Chief Whip in the House of Lords after the 2010 General Election, having held .....
Prior to entering the House of Lords, Morris was Vice-Chairman of the.
Women in Power A-Z of Female Members of the The House of Lords
Conservative Peers Baroness Joyce Aneley of St Johns
Joyce Aneley was appointed to the House of Lords in 1996. She was made Chief Whip in the House of Lords after the 2010 General Election, having held the position of Opposition Chief Whip for the three preceding years. Between 1997 and 2007, Anelay was an opposition Spokesperson, holding responsibility for Home Affairs (2002 – 2007), Culture, Media, Sport and Tourism (1998-2002), and Social Security and Agriculture (1997-1998). Before she was raised to the peerage, Anelay held a variety of posts within the voluntary sector. Her roles included Chairing the Citizens Advice Bureau’s Management Committee, serving as a Justice of the Peace for North West Surrey (1985-97) and sitting on the Social Security Advisory Committee for Great Britain (1983-96). Anelay also held numerous positions in the Conservative Party, heading the Women’s National Committee between 1993 and 1996 and serving on the National Union Executive Committee of the Conservative Party from 1987 until 1997. She has also worked as a history teacher. Anelay was born in 1947 and studied at the University of Bristol.
Baroness Elizabeth Berridge of the Vale of Catmose
Elizabeth Berridge was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She is executive director of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, an organisation which seeks to ‘inspire Christians to make a radical difference to society’. Prior to taking on this role in 2006, Berridge worked as a barrister.
Baroness Virginia Bottomley of Nettlestone
Virginia Bottomley was appointed to the House of Lords in 2005, after spending eleven years in the Commons. In addition to her Parliamentary work, is Pro-Chancellor of the University of Hull, a Governor of the London School of Economics, and an associate at Odgers Berndtson, a recruitment agency. She joined the firm in 1997, whilst still an MP. Bottomley occupied several frontbench positions during her first few years in parliament, serving as Secretary of State for Health from 1992 to 1995, as a junior Health Minister between 1989 and 92, and an Environment Minister during 1988. She also spent two years as Parliamentary Private Secretary, aiding Chris Patten at the Education Department and Geoffrey Howe as Foreign Secretary. She joined the Commons in 1984, after winning the South West Surrey by-election. Before entering politics, Bottomley was psychiatric social worker and local magistrate in Lambeth. She had previously spent time as a researcher for the Child Poverty Action Group. Bottomley was born 1948 and studied at Essex University and the London School of Economics.
Baroness Angela Browning of Whimpleton
Angela Browning was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. Her chief policy interests are education (special needs), mental health and learning disabilities. She is a Specialist Counsellor to the National Autistic Society, and VicePresident to the Alzheimer’s Disease Society. Browning was an MP for eighteen years before being raised to the peerage. During this time, she spent several years on the party’s front benches, serving as Shadow Leader of the (House 2000-01), Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (19992000) and Opposition Spokesperson on Education and Disability (1997-98). Browning also ran John Redwood’s leadership campaign in 1997. Prior to this, she spent three years as a Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1994-97) and a year as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Forsyth, then Minister of State at the Department of Employment (1993-94). Before winning the Tiverton seat in 1992, Browning was a self-employed management consultant and Director of both the Small Business Bureau (1985-1994) and Women into Business (1988-82). She had previously worked as a sales and training manager with GEC Hotpoint, an electronics, communications and engineering company. Prior to joining the firm in 1977, Browning was an auxiliary nurse (1976) and home economics teacher (196874). She was born in 1946 and studied at Reading College of Technology and Bournemouth College of Technology.
Baroness Peta Buscombe of Goring
Peta Buscombe was made a Life Peer in 1998. A barrister, she is particularly interested in issues of law and order, trade and industry and legal affairs. She has been a Conservative front bench spokesperson in the House of Lords on several briefs including Education and Skills (2005-07), Culture, Media and Sport (2002-05), Legal Affairs (1999-2005), the Home Office (2001-02), the Cabinet Office (2000-01), Social Security (1999-2001) and Trade and Industry (1999-2000). Buscombe has held several high-profile roles alongside her place in the Lords, and is currently Chairwoman of the Press Complaints Commission. Before taking on this job in 2009, she was Chief Executive of the Advertising Association, where she worked to restructure the organisation and elevate its influence. During this time, Buscombe was also a local councilor in South Oxfordshire (1995-99). Buscombe first moved into advertising in 1984 when she joined the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising as an Assistant Secretary. Prior to this, she had worked as a legal advisor at Barclays Bank. She began her career in 1979 as a Legal Advisor for the Dairy Trade Federation, after being called to the Bar at the Inner Temple. Buscombe was born in 1954.
