Castle, Barbara (1910-2002), a British politician, became a leading member of the Labour Party. She was chairman of the Labour Party in 1958 and 1959. Castle served as the United Kingdom’s minister for overseas development (1964-1965), then became the first woman minister of transport (1965-1967). In this post, she introduced the Breathalyzer, a device for measuring the amount of alcohol a motorist has consumed. She was first secretary of state and secretary of state for employment (1967-1970), then secretary of state for social services (1974-1976). Castle was a member of Parliament from 1945 to 1979. From 1979 to 1989, she led her party’s group in the European Parliament.
Barbara Anne Betts was born on Oct. 6, 1910, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. She was educated at Bradford Girls’ Grammar School and St. Hugh’s College, Oxford. She began her career as a journalist. In 1944, she married the English journalist Edward Cyril Castle, later Baron Castle of Islington. Barbara Castle was made a life peer in 1990, taking the title Baroness Castle of Blackburn. She died on May 3, 2002.
