The only out lesbian Member of Parliament for the Labour Party in 1974 for the Northampton North constituency, in 1976 she confirmed that her twenty-six-year marriage with Keith Colquhoun, a writer and journalist, had broken up and she was living with her girl-friend, Barbara Todd who was regional director of the magazine Sappho. This was reported in the Daily Express, 24th. April, 1976.

She took the Daily Mail to the Press Council for invasion of privacy but lost on the grounds that the public have a right to know. The Labour Weekly reported her as "passing herself off as a married woman" and "living a lie" on 27th. January, 1978.

In 1978 she was effectively sacked by the general management committee of Park Ward in her Northampton constituency. This was overturned after she appealed to the Labour Party National Executive.

Listed at number 88 in the top 500 lesbian and gay heroes in The Pink Paper, 26th. September, 1997, issue 500, page 16.