Baroness Hazel Byford of Rothley
Hazel Byford was appointed to the House of Lords in 1996. A former farmer, she is particularly interested in agricultural and countryside issues and is Secretary of the All-party Rural Services Group (2007-). Between 1998 and 2007 Byford was Opposition Spokesperson for Food, Farming and Rural Affairs and during the year prior to that was an Opposition Whip. She is also a patron of several rural organizations, including the Women’s Food and Farming Union, the National Farm Attractions Network, and the Institute of the Agricultural Secretaries and Administrators. Before joining the Lords, Byford was a poultry farmer and Conservative Party activist. She was President of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations between 1996 and 97, Chairwoman of the National Committee of Conservative Women from 1990 until 93, and Vice Chairwoman of the same organisation during the previous year. She also has a history of involvement with the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service, serving between 1961 and 76. Byford was born in 1941 and educated at Northamptonshire Agricultural College.
Baroness Elizabeth Carnegy of Lour
Elizabeth Carnegy was appointed to the House of Lords in 1982. She is a former farmer and academic, and is particularly interested in universities, Scottish affairs, the countryside and medical research ethics. Carnegy is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and holds honorary degrees from the Open University (1998), St Andrews University (1997) and the University of Dundee (1991). She chaired Tayside Committee on Medical Research Ethics from 1990 until 93 and between 1981 and 88 was chair of the Scottish Council for Community Education. During the initial two years of this chairmanship, Carnegy was also director of the Manpower Services Commission, a body created by the Heath government to co-ordinate training and employment services. She first joined the MSC in 1979 as a commissioner, having already spent several years chairing the Working Party on Professional Training in Community Education in Scotland. Carnegy also worked as an elected councilor, serving on Tayside Regional Council from 1974 to 82. Her early career was spent as a research scientist: she worked in the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge from 1943 to 1946. Carnegy was born in 1925.
Baroness Lynda Chalker of Wallasley
Lynda Chalker was appointed to the House of Lords in 1992, after spending eighteen years as an MP. She is particularly interested in the voluntary sector and overseas development, and is currently an advisor to the World Bank and Member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organisation which works to promote good governance around the world. Chalker is also Chairman of the Medicines for Malaria Venture, a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to reducing the burden of malaria in disease endemic countries, and director of Africa Matters Limited, an independent consultancy which provides advice and assistance to companies developing their activities in Africa. Chalker served in government during her first five years in the lords, retaining her ministerial position in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office despite losing her Commons seat. By the time she entered the Lords, Chalker had spent thirteen years as a government minister. Between 1987 and 1992 she was Minister for Overseas Development, and before that she worked at the Department of Transport (1982-86). She began her ministerial career at the Department of Health and Social Security in 1979, five years after she first entered Parliament. Before entering the Commons as MP for Wallasley, Chalker was a statistician and market research manager. She worked for several companies, including Shell and BP. Chalker was born in 1942 and educated at Heidelberg University, Queen Mary College and the Polytechnic of Central London.
Baroness Julia Cumberlege of Newick
Julia Cumberlege was appointed to the House of Lords in 1990. Her committee memberships reflect her background in health care provision: she is Chair of the Health Group (2001-), Vice-chair of the Pharmacy Group (2005-) and Maternity Group (2000-), and a member of the Osteoporosis Group (2001-). In addition to her work in the Lords, Cumberlege chairs Cumberlege Connections, her own consultancy company. She is also a council member of Sussex University (2001-), a Member of the NHS Policy Board for England (1989-), Vice-President of the Royal College of Nursing (1989-) and Executive Director of MJM Health care Solutions. Cumberlege was last on her party’s frontbench in 1997 as Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Health. During this time she Chaired the Review of Maternity Services for England, delivering the Changing Childbirth report in 1993. Cumberlege gained the role in 1992, whilst still Chair of the South West Thames Regional Health Authority (1988-92). Before being raised to the peerage in 1990 Cumberlege worked in public health. She was a member of the Department of Health and Social Services’ Expert Advisory Group on AIDS (1987-89) and also spent several years Chairing Brighton Health Authority (1981-88). She led a Review of Community Nursing for England during this time, producing the Neighbourhood Nursing report in 1985. In addition to this, Cumberlege has served as a councillor. Between 1974 and 85 she was a member of East Sussex County Council, Chairing the Social Services Committee from 1979 until 82, and between 1966 and 79 she served on Lewes District Council, leading it during her penultimate year there. Cumberlege was born in 1943.
