I tried out Speaker Betty’s bouncy bed

The news of the passing of former house of Commons Speaker Betty Boothroyd reminded me of the time she invited me, a rookie freelance writer, to tea. With my security pass scrutinised by armed police officers and the contents of my briefcase searched, I stood nervously on the doorstep of Speaker’s house in the Palace of Westminster. Madam Speaker immediately put me at ease. ‘Call me Betty,’ she said and off we went on a tour of the State Apartments. I loved the furniture, silver and the hallowed walls lined with portraits culminating in her own. I laughed when she showed me her new mattress that had just been delivered. ‘Try it,’ she said. Its depth, on top of the base, made it so high that my feet hardly touched the floor.

When Betty was elected as Speaker, this marked a giant step forward for sexual equality. Apart from being the first woman to occupy this prestigious job, she was also the first Speaker since 1835 to be elected from the Opposition benches. ‘It’s scary to think that at least eight of my predecessors met their deaths in a violent manner,’ she laughed. ‘heads chopped off — the position, though venerable, is not without danger!’

In 2001, she was created a life peer, taking Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell as her title. In 2005, she received the Order of Merit, a personal gift from the Queen.

Of the many famous people I’ve interviewed, Baroness Boothroyd was my star. I won a silver cup for my article about her, published by the Society of Women Writers and Journalists.