Former Gloucester Conservative MP, Sally Oppenheim-Barnes, has passed away at the age of 96. The Baroness served as the city’s MP from 1970 to 1987, never losing an election and amassing a majority of over 12,000 by the time she handed over her seat to successor Douglas French.
In the 1970 election, she defeated Labour’s Jack Diamond, who was then Chief Secretary to the Treasury – making him the only Cabinet Minister to lose their seat in that election.
She was part of Mrs Thatcher’s Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection, famously carrying a shopping basket around to demonstrate the impact of inflation.
Upon Mrs Thatcher’s ascension to power, she was appointed Minister of State for Consumer Affairs – a non-Cabinet role.She was a critic of metrification and, in her ministerial role, enforced large fuel price displays at petrol stations.
Her son Phillip became MP for Amber Valley in Derbyshire in 1983, marking them as the only mother-son duo in the House of Commons. Her first husband, businessman Henry Oppenheim, passed away in 1980 and she married Gloucester businessman John Barnes in 1984.
Her steadfast commitment to the European cause was evident when, in 2018, she expressed in the House of Lords that she “will have a small tear in one eye at the thought that the day may dawn when I will see us leaving Europe.”
Back in 1972, she celebrated the triumph of Gloucester Rugby Club at the House of Commons for clinching the inaugural National Knock-Out competition, where reportedly “We are the Gloucester boys” reverberated through the hallowed halls. An avowed rugby enthusiast, her presence at Kingsholm was seen as a good luck charm, with Gloucester hardly ever facing defeat.
She left the Commons in 1987 and was elevated to the Lords where she was a regular contributor until her retirement in 2018 London became her primary residence since the early 2000s after years of service.
She held the esteemed position of Chairman of the National Consumer Council, reflecting her enduring commitment to consumer rights and advocacy.
Sally, who served as a non-Executive Director of The Boots Company plc and was an independent voice for consumers on the council from 1987-89, is remembered in Gloucester with a plaque at the Eastgate Street entrance to the Eastgate Shopping Centre.
She was vice-president of the National Union of Townswomen’s Guilds for many years, and chaired the National Waterways Museums Trust.
Sally Oppenheim-Barnes is survived by her second husband, and by her son and two daughters from her first marriage.
Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes, born July 26 1928, died January 1 2025.