Baroness Margaret Eaton of Cottingley
Margaret Eaton was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She is a former teacher with a long history of involvement in local government. Eaton is currently chair of the Local Government Association, the body created to represent local government interests at a national level. She is also a local councillor, and has served on Bradford Metropolitan Borough Council for twenty-five years, leading the Conservative Group since 1995, and the Council between 2000 and 2006.
Baroness Diana Eccles of Moulton
Diana Eccles was appointed to the House of Lords in 1990. She currently works as a director and trustee of Opera North and as an independent director of Times Newspaper Holdings. Eccles has had a long and diverse career, serving on numerous public bodies. She balanced various roles during the 1990s, chairing Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Health Authority (19932000), working for the Transplant Regulatory Authority (1990-99), directing Yorkshire Electricity Group (1990-97) and serving on the British Heart Foundation’s Council (1989-98). Eccles was director of both Tyne Tees Television and J. Sainsbury plc from 1986 to 1995. She had previously served on several advisory bodies, working on the Widdicombe Enquiry into Local Government (1985-86), Home Office Advisory Panel on Licences for Experimental Community Radio (1985-86), and Energy Department’s Advisory Council (1982-84). During this time, Eccles was also a member of the North Eastern Electricity Board, which she had joined in 1974. Prior to joining the Board, she was a partner in a graphic design business. Eccles was born in 1933.
Baroness Janet Fookes of Plymouth
Janet Fookes was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997. She is a former MP and teacher, with an interest in health, defence, animal welfare and equal opportunities. Fookes is currently a Deputy Speaker (2002-) and Deputy Chair of Committees (2002-). She is also a member of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, which makes provision for MPs to gain experience of the armed forces, and of the all-party Weight Watchers (2004-) and Horticulture Groups (2010-). Before her elevation to the Lords in 1997, Fookes was Deputy Speaker and Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means (1992-97) in the House of Commons. Prior to entering the Commons as MP for Merton and Morden in 1970, she was a teacher and local councillor in the Borough of Hastings. Fookes began teaching in 1957 after graduating from Royal Holloway, London. She was born in 1936.
Baroness Trixie Gardner of Parkes Trixie Gardner was appointed to the House of Lords in 1981. She is a former dentist and the first Australian to be raised to the peerage. Gardner is particularly interested in transport, housing, health, planning and energy, and sits on the Aluminium Industry and Heart Disease Groups. In recent years, she has also served as Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chair of Committees (1999-2002). In addition to her work in the Lords, Gardner has served as Vice-President of the National House Building Council (1992-99), Chairman of the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust (1994-97) and Vice-Chairman of the North East Thames Regional Health Authority (1990-94). During her early years in the Lords, Gardner was UK representative on the UN Status of Women Commission (1982-88) and a member of the Department of Employment’s Advisory Committee on Women’s Employment (1980-89). Before her elevation to the House of Lords, Gardner was an elected member of the Greater London Council, the GLA’s predecessor (1970-86). Whilst on the GLC, she was also a member of the Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea Area Health Authority (1974-81) and a member of Westminster City Council (1968-78). Outside of local government, Gardner served on the Dental Advisory Committee for England and Wales (1968-76) and on the NHS’s Inner London Executive Council (1966-71). She began her career as a dentist, practising for several years after graduating from the University of Sydney in 1954. Gardner was bon in 1927.
Baroness Joan Hanham of Kensington
Joan Hanham was appointed to the House of Lords in 1999. A veteran of local government, she is currently Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Government Spokesperson for the Department for Communities and Local Government and, until 2010, was a member of the Committee of the Regions, the assembly of local representatives that provides sub-national authorities with a direct voice within the EU. In recent years, she has also served as Opposition Spokesperson for Transport, Health, Home Affairs, Scotland and Local Government. Between 2000 and 09 she was an Opposition Whip. Outside of Parliament, Hanham remains a councillor in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Since first winning a place on the council in 1970, she has served as Leader (1989-2000), chair of the Policy and Resources Committee (1989-2000), Social Services Committee (1987-89), and Town Planning Committee (1984-86), and as Mayor (1983-84). During this time, she has also been involved with various health organisations, including St Mary’s Hospital NHS Trust (2000-), North West Thames Regional Health Authority (1983-94) and the Mental Health Act Commission (1983-90). She was born in 1939.
