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Gerald St, undated
© Liverpool Record Office
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'Battling Bessie' |
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“Battling Bessie”
To say that Bessie Braddock was not afraid to speak her mind would be an extraordinary understatement. Whilst a member of Liverpool City Council, Bessie used a two-foot megaphone in a council meeting in order to force her fellow councillors into action over Liverpool’s housing conditions and slums. In 1956, whilst serving as an MP for Liverpool Exchange, Bessie was concerned about the use of air-rifles amongst youths in her constituency. This prompted her, on July 3rd, to take three air-rifles, which she had seized from juveniles in Liverpool, into the House of Commons. After firing the unloaded rifles into the air, she crossed the floor of the House and handed them to the Home Secretary. The deputy Chairman expressed his displeasure at her behaviour, to which she replied:
“but you see I have to startle this House before anyone does anything about anything. No one takes any notice about anything unless someone does something out of order or unusual.”
It was this idea of startling the establishment, and raising the profile of unpopular issues that shaped Bessie’s political tactics. She was willing to support sensitive and overlooked campaigns, and did not care what people thought, for instance her work on Liverpool City Council highlighted the over-crowding, and sub-standard care of mental health patients. On a lighter note, she was a champion of fashion for the larger woman. With measurements of 50”, 40”, 50”, she empathised with other generously proportioned women who struggled to find clothes and in 1959, she took part in a London fashion show for larger than average women.
Despite her flamboyant tactics, at heart Bessie was modest and very down-to-earth, traits which endeared her to working class people. She holidayed in Scarborough every year, dressed unostentatiously, never wore make-up and never drank nor smoked.
Bessie also developed a deep respect for the democratic process and the House of Commons. When her critics insinuated that she behaved disrespectfully in the House, and even made ambiguous suggestions about her morality, she was deeply offended. The Irish jig case of 1948 was an example of how her eccentricities and refusal to conform was used as a weapon by her critics and opponents.
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