Rachel Squire

Rachel Anne Squire (July 13, 1954 – January 5, 2006) was a British politician. She was Labour Member of Parliament for Dunfermline West and then Dunfermline and West Fife in Scotland from 1992 until her death after a long series of illnesses.

Squire was born in Surrey, England. She attended the private all-female Godolphin and Latymer School, in Hammersmith. After university, Squire became a social worker, also working in factories and other manual jobs. She became a full-time official with Nupe, the public sector union, later part of UNISON. Working for the union took her to Merseyside, and then to Scotland where she became the union's education officer. She served on the Labour Party's Scottish Executive.

Work in Parliament

Rachel Squire was known as 'one of the most committed and successful constituency advocates in Parliament'. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2070417.stm] . She worked to get regeneration funds for her constituency, campaigned for the Rosyth Dockyard and secured funds to put off the closure of the Longannet coal mine.

In Parliament, Squire was a member of Defence Select Committee and served as PPS to Education ministers Stephen Byers and Estelle Morris from 1997 to 2001. Squire was a patron for Brain Tumour Action, a cancer charity. She was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 1993, and a second one in 2003. On June 2, 2005, she was admitted to hospital after suffering a stroke, thought to have been caused by bleeding stemming from the second brain tumor. She did not recover, and died on January 5, 2006 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4586808.stm (1)] .

In response to her death Tony Blair MP, Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party, said:

"I am deeply saddened to learn of Rachel Squire’s death, Rachel was a fighter both politically and personally. She fought hard for her constituents, for our party but, above all, for the people who look to us to help them improve life for their families. She also won the respect of all who knew her for the brave and dignified way she fought her long illness. She will be greatly missed by her colleagues and many friends. All our thoughts are with Alan at this sad time. "

Her death prompted the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election, held on February 9 2006, in which her former seat was won by Willie Rennie for the Liberal Democrats.

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4586808.stm BBC - Labour MP dies after cancer fight] 6 January, 2006.
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-4937,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Rachel Squire MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/rachel_squire/dunfermline_and_fife_west TheyWorkForYou.com - Rachel Squire MP]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4605583.stm BBC News - Labour MP in hospital with stroke] 3 June, 2005