Kathleen Claire Brooks

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(née Graham; 1931 – 13 March 2008) was a British lawyer and Liberal and Liberal Democrat party politician in the radical tradition.

Personal life

Claire Brooks was born at The Folly in

Settle Settle or SETTLE may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an in ...

, a town in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...

. Her father, Arthur Graham, was from a long line of staunch Liberals, and her sister Beth was also active in Liberal politics. She was a pupil at Skipton Girls' High School where she was head girl. She studied law at

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, where she was vice-president of the students' union. She married an American citizen, Herbert Brooks, and lived for a short while in the United States. After she divorced and returned to the UK, she set up her legal practice and engaged seriously in party politics. Brooks gained a reputation as a larger-than-life, plain speaking personality both within the Liberal Party and through TV and personal appearances outside. She was never afraid to speak her mind on political platforms and regularly challenged both the party leadership and those in the party such as the Young Liberals or Liberal Students with whom she often held views in common. At one Liberal Assembly in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

in the mid 1970s, when Brooks heard women waiters were getting less pay than their male counterparts she led a sit down strike in the middle of the hall. Another cause Mrs Brooks cared about was the fate of Liberal Clubs and she started a campaign to return them to their party roots.Letter to Liberal Democrat News, 4 April 2008 She was awarded an

for service to political and public life.

Political career

Politically, Brooks was hailed as a person who kept Liberalism alive in the party's dark days of the 1950s. Claire Brooks first contested the parliamentary seat of

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

, getting 27% of the poll. At the general election of February 1974, she reduced the Tory majority to just over 2,000 votes and in the October general election of the same year, came within 590 votes of ousting the Tories. This was a notable achievement, not least because Brooks had a reputation as a unilateralist in defence policy at a time when Defence was seen as a strong Tory vote-winner. By 1979 the tide was turning back to the Conservatives and the Tory majority rose again. Brooks fought the new seat of Skipton & Ripon in 1983 but came no closer. She fought

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and was a candidate in North Yorkshire in the 1979 European elections. Brooks was also sometime president of the Yorkshire Liberal Federation. She opposed the party's pact with the Labour Party under

David Steel David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood (born 31 March 1938) is a retired Scottish politician. Elected as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles (UK Parliament constituency), Roxb ...

and had reservations concerning the

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

and later with the merger of the Liberal party with the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

.Merger: The Inside Story by Rachael Pitchford & Tony Greaves, (Liberal Renewal, 1989 p.140 However electoral success was to come Brooks' way at local government level. In 1976 she was elected to Craven District Council representing Skipton Central ward. She held this seat for 23 years during which she served as Liberal group leader, chairman of the Council and Mayor of

. Throughout the whole time she continued to run her solicitor's practice in the town. In addition to her politics, Brooks was passionate about her Scottish family roots and was a founder member of the

Clan Graham Clan Graham (''Greumaich nan Cearc'' ) has two main families of Scottish clans, the Grahams of Menteith (descended from the Earl Of Menteith) and the Grahams of Montrose (descended from the Duke of Montrose). Each have their own tartan patterns ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Clarie 1931 births 2008 deaths Alumni of University College London Councillors in North Yorkshire Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Mayors of places in Yorkshire and the Humber Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Settle, North Yorkshire Women mayors of places in England People educated at Skipton Girls' High School 20th-century English lawyers 20th-century English women Women councillors in England