT rights

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In January 2022, Massey and four other Labour delegates to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe tabled ten amendments[10] to Resolution 2417, "Combating rising hate against LGBTI people in Europe".[11] The amendments sought to include the word "sex" alongside gender identity, de-conflate the situation in the UK from Hungary, Poland, Russia and Turkey, and remove references to alleged anti-LGBTI movements in the UK. The delegates received both praise[12] and criticism.[13]

Personal life and death

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Doreen Hall married Leslie Massey in 1966.[2] They had two sons and a daughter.[14]

Baroness Massey died following a long illness with cancer at a hospice in North Chailey, near Haywards Heath, on 20 April 2024. She was 85.[1][15][16]

References

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  1. ^ a b Jacobs, Bill (24 April 2024). "Tributes to 'inspiring' baroness who has died". BBC News. Local Democracy Reporting Service. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Massey of Darwen". Who's Who. A & C Black. 2023. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U26921. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ "Doreen Elizabeth Massey of Darwen". People of Today. Debrett's. Archived from the original on 25 September 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  4. ^ "No. 55566". The London Gazette. 29 July 1999. p. 8179.
  5. ^ "Announcement of Baroness Massey's introduction at the House of Lords". House of Lords minutes of proceedings. UK Parliament. 1 November 1999.
  6. ^ "Honorary Associates". www.secularism.org.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  7. ^ "All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group". British Humanist Association. Archived from the original on 30 June 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  8. ^ Letters (15 September 2010). "Harsh judgments on the pope and religion". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  9. ^ Letters (27 January 2019). "Putting Venezuela's crisis and US intervention in historical context". The Guardian.
  10. ^ "Doc. 15425: collection of written amendments". Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. 25 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Resolution 2417 (2022): Combating rising hate against LGBTI people in Europe". Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. 25 January 2022.
  12. ^ Hayton, Debbie (27 January 2022). "Stop saying the UK is transphobic". UnHerd. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  13. ^ Kelleher, Patrick (25 January 2022). "Labour politicians slammed for 'trying to erase' UK transphobia from anti-LGBT+ hate resolution". PinkNews. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  14. ^ Jacobs, Bill (24 April 2024). "Tributes to 'inspiring' baroness who has died". BBC News. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  15. ^ "Deaths of Members". UK Parliament | Lords Hansard. 22 April 2024.
  16. ^ "Baroness Massey of Darwen". The Times. 29 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.


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