Beverley June Hughes, Baroness Hughes of Stretford (born 30 March 1950) is a British politician who most recently served as Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester for Policing and Crime between 2017 and 2023. A member of the Labour Party, Hughes was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stretford and Urmston from

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. In 2004, she was appointed to the Privy Council. From 2005 to 2009, she served in the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

as the

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

for Children, Young People and Families.

Early life and education

Beverley Hughes was born in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire in 1950 and was educated at Ellesmere Port Girls' Grammar School (now called The Whitby High School) on Sycamore Drive in Whitby,

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south-eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. In the 2021 Unite ...

. She moved to Flixton in 1976, and has lived there ever since. Hughes studied for a BSc in Social Science at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, graduating in 1971. After graduation she continued her studies at the University of Manchester, carrying out postgraduate research into the care of people with

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

, for which she was awarded a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree in 1978. She also gained a Diploma in Applied Social Studies in 1974 from the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

. She worked as a probation officer in Merseyside from 1971 to 1976. From 1976 to 1997 Hughes worked first as a research associate, then lecturer (from 1981) and then a senior lecturer in the Department of Social Policy at the

, a department that she became the head of in 1994.

Political career

Hughes' political career began with election to

Trafford Borough Council Trafford Council, or Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government service ...

in 1986. She established herself, and was appointed leader of the council's Labour Group in 1992. She became Trafford Borough Council Leader in 1995, remaining in the post until her election to the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

at the 1997 general election. From June 1997 to July 1998, she was a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, until she was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Hilary Armstrong, Minister for Local Government and Housing. In July 1999 she was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the

Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions was a United Kingdom Cabinet position created in 1997, with responsibility for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). The position and department ...

. In 2001, she was appointed the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and Probation in the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

. In July 2001, she received significant ridicule and criticism in the media after it was revealed that along with other politicians she had repeatedly denounced an edition of the Channel 4 television show ''

Brass Eye ''Brass Eye'' (stylised as brassEYE) is a British satirical television series parodying current affairs news programming. A series of six episodes aired on Channel 4 in 1997, and a further episode in 2001. The series was created and presented by ...

'' as being "unbelievably sick", but then subsequently admitting that she'd never seen it and refused to ever watch it. The programme was in fact parodying hysteria surrounding the issue of paedophilia and the media, thus commentators suggested that extreme reactions such as those by Hughes had in fact emphasised the need for such programming. Sir Paul Fox criticised Hughes and her colleagues suggesting they "have to have the courtesy to have seen the programme before they go in at the deep end", with Christopher Howse even more critical, suggesting "it was as if paedophilia were sacred and not to be blasphemed against" and that the idiocy of Hughes' performance on the affair was "hard to beat". In 2002, Hughes was appointed

for Immigration, Citizenship and Counter Terrorism, but was forced to resign in April 2004 when it was shown that she had been informed of procedural improprieties concerning the granting of visas to certain categories of workers from Eastern Europe – she had earlier told the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

that if she had been aware of such facts she would have done something about it. Upon resignation, she made clear that she had not set out to "intentionally mislead anyone", but she could not "in conscience continue to serve as immigration minister". The prime minister replaced Hughes with Work and Pensions Minister

Des Browne Desmond Henry Browne, Baron Browne of Ladyton, (born 22 March 1952) is a Scottish politician who served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as Secretary of State for Defence 2006 to 2008 and Secretary of ...

. She was re-appointed into government after the 2005 general election as the Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families in the Department for Education and Skills. She became the

Regional Minister In England, regional ministers were appointed from 2007 on a part-time basis as part of Her Majesty's Government. Each minister had other departmental responsibilities, as well as specific responsibilities for one of the English regions. Their sta ...

for the North West as of 19 July 2007. On 2 June 2009, Hughes announced she was resigning her ministerial position of Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families within that week following the Local and European elections with a cabinet reshuffle anticipated. She stood down at the 2010 General Election for "personal reasons" and specifically denied that she was standing down due to the ongoing expenses scandal. She was made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

on 15 July 2010 taking the title Baroness Hughes of Stretford, of

in the County of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. On 6 May 2017, Hughes was appointed as Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester for Policing and Crime by

Greater Manchester Combined Authority The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is a combined authority for Greater Manchester, England. It was established on 1 April 2011 and consists of 11 members: 10 indirectly elected members, each a directly elected councillor from one ...

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, and former Shadow Home Secretary,

Andy Burnham Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017 Greater Manchester mayoral election, 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Brown ministry, Cabinet as Chief Secretary to th ...

. On 9 January 2023 Hughes retired as Deputy Mayor, with

Kate Green Katherine Anne Green (born 2 May 1960) is a British politician serving as Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester for Policing and Crime since 2023. She previously served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stretford and Urmston between 2010 and 202 ...

succeeding her.

Personal life

She married Thomas McDonald in 1973 in West Cheshire and has three grown up children: one son and two daughters.

Notes

References

External links

Guardian Politics Ask Aristotle – Beverley Hughes

TheyWorkForYou.com – Beverley Hughes

BBC Politics website

GONW Website – Regional Minister Page

News items

Letters she sent to David Blunkett from 2004

Resignation in April 2004

Timeline of resignation from June 2004

Ask Beverley Hughes about Immigration in July 2003
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Beverley 1950 births Living people Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers for children, young people and families UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 People from Ellesmere Port 20th-century British women politicians 21st-century British women politicians Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Greater Manchester Women government ministers in the United Kingdom Alumni of the University of Manchester