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Archive on 4: A Life Less Ordinary

Archive on 4: A Life Less Ordinary: Episode 3

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Episode 3

A Life Less Ordinary

BBC Radio 4 - Archive on 4, A Life Less Ordinary, Episode 3

The sex discrimination case that changed the life of Britian's highest ranking policewoman

Alison Halford was catapulted into the media storm when she accused Merseyside Police of sex discrimination - her life was turned upside down by the press.

When Alison Halford got the job of Assistant Chief Constable with Merseyside Police in 1983, she became the first woman to achieve such a high ranking position within the British force. Highly regarded and tipped for further success, her professional progress ground to a halt with nine unsuccessful attempts for promotion. She claimed it was because of her gender and took Merseyside Police, among others, to a sex discrimination tribunal that would quickly become highly personal and charged with recriminations on both sides. The press was quick to seize upon revelations and rumours about Halford's professional and personal conduct, and by the time a settlement was reached in the case, it had become a major media story. Alison Halford now returns to the archive to examine what it was like to be thrust into the headlines and have so much of her private life exposed to public scrutiny.

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