Shirley Porter

She married Leslie Porter (10 July 1920 – 20 March 2005) on 26 June 1949 at the New West End Synagogue, Paddington, London.

The couple had a daughter, Linda, and a son, John, who died in 2021.

Dame Shirley, Lady Porter DBE (née Cohen; born 29 November 1930), is a British politician who led Westminster City Council in London from 1983 to 1991, representing the Conservative Party.

She is the daughter and heiress of Sir Jack Cohen, the founder of Tesco supermarkets.

Porter was born Shirley Cohen in Upper Clapton, London, on 29 November 1930.

Her father, Jacob Edward "Jack" Cohen, was the founder and owner of Tesco, and her mother was Sarah "Cissie" (née Fox), the daughter of a master tailor.

Jack Cohen opened the first two Tesco stores in 1931 and by 1939 owned over 100 stores across the country.

The family lived at 7 Gunton Road, Hackney, a former council house in the East End of London that Jack had purchased from Hackney Council with the help of a £1,000 council loan.

Between 1939 and 1945 Porter boarded at Warren School For Girls in Worthing, Sussex.

She then spent a year at La Ramée, a finishing school in Lausanne, Switzerland, followed by a year at St. Godric's Secretarial and Language School in Hampstead, London.

In 1960, she was involved in the exposure of ten golf clubs in north London for discriminating against Jews.

Porter became a magistrate before entering local politics.

Looking back at that time, she said "I remember my great lack of confidence, that I came in there and for the first time and I wasn't somebody's daughter, somebody's wife, somebody's mother. That's a very very mind-boggling feeling."

Leslie Porter joined the board of Tesco and became chairman in 1973.

In 1974, she was elected to Westminster City Council as a Conservative councillor for Hyde Park Ward and soon became involved in anti-litter campaigns.

She said: "I was walking along the street with a friend one day and it was filthy and I said, 'My God, somebody ought to do something about this,' and my friend said 'Why don't you?'" Despite sitting on the Highways and Works Committee, which was responsible for street cleaning and refuse collection, Porter did not mention litter again until late 1976 following a visit to Leningrad and Moscow.

On her return she told the Paddington Mercury of her distaste for the Soviet regime but continued "one thing they must be given credit for is the cleanliness you find everywhere... I should hate to think that we need such a repressive regime to get our cities cleaned to their standards."

She soon joined the "Clean Up London" campaign.

She encouraged hoteliers to join forces to attack the squalor that was affecting their businesses.

Her enthusiasm also aided her election as vice-chairman of Highways and Works Committee on 28 June 1977.

Her anti-litter activities within the CUL campaign continued.

The Paddington Mercury described Porter as "fast winning a reputation as Paddington's Mrs Mops".

She also mobilised schoolchildren in her campaign, raising brooms over their shoulders like rifles at the Lord Mayor's Show and singing "Pick up your litter and put it in the bin".

By 1978, Porter had been elected as chairman of the Highways and Works Committee, in the same year she launched the "Mr Clean Up" anti-litter campaign.

He was awarded a knighthood in 1983, with Porter becoming Lady Porter.

As a young married woman, Porter became involved with Jewish charities and played golf.

In 1983, she was elected leader of Westminster City Council.

Her initiatives and policies included, as well as the anti-litter campaign, the say no to drugs campaign and the plain English campaign, and she was also involved in the abolition of the Greater London Council.

In a 1985 interview with The Times' Shirley Lowe, Porter explained that litter was the reason why she had first entered local politics in 1974.

After delivering victory in Westminster for the Conservatives in the 1990 local elections, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 New Year Honours by prime minister John Major for "political and public service".

She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1991 by John Major after delivering victory in Westminster for the Conservatives in the 1990 local elections.

While leader of Westminster City Council, Porter oversaw the "Building Stable Communities" policy — later described as the "homes for votes scandal" — and was consequently accused of gerrymandering.

In February 1991 she stood down as leader of the council and later that year became Lord Mayor of Westminster.

Early in her career, Porter garnered national attention for her involvement and implementation of anti-litter campaigns in Westminster.

Porter moved to Herzliya Pituah in Israel in 1994 during the inquiry into homes for votes.

The policy was judged illegal by the district auditor, and a surcharge of £27m levied on her in 1996.

This was later raised to £42 million with interest and costs.

She eventually settled in 2004, paying a final settlement of £12.3 million.

She bought a flat in London in 2006, but continued to spend most of her time in Israel.

She has been a governor of Tel Aviv University and, through the Porter Foundation, funded buildings and projects at the university.