Olga Maitland
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Lady Helen Olga Hay ( Maitland; born 23 May 1944), widely known as Lady Olga Maitland, is a British journalist, author, and
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
politician. She served as the Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam from 1992 to 1997 and has been involved in defence advocacy and international business development.


Family and education

Helen Olga Maitland was born on 23 May 1944, in New York City, USA, the elder daughter of Patrick Maitland, 17th Earl of Lauderdale, a
war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...
for
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
, later Conservative MP, and Stanka (''née'' Losanitch), whose mother had been a
lady in waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but ...
to the Royal Family of Yugoslavia. She was educated at St Mary and St Anne's School,
Abbots Bromley Abbots Bromley is a village and civil parish in the East Staffordshire district of Staffordshire and lies approximately east of Stafford, England. According to the University of Nottingham English Place-names project, the settlement name Abbots ...
(later known as the Abbots Bromley School for Girls), and the
Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, usually referred to as the Lycée or the French Lycée, is a French co-educational primary and secondary independent day school, situated in South Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and ...
in
South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...
. At the age of 16 she joined the Young Conservatives.


Career

Maitland began her journalism career in 1964 as a reporter for the ''Fleet Street News Agency'' and the ''Blackheath and District Reporter''. In 1967, she became a columnist for the
Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...
, a role she held until 1991. She worked as a freelance journalist from 1991, contributing to the
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
between 1998 and 2001. In the 1980s, Maitland reported to
MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...
an attempt by Yuri Sagaidak, a
KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
agent posing as a journalist for
Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (; ) is a daily Russian tabloid newspaper that was founded in 1925. Its name is in reference to the official Soviet newspaper '' Pravda'' (English: 'Truth'). History and profile During the Soviet era, ''Komsomolskaya ...
, to recruit her. In 1989, MI5 assessed Sagaidak as a security risk leading to his expulsion from the United Kingdom.


Politics

Maitland's political journey began in 1983 when she founded Women for Defence, a campaigning group established to counter protests against the deployment of American Cruise missiles on British soil. It also opposed movements such as the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp and the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucl ...
(CND), promoting
nuclear deterrence Deterrence theory refers to the scholarship and practice of how threats of using force by one party can convince another party to refrain from initiating some other course of action. The topic gained increased prominence as a military strategy d ...
as a pathway to multilateral disarmament. The group was later renamed ''Families for Defence''. Its official launch on 28 March 1983, marked by a public meeting in Trafalgar Square, drew significant attention and recognition from U.S. President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
.PHS
"The Times Diary: Swiss Role"
''Times'', 4 Jan. 1985, p. 10. The Times Digital Archive. Accessed 19 Oct. 2020.
On 19 January 1984, she participated in a public debate at Islington Central Library in London titled "Is Britain Worth Dying For?". Representing ''Women and Families for Defence'', she argued in favour of the proposition, while a representative of the
Socialist Party of Great Britain The Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) is a small socialist political party in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1904 as a split from the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), it advocates using the ballot box for revolutionary purposes and ...
, argued against it. The organisation evolved into the ''Defence and Security Forum'' (DSF), a think tank which addresses global defence and foreign affairs. Maitland serves as its president. At the 1987 general election, Maitland stood as the
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
candidate for
Bethnal Green and Stepney Bethnal Green and Stepney is a United Kingdom constituencies, parliamentary constituency in Greater London, which returns one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House ...
, but was unsuccessful. She later represented Sutton and Cheam as its MP from the 1992 general election until that of 1997, when the Conservative Party lost power, and she was defeated by
Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...
Paul Burstow Paul Kenneth Burstow (born 13 May 1962) is a British former politician who served as the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam for 18 years, from 1997 to 2015, when he was defeated by Paul Scully. He was appointed Mini ...
by 2,097 votes. Maitland contested the constituency again in 2001 but was not re-elected. During her tenure in
Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
, Maitland specialised in defence and security matters. She served on several Parliamentary Committees, including: * The Procedure Committee (27 April 1992 – 26 June 1995) * The Statutory Instruments Select Committee (7 February 1995 – 21 March 1997) * The Statutory Instruments Joint Committee (7 February 1995 – 21 March 1997) * The Health and Social Care Committee (10 June 1996 – 21 March 1997) Maitland was secretary to Conservative Backbench Committees on Northern Ireland, Defence, and Foreign Affairs, and to the Yugoslav Parliamentary Group. She introduced
Private Members Bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...
s in 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 ...
on Prisoner's Return to Custody (1995) and Offensive Weapons (1996). From 1996 to 1997, she served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Sir John Wheeler, then Minister of State for
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
at the
Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; , Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for handling Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of S ...
. She has been vocal against
positive discrimination Affirmative action (also sometimes called reservations, alternative access, positive discrimination or positive action in various countries' laws and policies) refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking ...
, advocating for women to achieve political positions based on merit rather than quotas. In January 1997, during a debate in the House of Commons, Maitland described the suggestion of caning girls as "barbaric," expressing her opposition to the reinstatement of corporal punishment in schools. In the lead-up to the 2001 general election, Maitland was featured in a
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
News article that detailed her efforts to regain the Sutton and Cheam seat, highlighting her campaign activities, including door-to-door canvassing and direct constituent engagement.


Beyond politics

Maitland has worked in security and governmental activities for over 35 years, focusing on business development in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. She served as CEO of the ''International Association of Money Transfer Networks'' (IAMTN), a London-based not-for-profit organisation established to support the
remittances A remittance is a non-commercial transfer of money by a foreign worker, a member of a diaspora community, or a citizen with familial ties abroad, for household income in their home country or homeland. Money sent home by migrants competes ...
sector and help fight
money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
. In 2005, she cofounded the ''Algeria British Business Council'' (ABBC), promoting economic collaboration between Algeria and the UK.


Personal life

On 19 April 1969, Maitland married Robin William Patrick Hamilton Hay, M.A., LL.B., a
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...
who later became a Crown Court Recorder. The couple have three children. Following her marriage, Maitland retained her maiden name for public life.


Publications


Books

*


Articles

* ''Peace Studies in our Schools'' (1985; contributor) * ''Faith in the Family'' (1997) * ''Political Indoctrination in Our Schools''.


References


Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maitland, Olga 1944 births 20th-century British women politicians 20th-century English people 20th-century English women Olga Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Daughters of Scottish earls Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Living people People educated at Abbots Bromley School for Girls People educated at Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle UK MPs 1992–1997