TWO of the country’s outstanding political figures were honoured in Liverpool yesterday alongside a leading material scientist.
Liverpool-born Lord Bill Rodgers, and Shirley Williams, who helped form the Social Democratic Party, were presented with honorary degrees from the University of Liverpool.
They were joined at the Philharmonic Hall by Dame Julia Higgins, who was the first woman to be a fellow of both the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Baroness Williams of Crosby set up the SDP in 1981 with Lord Rodgers, the late Roy Jenkins, and University of Liverpool Chancellor Lord David Owen.
Early in her career, Baroness Williams held cabinet posts as a Labour MP.She now works as an adviser on nuclear proliferation for Gordon Brown.
Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank attended Quarry Bank High School, in Allerton, where he became interested in politics.
Dame Julia is a distinguished academic and international policy maker.
