Theresa Stewart was a British Labour Party politician and the first woman to lead Birmingham City Council. She served as the Lord Mayor of Birmingham from 2000 to 2001. She summed up her public and political work simply: “To do for the poor what lawyers do for the rich.” Find out more at birminghamyes.
From Mathematics to Politics
Theresa Stewart was born in Leeds in 1930, during the interwar period. From a young age, she showed a talent for mathematics, and her parents supported her in pursuing what was then an unconventional path. In the first half of the 20th century, very few girls chose this field; it was a time when women were fighting for their rightful place in a male-dominated academic world. As a teenager, Theresa won a scholarship to study mathematics at a college of the University of Oxford. After earning her master’s degree, she began postgraduate studies, where she was the only woman in her programme. During her studies, she met the love of her life, John Stewart, and they married in 1953. Her husband continued his studies in Edinburgh, and Theresa began teaching mathematics there. She then spent several years in London with John, where she raised their four children. Once her children were of school age, Theresa launched her own career, not in academia, but in politics, joining the Labour Party. In 1966, John Stewart was offered a teaching position at the University of Birmingham, and the family relocated to the city.
Decisiveness: A Hallmark of Theresa Stewart
In the late 1960s, Theresa was elected to the board of a Birmingham regional hospital, where she immediately exposed wrongdoing. She discovered a private ward that was being used exclusively for a select few, such as the relatives and friends of the hospital’s management. With the help of journalists from a local newspaper, she brought the issue of corruption to light, and the situation was quickly rectified.
In 1970, Theresa ran for election, won, and became a councillor for the Billesley ward in Birmingham. This marked the beginning of her 32-year political career. In 1971, she famously declined an invitation to lunch with Queen Elizabeth II. She explained her refusal by stating that instead of cleaning up the city centre for the royal visit, the council’s efforts would be better spent improving the suburbs where ordinary people lived.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Stewart served as a member and later chair of Birmingham’s Social Services Committee. She founded the Birmingham Pregnancy Advisory Service and advocated for additional family benefits for mothers. Known for her rebellious spirit, Theresa actively supported striking miners and steelworkers, even offering them shelter in her own home during protests.
In 1991, Stewart and 20 other councillors were suspended from the Labour group for opposing the closure of a children’s home due to funding cuts. Then, in 1993, she made history by becoming the first woman to be elected Leader of Birmingham City Council. One of her first radical moves was to redirect funds intended for the International Convention Centre’s upkeep towards social and educational projects. The new leader sought to hold accountable those responsible for the city’s £6 million annual loss on the centre. She later refused to release funding for the refurbishment of Symphony Hall and the National Indoor Arena, which had been budgeted by her predecessor. In 1993, Theresa Stewart invited the one leader she deeply admired, human rights champion Nelson Mandela, to Birmingham. A photograph from his visit held a place of honour in her office.
In 1998, Theresa Stewart officially hosted the G8 leaders in Birmingham. For her, however, the meeting with Mandela remained the most significant moment of her political career.
Theresa Stewart retired in 2002. She passed away in 2020 at the age of 90, remembered as an exemplary politician. In 2023, a commemorative plaque was dedicated to the first woman to lead the City Council.