Armstrong was born on 30 November 1945 to Hannah P. Lamb and Ernest Armstrong, a Labour Party politician. She attended Monkwearmouth Grammar School before going on to take a BSc in sociology at West Ham Technical Institute and a Diploma in Social Work from the University of Birmingham. A former social worker and university lecturer, Armstrong worked for VSO in Kenya before entering politics. She was first elected as Durham County Councillor for Crook North Division in 1985. She was shortlisted for the vacant Sedgefield constituency in 1983, only to lose out to Tony Blair, who went on to be elected MP. Four years later, at the 1987 general election, she was elected to her father's North West Durham seat on his retirement, increasing his majority by 3,806 to 10,162.
Parliamentary career
Armstrong was parliamentary private secretary to John Smith during his time as Labour leader, and played a large part in his successful fight to institute One member, one vote at Labour's party conference. Armstrong was seen as a politician on the right of the Labour Party, and was close politically to her near neighbour Tony Blair and the New Labour agenda. However, she is also a member of the Amicustrades union, and her trade union links were useful when she helped to shore up support for the rewriting of Clause IV. In the 1992 general election, Armstrong retained her North West Durham constituency by defeating two future party leaders, Theresa May of the Conservatives, who became Prime Minister in 2016, and Tim Farron of the Liberal Democrats.
In government
Armstrong spent two years as Minister for Housing and Planning and four years as Minister for Local Government in the Department for the Environment, Transport, and the Regions and then the Department for Transport, Local Government, and the Regions, before being promoted into the Cabinet of the United Kingdom as Chief Whip after the 2001 election. This was the high point of a political career which was low-key but generally successful; though she endured controversies over select committee membership and over allegations of strong arm tactics with Labour dissenters over military action in Afghanistan. Armstrong also faced criticism after government defeats in the Commons over the length of time suspected terrorists could be detained without charge, and incitement to religious hatred provisions in the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005. Press commentators speculated that in losing these votes through miscalculating government support, and in one instance letting the Prime Minister off the "Whip" because she believed the vote was won, Armstrong's position had become vulnerable. However the rumours that she would resign the post proved unfounded. Afterwards, Conservative leader David Cameron mocked Armstrong during an exchange with Tony Blair, saying "She must be the first Chief Whip in history to put the Prime Minister in the frame for losing a key vote—which is an interesting career move, to say the least." This was the second time David Cameron had attacked her during Prime Minister's Questions; on his debut as Leader of the Opposition on 7 December 2005, Cameron singled her out by saying, "That's the problem with these exchanges—the chief whip on the Labour side shouting like a child. Is she finished? Are you finished?" On 5 May 2006 Armstrong was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Minister for Social Exclusion. In 2006, Armstrong launched a petition on behalf of the Bethnal Green and Bow Labour Party against Labour turned Respect MP George Galloway's participation in Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother. She criticised Galloway for being paid as an MP during the time he was in the Big Brother house. Galloway responded by saying he planned to refund the taxpayer after his exit from the show as he would not know how much to refund until then. She formally resigned from the government on 27 June 2007 when Tony Blair resigned as Prime Minister. On becoming Prime Minister, Gordon Brown announced Armstrong's appointment as Chair of a Parliamentary Labour Party Manifesto Committee drawing up policy ideas covering children.
Post-Government
On 4 July 2009, Armstrong announced her intention to stand down at the 2010 general election. On 18 June 2010, she was created a life peer as Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top, of Crook in the County of Durham, and was introduced in the House of Lords on 6 July 2010. She was interviewed in 2014 as part of The History of Parliament's oral history project. She is a member of the Joint Committee on the Draft Domestic Abuse Bill. On 19 July 2019, Armstrong's North West Durham constituency party voted to expel her from the party after she and 67 other Labour peers published an advert in The Guardian on 17 July claiming that Jeremy Corbyn had “failed the test of leadership” over his handling of antisemitismcomplaints within Labour. However, the vote was non-binding as only the National Executive has the mandate to expel members. She is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.
