The Right Honourable Helen Lawrie Liddell (born December 6, 1950, Coatbridge, Scotland, nee Reilly) is a British politician, and was member of Parliament for Monklands East , then Airdrie and Shotts from 1994 to 2005. She is a member of the Labour Party and was the first female general secretary of the Scottish Labour Party at the age of 26.
Liddell was first elected to Parliament in 1994, at the Monklands East by-election following John Smith's death. She was Secretary of State for Scotland from 2001 to 2003, when she became a backbencher again. She remains a member of the Privy Council.
She angered the monks of Buckfast Abbey when as Secretary of State for Scotland, called on the monks to stop selling Buckfast Tonic Wine in Scotland.
Liddell stepped down at the 2005 general election.
She is expected to be the next UK High Commissioner to Australia should Labour win the general election [1].
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