My longtime colleague Maureen Baker, who has died aged 79, devoted her life to radical causes in the city of Leeds. In particular she was a driving force in combating racial prejudice and discrimination. For many years she was an immigration counsellor in Leeds, taking on individual cases at the same time as fighting the wider policy battles.
A superb "fixer", Maureen combined an unbending attachment to key causes with an ability to work with anybody who would advance those causes. She would use legislation she had earlier criticised and work with establishment figures if they were effective. She was made an MBE in 2004, and, amid much teasing, even went to Buckingham Palace in a hat for the presentation ceremony, arguing, typically, that she deserved it and that it would come in useful.
She was widely respected for her integrity, even by those not in sympathy with her work. She was fiercely loyal to her friends, always believing the best of those who were part of her wide circle. She was a Liberal candidate in Leeds in 1973 without losing any of her radical friends in other parties.
As a campaigner, she was part of the successful Stop the 70 Tour initiative which prevented the all-white South African cricket team touring England in 1970. As a lobbyist she successfully helped to change the law in order that women in Britain could be joined by their spouses from overseas – a right that had previously been enjoyed only by men. Her work over many years of training police officers to work in a multicultural society was painstaking and her awareness of the need to change attitudes within the police anticipated the Macpherson report by decades.
Born in Dublin, Maureen moved to Leeds as a young woman. It was said that she met her husband, Paul, a pharmacist, when they were "at either end of a CND banner". Paul's sudden death in 1998 was a huge blow to her. They were an ideal combination, Maureen being fiery and impulsive, and Paul relaxed and tactical, with a sound judgment that underpinned her work. In the 1970s, they spent some years in Zambia, where Maureen taught history.
For many years, her friends from several diverse communities in Leeds knew to gather on New Year's Eve at the Bakers' large house. A lasting memory is of Maureen, ensconced and immovable in a large chair in the kitchen, holding court, with a cigarette in a long holder and a constantly refilled glass of wine close at hand.
Maureen is survived by her son, Philip; two daughters, Jackie and Abigail; and four grandchildren, Alex, Rachael, Joe and Emily.