Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn (October 6, 1910 - May 3, 2002) was a British Member of Parliament who served as the first (and currently only) female First Secretary of State. Castle also held many other government positions, which she used to bring in positive reforms.
Barbara Castle was first elected to Parliament in 1945 as Member of Parliament for Blackburn. She served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to future Prime Minister Harold Wilson. In 1964, Wilson became Prime Minister and appointed Castle Minister for Overseas Development. Wilson later appointed her as Minister for Transport. In this position, Castle introduced many new laws to improve road safety. From 1945 until 1964, more people died in road accidents then civilians killed in World War II. Castle's reforms included introducing the breathalyser to combat drink-driving and forcing car companies to fit all cars with seatbelts. Castle also made the national speed limit permanent after a report showed it had caused a 20% fall in road deaths.
In 1968, Castle was appointed as Secretary of State for Employment. During her tenure, several female engineers at Ford Motors refused to keep working because they were being paid less than their male colleagues. Castle spoke out in support of the women and helped negotiate with Ford to get them a pay rise. Following the strike, Castle passed the Equal Pay Act, making it illegal to pay women less than men for the same job.
In 1970, Castle's husband Ted lost his job and became depressed. Castle persuaded Wilson to grant Ted a peerage to help him. Shortly afterwards, Wilson lost the 1970 election to Edward Heath's Conservative Party. Castle remained as a member of the Opposition until 1974, when Wilson was re-elected. She was appointed Secretary of State for Health and Social Services, a position she held for two years. She introduced many welfare reforms during those two years, chief among them the Child Benefits Act (which introduced welfare payments for parents with young children) and the introduction of payments to people who cared for the disabled. Castle also made it easier for the disabled to get disability payments. During this point in time, Castle became Lady Castle of Blackburn when Ted was made a lord.
After Wilson was succeeded by Castle's rival James Callaghan, she was sacked almost immediately. Castle subsequently became a Member of the European Parliament and began improving relations with European countries. During this time, she allegedly approached newspaper editor Don Hale with a dossier containing the names of sixteen Members of Parliament who had links to the Paedophile Information Exchange. Castle asked him to release the names, but MP Cyril Smith (later exposed as a sex offender) arranged for the police to seize the dossier before it could be released, the Daily Star reported.
On 16 July 1990, Castle was created a life peer as Baroness Castle of Blackburn. She remained active in politics until her death from chronic lung disease on May 3, 2002.