Baroness Betty Boothroyd, photographed in the member's balcony of the Houses of Parliament. Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd, OM, PC (born 8 October 1929) is a British politician, who served as a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000. From 1992 to 2000, she served as Speaker of the House of Commons. She was the first, and to date only, woman Speaker. She sits, by tradition, as a Crossbench peer in the House of Lords.