Serota , Beatrice , 1919-2002 , Baroness Serota , politician

Beatrice Serota (1919-2002) was born in London on 15 October 1919, the daughter of Alexander Katz and Milly Witkower. She was educated at the Clapton county secondary school and at the London School of Economics. In 1942 she married Stanley Serota. After wartime service in the Ministry of Fuel and Power, Serota was elected as a Labour member of Hampstead Borough Council in 1945, beginning a long involvement with local politics. In 1954 she was elected to the London County Council (LCC), serving as Chairman of the Children's Committee. When the LCC was abolished in 1965, Serota was elected to the Greater London Council (GLC) which replaced it. She became the Labour Chief Whip on the GLC, and served on the Inner London Education Authority, until 1967. Serota's work for the LCC and GLC led to her being awarded a peerage for services to children in 1967. This enabled her appointment as Minister of State for Health in the Department of Health and Social Security, 1969-1970. Prior to becoming a minister, Serota had served on a number of advisory bodies and commissions. She was a member of the Longford Committee on crime, 1964; the Royal Commission on the Penal System, 1964-1966; the Latey Committee on the Age of Majority, 1965-1967; and the Advisory Council on the Penal System, 1966-1968, and 1974-1979. Following the Labour government's defeat in 1970, Serota served on the Community Relations Commission, 1970-1976; and was Chair of the Commission for Local Administration, 1974-1982; the BBC Complaints Commission, 1975-1977; and was a Governor of the BBC, 1977-1982. Serota also had an active career in the House of Lords, being Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees and a member of the European Communities Select Committee, 1986-1992. she was Deputy Speaker in the Lords from 1985 until her death in 2002.

She was also involved with the National Council for One Parent Families and the Family Service Units until her death in 2002.