Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick in the House of Lords

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick in the House of Lords

13 November 2019

EXTRAORDINARY times call for extraordinary measures is one phrase to describe how former South Down MP Margaret Ritchie has ended up as the newest member of the House of Lords.

She stepped down as a member from her beloved SDLP after 39 years in September after a “long and difficult” decision to become Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick.

The new peer aims to give Northern nationalists a voice in the upper house, particularly in the last uncertain months leading up to yet another Brexit deadline on January 31.

“I want to work to see a resolution to Brexit and I come into the Lords as a Remainer through and through,” Baroness Ritchie said.

“I thought about becoming a peer long and hard before I agreed to go and I felt that these were extraordinary times and as there was no Nationalist voice from Northern Ireland being heard in either house, I could do something in the Lords.

“We have never had this situation with Brexit before, so I believe that it’s important to be heard. I know there may well be some criticism but its something I’m prepared to take on as I think it is of vital importance.”

Sadly, and inevitably, and perhaps the sign of the times for all women in politics who take a stand, Baroness Ritchie has already received considerable abuse on social media.

While Brexit will dominate most of her efforts in the coming weeks, she says she is also interested in issues such as health issues like compensation for victims of contaminated blood and women with vaginal mesh difficulties, tourism generally but the air passenger duty in Northern Ireland specifically and anything that impacts on the local fishing industry.

That Baroness Ritchie took Downpatrick as her Lords title is no surprise as she was born in the old Downe Hospital to John and Rose Ritchie, was christened in St Patrick’s Church in the town and raised in Annacloy with her brother, John. She attended Holy Family Primary School in Teconnaught and is one of the success stories from St Mary’s High School, Downpatrick.

Fourteen of her closest family members and friends flew over to London with her to see her take on yet another political position.

The day was a joyous one, a combination of a graduation and a wedding.

“It really felt foreign to me as I’m not used to pomp and ceremony, although I’ve wore a gown before when I graduated from Queen’s University,” she explained.

“I had just the loan of my gown for an hour and I found it the most weird thing on earth to put on. They went through the procedure with me in the Robing Room, then you are brought down for a practice in order to get it right. It’s all very organised and you have to do the correct number of steps behind the person who is sponsoring you as well as the second one.”

Such a momentous occasion took all of two minutes but it was watched by her friends from above in the public gallery.

Rather than swear allegiance to the Queen, Baroness Ritchie choose to affirm.

She explained: “You are really affirming to the rules and procedures of the House and it happens to be the head of state is the Queen.”

While the 61 year-old sits as an independent peer, she has been taken under the wing of the Labour Party.

This was signposted at her introduction to the Lords on October 16, by former Secretary of State Paul Murphy, now Baron Murphy of Torfaen, and former junior NIO minister Angela Smith, now Baroness Smith of Basildon and Shadow Leader of the House of Lords.

While the role will not have the cut and thrust of her previous political appointments or the urgency of her time as one of the negotiating team leading up to the Good Friday Agreement of 1988, it still ranks as a impressive swan song of many a life peer who has distinguished themselves in a long career in business, arts or politics.

Baroness Ritchie has enjoyed a long and prestigious political career, having spent many years on the former Down District Council, nine years as an MLA for South Down and nearly three years as Minister for Social Development in the early days of the power-sharing executive. Then there were the 18 months she served as SDLP party leader in 2010-10 and her succession to Eddie McGrady as South MP in 2010, serving the constituency for seven years before losing her seat to the current incumbent, Sinn Féin’s Chris Hazzard.

She has known the best of times and worst of times in political life.

“The worst was definitely losing my seat as MP and I believe part of the reason was the political circumstances of the time, the famous fall of the institutions caused by the RHI crisis and the fallout between the DUP and Sinn Féin afterwards,” she said.

“I suppose I could say that I was a victim, but I don’t want to see myself like that. It was just the current political circumstances, along with Brexit, and what was going on here, they were woven into one another. 

“There was the lack of political institutions, political instability and in those situations, extremes dominate. You see it in Britain with the extreme right and left now dominating.

“My best times was working as a Minister for Social Development as you actually had executive power to make things happen in infrastructure projects on the ground and in your community.”

Just eight months after losing the South Down seat, she was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2018.

She has successfully came through her treatment and says that her illness will not deter her from serving fully in the business of the Lords.

“Of course there was a time when I was going through treatment that I couldn’t have imagined taking up such a role but I wouldn’t do it if I felt that I wasn’t up to it in all ways,” she added.

Baroness Ritchie admits that it was hard-going at times, but she tries never to look back.