Matthew Bannister on

Baroness McDonagh

Margaret McDonagh was the youngest person and the first woman to become General Secretary of the Labour Party. She was a key player in the New Labour project that helped the party win a landslide in 1997 and two subsequent terms in office. Margaret McDonagh was born in Mitcham in South London where her mother worked as a psychiatric nurse and her father was a building worker.

Born: 26 June 1961. Died: 24 June 2023. Age: 61

Craig Brown

Scotland’s longest serving football manager – taking the national team to the Euro 96 finals and the World Cup in 1998. He started his career as a player for Dunkirk and Falkirk before turning to coaching in 1977.

Born: 1 July 1940. Died: 26 June 2023. Age: 82

Godfrey Merlen

Conservationist and author who devoted much of his life to studying the Galapagos Islands. He lived on the archipelago in the Eastern Pacific for fifty years. The area is noted for its large numbers of unique species which were studied by Chares Darwin and gave rise to his theory of evolution by natural selection. Godfrey Merlen was born in the Cotswolds. After leaving university he worked in the fishing industry and first became concerned about the damage humans were doing to nature.

Died: May 10th, 2022

Winnie Ewing

One of most high-profile pioneers of the Scottish Independence movement. In the 1960s, the Glasgow criminal lawyer won an unexpected by-election victory which made her the first Scottish National Party MP at Westminster.

Born: 10 July 1929 Aged: 21 June 2023. Age 93

Producer: Ed Prendeville

Interviewee: Sir Tony Blair

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