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Shirley Williams, Professor, Rt Hon the Baroness Williams of Crosby
Lib Dems Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council
In office 11 June 2001 – 22 June 2004
Leader	Charles Kennedy
Preceded by	Bill Rodgers
Succeeded by	Tom McNally
Secretary of State for Education and Science
In office 10 September 1976 – 4 May 1979
Prime Minister	James Callaghan
Preceded by	Fred Mulley
Succeeded by	Mark Carlisle
Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection
In office 28 February 1974 – 8 April 1976
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	office created
Succeeded by	Roy Hattersley
Born	27 July 1930 (1930-07-27) (age 77) London, UK
Political party	Labour Party (to 1981) SDP (to 1988) Liberal Democrats
Alma mater	Somerville College, Oxford
Occupation	Journalist

Shirley Williams, The Baroness Williams of Crosby PC (born 27 July 1930), is a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Member of Parliament (MP), she was one of the "Gang of Four" rebels who founded the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981.^[1] In 2001-2004, she served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats, and now serves as an Advisor on Nuclear Proliferation to Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Baroness Williams remains one of Britain's most popular politicians after decades of public service.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Member of Parliament 2.1 Creating the SDP 2.2 General Election defeat 3 Life peer 4 Personal life 5 Further reading 6 Notes 7 External links

Born Shirley Vivien Teresa Brittain Catlin, Williams is the daughter of political scientist and philosopher Sir George Catlin, and novelist Vera Brittain. She began her career as a journalist after graduating from Somerville College, Oxford several years after Margaret Thatcher's graduation from the same college. She also was a Fulbright Scholar and studied at Columbia University in New York City. Williams was first married to the philosopher Sir Bernard Williams from 1955 to 1974, and then married to Richard E. Neustadt, a professor at Harvard University, from 1987 until his death in 2003.

Baroness Williams served as a full professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government from 1988 to 2001 and thereafter as Public Service Professor of Electoral Politics, Emerita.

Baroness Williams was a pupil at Talbot Heath School in Bournemouth, Dorset.

At the 1964 general election, Williams was elected as Labour MP for the constituency of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, and rose quickly to a junior ministerial position. Between 1971 and 1973 she served as shadow Home Secretary. In 1974 she became Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection under Harold Wilson, and, when Wilson was succeeded in 1976 by James Callaghan, she became Secretary of State for Education and Paymaster General, two cabinet positions held at the same time.

Williams lost her seat to Bowen Wells in the Labour Party general-election defeat of 1979 (her seat was renamed Hertford and Stevenage in 1974). In 1981, unhappy with the influence of the far left in the Labour Party, she resigned from it to form the SDP, along with Roy Jenkins, David Owen and Bill Rodgers. Later that year, following the death of Conservative Sir Graham Page, she won a by-election in Crosby in Merseyside, becoming the first elected SDP MP.

Despite becoming SDP President, she lost her seat in the 1983 general election. She then stood for Cambridge in the 1987 general election, but lost to the Conservative candidate. Williams supported the SDP's 1988 merger with the Liberal Party to form the Liberal Democrats. Also during this time, Williams served as a BBC broadcaster on "In Conversation with Shirley Williams" and has appeared on many television and radio programmes, including as a commentator on BBC's "Question Time" more than any other panelist.

Williams was awarded a life peerage with the title The Baroness Williams of Crosby, of Stevenage in the County of Hertfordshire, PC, in 1993.

Shirley Williams was Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords from 2001 to 2004.

Among other nonprofit boards, Williams serves on the Advisory Council of the Institute for Public Policy Research, (USA) Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Chatham House (president), the Twentieth Century Fund, and the Washington-based think-tank Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI).

In June 2007, Williams conditionally accepted a formal Brown Government position as Advisor on Nuclear Proliferation provided she could serve as an independent advisor. At this writing, the Office of Prime Minister is reviewing her conditions.

In 1988, Williams moved to the United States, but, not surprisingly, remained active in politics and public service in the UK, USA, and internationally. She helped draft constitutions in Russia, Ukraine, and South Africa; served as director of Harvard's Project Liberty, an initiative designed to assist the emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe; as UN Special Representative to the former Yugoslavia; and as a member of the European Union's Comite des Sages, among other top policy positions.

Baroness Williams, among other ongoing activities, is reportedly working on her autobiography.

Shirley Williams has published several books including:

• God and Caesar: Personal Reflections on Politics and Religion (2003)
• New Party - The New Technology (1988)
• A Job to Live (1985)
• Politics is for People (1981)

There is a substantial article on Shirley Williams by Phillip Whitehead in the Dictionary of Labour Biography, by Greg Rosen (ed), Politicos Publishing, 2001.

• Baroness Williams of Crosby (profile on the Liberal Democrats' website)

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Madden	Member of Parliament for Hitchin 1964–1974	Succeeded by Ian Stewart
Preceded by (new constituency)	Member of Parliament for Hertford and Stevenage 1974–1979	Succeeded by Bowen Wells
Preceded by Graham Page	Member of Parliament for Crosby 1981–1983	Succeeded by Malcolm Thornton
Political offices
Preceded by James Callaghan	Shadow Home Secretary 1971–1973	Succeeded by Roy Jenkins
Preceded by Office Created	Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection 1974–1976	Succeeded by Roy Hattersley
Preceded by Frederick Mulley	Secretary of State for Education and Science 1976–1979	Succeeded by Mark Carlisle
Preceded by Edmund Dell	Paymaster-General 1976–1979	Succeeded by Angus Maude
Preceded by The Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank	Liberal Democrat Leader in the House of Lords 2001–2004	Succeeded by The Lord McNally