{{Short description|British Liberal Democrat politician (1945–2020)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Use British English|date=November 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = [[The Right Honourable]] | name = The Baroness Maddock | honorific_suffix = | image = Official portrait of Baroness Maddock crop 2, 2020.jpg | caption = Official portrait, 2018 | office = [[President of the Liberal Democrats]] | term_start = 1 January 1999 | term_end = 31 December 2000 | predecessor = [[Robert Maclennan]] | successor = [[Navnit Dholakia]] | office1 = Member of the [[House of Lords]] | status1 = [[Lord Temporal]] | term_label1 = [[Life peer]]age | term_start1 = 30 October 1997 | term_end1 = 26 June 2020 | parliament3 = UK | constituency_MP3 = [[Christchurch (UK Parliament constituency)|Christchurch]] | term_start3 = 29 July 1993 | term_end3 = 8 April 1997 | majority3 = | predecessor3 = [[Robert Adley (British politician)|Robert Adley]] | successor3 = [[Christopher Chope]] | birth_name = Diana Margaret Derbyshire<REF NAME="WHO" /> | birth_date = {{Birth date|1945|5|19|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Croydon]], Surrey, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|6|26|1945|5|19|df=y}} | death_place = [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]], Northumberland, England | other_party = [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] (1976–1988) | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Bob Maddock|1966|2000|end=divorce}} * {{marriage|[[Alan Beith|The Lord Beith]]<br>|2001}} }} | party = [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] (from 1988) | relations = | children = 2 | alma_mater = [[Portsmouth University]] }}
'''Diana Margaret Pearson Maddock, Baroness Maddock, Baroness Beith''' (''{{née}}'' '''Derbyshire'''; 19 May 1945 – 26 June 2020) was a British politician who served as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Christchurch (UK Parliament constituency)|Christchurch]] from [[1993 Christchurch by-election|1993]] to [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997]]. A member of the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]], she re-entered Parliament as a life peer as Baroness Maddock, of [[Christchurch, Dorset|Christchurch]] in the [[County of Dorset]], in 1997 where she remained until her death.
As of 2024, she and fellow Liberal Democrats, Dame [[Annette Brooke]] and [[Vikki Slade]], and Labour's [[Jessica Toale]], are the only women to date who represented [[parliamentary constituencies in Dorset]].
==Early life and early career== Diana Margaret Derbyshire was born in [[Croydon]] on 19 May 1945, to Margaret (Evans) and Reginald Derbyshire.<ref name="WHO">{{Cite web|title=Maddock, Baroness (Diana Margaret Maddock) (born 19 May 1945)|url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-26264|website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO|year=2007|language=en|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u26264|isbn=978-0-19-954088-4 |access-date=21 May 2020}}</ref><ref name = ODNB>{{cite ODNB|title = Maddock [née Derbyshire], Diana Margaret Pearson, Baroness Maddock (1945–2020), politician|last = Peplow|first = Emma|doi = 10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000381669|year = 2024}}</ref> She spent her early years in Croydon and [[Wantage]], but after her parents divorced, she was raised by her mother in [[Lymington]], in Hampshire.<ref name = ODNB/> She was educated at [[Brockenhurst College|Brockenhurst Grammar School]], Shenstone Training College, and Portsmouth Polytechnic (now the [[University of Portsmouth]]) and was a teacher of English as a foreign language.<ref name = ODNB/><ref>{{cite web|title=Baroness Maddock|url=https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/baroness-maddock/685|website=UK Parliament}}</ref> She married Bob Maddock in 1966.<ref name = ODNB/> The couple lived in Sweden for a time, and she credited her time living there as an influence on her political beliefs<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Political Lives of Postwar British MPs: An Oral History of Parliament|year=2020|isbn=9781350089273|pages=48–49|last1=Peplow|first1=Emma|last2=Pivatto|first2=Priscila|publisher=Bloomsbury }}</ref> and went on to serve as President of the [[Anglo-Swedish Society]] from 1999 until her death.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Anglo-Swedish Society History|url=https://www.angloswedishsociety.org.uk/history/|access-date=2021-04-24|website=www.angloswedishsociety.org.uk}}</ref> They returned to England in 1972, and had two daughters.<ref name = ODNB/>
==Political career== Maddock joined the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] in 1976, and was elected to [[Southampton City Council]] in 1984.<ref name = ODNB/> Maddock was not particularly political in her early life. She highlights her initial involvement came when she was pregnant and approached by a canvasser who convinced her to join the Liberal Party having voted for them previously.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Millar|first=Fiona|date=1996|title=Diana Maddock talks to Fiona Millar|journal=The House Magazine|volume=March 4|pages=7}}</ref> As she had stopped work, she had more time to be civically engaged which expanded to the point where she became involved with the Association of Liberal Councillors which promoted active engagement with community groups and she realised she enjoyed campaigning.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The political lives of postwar British MPs : an oral history of parliament|others=Peplow, Emma, Pivatto, Priscila.|year=2020|isbn=978-1-350-08929-7|edition=First |location=London [England]|oclc=1178885088}}</ref> She became leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council in 1986.<ref name = ODNB/> While on Southampton City Council Maddock's primary areas of interest were housing and energy conservation, and she continued her work in these areas throughout her political career.<ref name = ODNB/>
