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The House of Commons records show that I've spoken in this chamber 9,880 times.

But I have to say that when you discover that the Prime Minister was only two years old when you were first elected,

you realise it is time to move on.

But every time I've spoken in this chamber,

I've had a profound sense of how important this House is

and what a great honour and privilege it is

to be a member of this Parliament.

That's the voice of one of the most senior women

in our nation's political history, Harriet Harmon. That was her a month or so ago, leaving the House of one of the most senior women in our nation's political history. Harriet Harmon. That was her

a month or so ago, leaving the House of Commons. She's about to join the Lords. Before the election,

she was the mother of the house, the longest serving female MP, having been elected in a by-election

for Peckham in 1982 as a young woman with child, which caused some consternation at the time.

She went on to become a cabinet minister, eventually deputy leader of the Labour Party under Gordon

Brown and Ed Miliband, an acting leader twice when the male leaders she served both lost.

But more than any office or title, there can be no doubt that Harmon first and foremost,

in her own estimation and others, is a feminist, having been part of, a leader of the women's

movement in Britain for half a century. As the new Labour government settles in, we thought that

there could be no better time to have one of our extended political conversations with the woman herself about her political life and journey.

Her advice to her successes in the Labour and Women's Movement both on the progress towards female emancipation yet made all that there is yet to do.

It's Lewis here. Welcome to the newsagents.

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