Meanwhile, Dunwoody was a councillor on Totnes Borough Council(now South Hams)
from 1963-6.
She married John Dunwoody in 1954, the same year he qualified as a doctor.
Dunwoody died during the evening of 17 April 2008 in John Radcliffe Hospital,
Oxford, following emergency heart surgery.
The position was won by Roy Hattersley, and Dunwoody came last out of the four candidates with 1.3% of the Electoral College.
As a member for a constituency with a strong connection with the railway industry, Dunwoody had considerable expertise on transport matters,
and was Chair of the House of Commons' Transport Committee,
Dunwoody was also a Member of the European Parliament between 1975
and 1979(alongside John Prescott) at a time when MEPs were nominated by national parliaments- MEPs have been directly elected since 1979.
A well-regarded orator at the Labour Party Conference, John Dunwoody was spoken of as a future leader of the Party
but lost his seat in the 1970 general election and did not return to Parliament.