FORMER Workington MP Lord Dale Campbell Savours has paid tribute to the former House of Commons Speaker Betty Boothroyd, after her death last week.

Betty Boothroyd, former Labour MP and speaker of the House of Commons, died on Sunday, February 26 at the age of 93.

Lord Campbell Savours has paid tribute to his former colleague, who he served alongside in the House of Commons for over two decades.

Lord Campbell Savours said he and Betty had got on very well over the years, and he commended her for her fairness.

He had been a member of the Rossendale Labour Party in 1969 and when she stood for Parliament in 1970, he was on the selection committee.

He remembered a time when, as deputy speaker of the House of Commons, he had been suspended from the Commons chamber for what he described as ‘aggressive campaigning tactics’ over reform of the Official Secrets Act.

His campaign, which led to a reform of the law, involved the MP having to identify people who had been working in the security services and were known to have abused their positions of trust in the 1970s.

Paying tribute to Baroness Betty Boothroyd, Lord Campbell Savours said: “I first met Betty in the 1970 general election, when she came to our factory in Lancashire.

"I met her again in 1979 when I was elected. We got on very well over the years. I met her on a number of occasions as Speaker of the Commons.

“We occasionally clashed but our clashes were invariably followed by tea with her in the Speakers' apartments.

“Many was the time I gave her a lift home to her London flat before she became Speaker... we were neighbours, we got on very well together

"Up until these recent couple of years when I have had trouble with my medical condition, I was seeing her regularly.

“She loved Parliament, she was very level-headed, and she was popular right across the house because she was always fair.

“She was known for having been a dancer, a tiller girl in the 1950s, secretary of Lord Wilston in the 60s, MP in the 70s, finally to the Lords.

“Many was the time she would let her hair down as Speaker and have a cup of tea with us in the Commons tea rooms.

"There were no heirs and graces with Betty, she was a class act.”