The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 264 No 7096 p713
May 13, 2000 News

Pharmacist wins Romsey by-election

Mrs Sandra Gidley became the first pharmacist to sit as a Member of Parliament since 1964, when she overturned a Conservative majority of 8,585 to win the Romsey by-election for the Liberal Democrats on May 4. She had a majority of 3,311. Speaking to The Journal at the House of Commons on May 9, Mrs Gidley said that during her time in Parliament she wanted to see pharmacy gain greater recognition, both professionally and financially, for the good job it did. She was looking forward to working with the All-Party Pharmacy Group. One issue raised during the by-election campaign was prescription charges. She felt that the whole area of charges needed to be rethought. Mrs Gidley said: "If I could do anything to make that more sensible then that would be good. It may not benefit the profession as a whole, but it would benefit the many patients visiting pharmacies." Mrs Gidley said that she had received a letter of congratulations from the President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (Mrs Christine Glover), which was pleasing. She had been put off pharmacy politics when she was a student and she had attended meetings with people who spoke only in jargon. She saw it as a bit of a turn off - "a boy's game". "You can get sucked into a small circle and not see what is going on outside. I have never felt that much has been achieved by pharmacy's representatives who sit around in smoke-filled rooms and do not relate to the profession."

Sandra Gidley took up her seat in Parliament on May 9

Mrs Gidley studied at the Bath school of pharmacy and undertook her preregistration training with R. Gordon Drummond at Pontypridd. She then worked for Badham Chemists and G. K. Chemists before having a family. More recently, she worked as a pharmacy manager for Safeway and, latterly, Tesco. She had been happy being an employee as it had allowed her to pursue other interests, including her involvement in local politics. Mrs Gidley was elected as a Liberal Democrat councillor for the Tadbury ward of Test Valley district council in 1995, being re-elected in 1999. She was mayor of Romsey in 1997-98. She said that being mayor had helped boost her profile in the constituency. Being a pharmacist had also helped, since voters felt that they could identify with her and that she had a genuine concern for the National Health Service.
Mrs Gidley is the first pharmacist in the House of Commons since Sir Hugh Linstead and Mr Alan Brown were defeated in the 1964 general election. Sir Hugh Linstead was Conservative MP for Putney from 1942. He became Secretary and Registrar of the Pharmaceutical Society in 1926 and remained in the role of Registrar until 1949 and Secretary until 1964. Mr Brown represented Tottenham from 1959 to 1964, first as a member of the Labour party, then as an independent, finally joining the Conservatives in 1962. Mr Archy Kirkwood, Liberal Democrat MP for Roxburgh and Berwickshire since 1983, studied pharmacy at Heriot-Watt university but never undertook his preregistration training.