Former Labour minister was one of ‘gang of four’ who split from party to form Social Democratic party in 1981
Shirley Williams, one of the original “gang of four” Labour politicians who split to form the Social Democratic party, died peacefully in her sleep in the early hours of Monday morning, the Liberal Democrats have announced.
Hailed by many as a trailblazer for a political career that spanned more than 50 years, she entered parliament as MP for the Hertfordshire town of Hitchin in 1964 and left it as Lady Williams of Crosby in 2016.