Baroness Boothroyd was a trailblazer who inspired future generations of politicians - The Yorkshire Post says
Born in 1929, Betty Boothroyd was the daughter of Dewsbury textile workers who would go on to break the mould and inspire generations of politicians to come.
While the world of politics will be all the poorer following her passing at the age of 93, her legacy will endure. Baroness Boothroyd failed her 11-plus exams for grammar school and went to Dewsbury College of Commerce and Art before becoming part of a dancing troupe in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Her political career began as a secretary to Labour MPs. In 1973, she won her first parliamentary election. And she became the first woman to be elected Speaker of the House of Commons in 1992, remaining in the chair until her retirement from the Commons in 2000.
Baroness Boothroyd was an example of someone who not only broke the glass ceiling but smashed through it.