My grandmother Phyllis Hayward, who has died aged 99, was a staunch socialist who was active in the women’s section of the Labour party. When her husband, Ron, became general secretary of the party in 1972, Phyllis accompanied him on many overseas trips, at their own expense, meeting heads of state and leading political figures. It was commonly known that the party got two for the price of one, as wives were expected to play their part. During his farewell speech in 1982, Ron said of Phyllis: “She has always been right by my side and, politically, she was way out in front of me.” When it was her turn to address conference, Phyllis took the opportunity to argue for the importance of childcare provision for women who wanted to work. Though devoted to Ron, being married to him, with three children to bring up, meant that Phyllis was unable to pursue her own political career. Phyllis was born in Southampton, to Beatrice (nee Youren) and Charles Allen. Her father served in the merchant navy, as did two of her four brothers. Phyllis left school in Southampton at 14 and worked at a herbalist’s and a baker’s. At the beginning of the second world war she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS, the women’s branch of the British army), and then the WAAF, as a corporal.
While in the WAAF she met Ron Hayward, a corporal in the RAF. They married in Southampton in 1943, living on RAF sites including in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, and, later, in Bloxham, with Ron’s grandparents. They had three children, Patricia, Susan and Gillian, over the course of 11 years. During this time, Ron became a political agent for the Labour party. The family moved to Kent in 1949, where Phyllis helped with political activities, and then to south London in the early 1950s. Phyllis was appointed a magistrate in the 1960s. When she became a justice of the peace on the Dartford bench, she wasn’t happy to be told that female JPs had to wear hats, and promptly refused. During this time Phyllis also served on two hospital boards including Joyce Green in Dartford. Phyllis and Ron moved to Birchington-on-Sea in Kent in 1978. Phyllis took up pottery, and enjoyed gardening, walking her dog and spending time with family. She loved the coast, and was partial to a cream tea. Her sweet tooth was well-known, and afternoons at Phyllis’s always featured a trolley laden with cakes beautifully presented on doilies. After Ron’s death in 1996, Phyllis moved to Faversham to be close to relatives. She was diagnosed with vascular dementia around 2012 and spent her last eight years living in care homes, first in Faversham and then in Whitstable. Phyllis was predeceased by her brothers Alfie, Charles and Len. Her sister, Frances, died two weeks after her. She is survived by her daughters, 10 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, a great-great-grandchild and her brother, Ernie.