Gwyneth Dunwoody MP

Born December 12, 1930; died April 17, 2008

It is with great sadness that we have to report the passing away, after a short illness, of Gwyneth Dunwoody, a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament. Re-elected in 1974, she was, at the time of her death, the longest-serving female Member of Parliament

As Chairman of the House of Commons Transport Committee she was both an influential national politician and extremely knowledgeable on all transportation issues. Despite her many parliamentary duties Gwyneth always found the time to meet with US First Student workers when they were in the United Kingdom and took a special interest in the “Drive Up Standards” campaign. In 2007 she secured a special debate that discussed the behavior of UK companies in other countries and spoke at length on the human rights record of FirstGroup in North America. She recently announced that the Transport Committee would be holding an investigation into student transportation in the United Kingdom.

Gwyneth had a reputation as a formidable chairman (mixed in with a mischievous sense of humor) and was fiercely independent and critical of misgovernment. She was born into politics; both her grandmothers were suffragettes, her father was Morgan Phillips, once the general secretary of the Labour party, and her mother was Nora Phillips, who made an independent career for herself in local government, later serving in the House of Lords and as Lord Lieutenant of London.

"For me," Gwyneth said in 2005, "parliament is not only the most important forum for the British people, it is also the last defender of the rights of all citizens."

Tributes have poured in to mark her passing away and she is survived by a daughter, two sons and 10 grandchildren.

Her death does indeed mark the end of an era in UK politics – Gwyneth, we will miss you.