Maddock unsuccessfully contested [[Southampton Test]] at [[1992 United Kingdom general election|the 1992 general election]], coming third.<ref name = ODNB/> She was elected as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Christchurch (UK Parliament constituency)|Christchurch]] at a [[1993 Christchurch by-election|by-election in 1993]] that was caused by the death of [[Robert Adley (British politician)|Robert Adley]], but lost the seat at the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 election]] to the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] candidate [[Christopher Chope]].<ref name = ODNB/> During her time in parliament, she was the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for housing.<ref name = ODNB/>
She was created a [[life peer]] as '''Baroness Maddock''', ''of [[Christchurch, Dorset|Christchurch]] in the [[County of Dorset]]'' on 30 October 1997.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=54938|page=12377|date=4 November 1997}}</ref> From 1998 to 2000, she was [[Liberal Democrats (UK)#Party Presidents|President of the Liberal Democrats]].<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Official Liberal Democrat Website |url=http://www.libdems.org.uk/party_president.aspx |title=Party President |url-status=dead |access-date=7 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825102702/http://www.libdems.org.uk/party_president.aspx |archive-date=25 August 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
In 2005, she was elected a member of [[Northumberland County Council]] for Berwick North Division and in 2007 also to [[Borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed|Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Council]] for Edward Ward.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.andrewteale.me.uk/2005/2005025.html#htoc24 |title=Chapter 23 Northumberland |access-date=7 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Berwick-Upon-Tweed Borough Council Election Results 1973-2007|url=http://www.electionscentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Berwick-Upon-Tweed-1973-2007.pdf|website=The Elections Centre}}</ref>
Maddock did not re-stand for election to the County Council at the expiry of her term in 2008<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.andrewteale.me.uk/leap/results/2008/118/|title=Local Election Results 2008 - Northumberland|website=Local Elections Archive Project}}</ref> and the Borough Council was abolished in 2009 and absorbed into [[Northumberland County Council]].
==Later life== Her marriage to Bob Maddock ended in divorce in 2000.<ref name = ODNB/> She married secondly, to [[Alan Beith]], then-MP for [[Berwick-upon-Tweed (UK Parliament constituency)|Berwick-upon-Tweed]], in 2001.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/999771.stm|title=Beith to marry Maddock|work=BBC News|date=31 October 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=About Alan Beith|url=http://berwicklibdems.org.uk/en/page/alan-beith|website=berwicklibdems.org.uk|access-date=19 March 2015}}</ref> She and her husband were one of the few couples who each held peerages in their own right. She died from breast cancer on 26 June 2020, aged 75, at her home in Berwick-upon Tweed, Northumberland.<ref name = ODNB/><ref>[https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/baroness-diana-maddock-dead-liberal-democrat-a4481956.html Baroness Diana Maddock dead: Liberal Democrat peer dies aged 75, party confirms]</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Death of a Member: Baroness Maddock - Hansard |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2020-06-29/debates/0DDAD479-B3B1-49AD-895C-E9FFB611BE73/DeathOfAMemberBaronessMaddock |website=hansard.parliament.uk}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|40em}}
== External links == * {{Hansard-contribs | mrs-diana-maddock | Diana Maddock }} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110604072702/http://www.libdems.org.uk/people/baroness-maddock-of-christchurch Baroness Maddock] profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{succession box | title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Christchurch (UK Parliament constituency)|Christchurch]] | years = [[1993 Christchurch by-election|1993]]–[[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997]] | before = [[Robert Adley (British politician)|Robert Adley]] | after = [[Christopher Chope]] }} {{s-ppo}} {{succession box | title=President of the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] | before=[[Robert Maclennan]] | after=[[Navnit Dholakia]] | years=1998–2000}} {{s-end}}
{{UK Liberal Democrats}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maddock, Diana Maddock, Baroness}} [[Category:1945 births]] [[Category:2020 deaths]] [[Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies]] [[Category:Members of Northumberland County Council]] [[Category:Presidents of the Liberal Democrats (UK)]] [[Category:Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies]] [[Category:UK MPs 1992–1997]] [[Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers]] [[Category:Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II]] [[Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II]] [[Category:Spouses of life peers]] [[Category:Wives of knights]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Portsmouth]] [[Category:20th-century British women politicians]] [[Category:21st-century British women politicians]] [[Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors]] [[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Dorset]] [[Category:Women councillors in England]] [[Category:English expatriates in Sweden]] [[Category:Deaths from breast cancer in England]] [[Category:Schoolteachers from Hampshire]]