Baroness Gloria Hooper of Liverpool and St James
Gloria Hooper was elected to the House of Lords in 1985. She is particularly interested in the European Union, cultural heritage, education and South America, and is a member of various related All-Party Groups. Hooper is also Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chairman of Committees in the Lords. Outside Parliament, she serves as governor of the Centre for Global Energy Studies and as vice-president of Canning House, an organisation that seeks to stimulate understanding and engagement between Britain and the Hispanic world. In recent years, Hooper has also worked on the Inter-Parliamentary Union and Parliamentary Delegation to the Council of Europe. She has held various posts over the course of her Parliamentary career, serving as Parliamentary Private Secretary to William Hague between 1999 and 2001, and, prior to that, as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Departments of Health (1989-92), Energy (1988-89) and Education (198788). She had previously been a Government Whip (1985-87). Before entering Parliament, Hooper was a Conservative MEP for Liverpool, winning the seat in 1979 as a result of a massive swing against Labour. Whilst serving in the European Parliament, she was also a partner in the solicitors firm Taylor & Humbert. She gained the partnership in 1974, having begun training with the firm seven years earlier. Prior to qualifying as a solicitor, Hooper spent several years working for Winchester City Council and two years as an assistant editor at a law publisher. She began her working life as an assistant to the chief registrar of John Lewis, gaining the job in 1960 after completing studies at the University of Southampton and Universidad Central del Ecuador. Hooper was born in 1939.
Baroness Phyllis James of Holland Park
Phyllis James was appointed to the House of Lords in 1991. She is an acclaimed and prolific crime writer, the author of dozens of novels and winner of numerous literary awards, including the Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Award for long term achievement. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Royal Society of Arts, and President of the Society of Authors since 1997. Among her many titles are the Inspector Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries and Cordelia Gray Mysteries. Many of James’s novels are informed by the insider knowledge she acquired whilst working in the criminal policy department of the Home Office during the 1960s and 70s. Earlier in her career she worked as a nurse and hospital administrator. James was born in 1920.
Baroness Jill Knight of Collingtree
Jill Knight was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997. She was an MP for over thirty years prior to her elevation to the Lords. During this time she spent several years on the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a world-wide organisation of parliamentarians working for peace and co-operation among peoples (199497). She also worked on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe between 1977 and 88. Knight is avowedly socially conservative and for much of her parliamentary career was a member of the right-wing Monday Group. She was a key proponent of Section 28, the 1988 amendment that barred local authorities from ‘promoting’ homosexuality, and has opposed abortion, supporting successive attempts to reduce the time-limit on terminations. Knight has been equally forceful in her opposition to the Irish Republican Army, in 1974 calling for the death penalty to be made available to punish IRA terrorists. She spent the decade prior to her election to the Birmingham Edgebaston seat as a Northampton County Councillor. Knight was born in 1927.
Baroness Doreen Miller of Hendon
Doreen Miller was appointed to the House of Lords in 1993. A former businesswoman and women’s rights advocate, she is particularly interested in small businesses, women’s issues, and law and order. During her time in the House, Miller has held numerous spokesperson portfolios, including Education and Skills (2001-03), Employment (2000-03) and Environment, Transport and the Regions (1997-2000). During her initial yeas in the Lords, she was a Government Whip (1994-97) and Spokesperson for the Environment, Trade and Industry, Education, and Employment and Health (1996-97). Miller had gained prior policy experience as a women’s rights campaigner, gaining recognition of her contribution to the advancement of women in public life with an MBE in 1989. Between 1987 and 1990 she was a Campaign and Human Rights Advisor to Soroptimist International, the international women’s organisation, and before that she was Executive Director of The 300 Group (an all-party group working to get more women into Parliament). Miller moved into politics after carving out a successful career in business, founding and managing an international mail order and marketing company. She was born in 1933 and educated at the London School of Economics.
Baroness Patricia Morris of Bolton
Patricia Morris was appointed to the House of Lords in 2004. She is currently Deputy Chairman of Committees and in recent years has also served as an Opposition Spokesperson for various policy areas, including Work and Pensions (2009-10), Health (2009-10), Women (2005-10), Children, Schools and Families (2007-09) and Education and Skills (2004-07). Outside Parliament, Morris serves as co-chair of Women in Public Policy, vicepresident Catholic Union of Great Britain, and president of the National Benevolent Institution, a charity providing help to the elderly living in poverty. She is also involved with UNICEF and with the Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools. Prior to entering the House of Lords, Morris was Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party with responsibility for candidates (2001-05). She was responsible for several changes in the selection procedure designed to increase the quality and diversity of Parliamentary candidates. During this time, Morris was also an advisor to the Abbot of Ampleforth (1998-2004). She first entered politics in 1999 as a policy and political advisor to a Conservative MEP, having previously worked as Deputy Chair of Salford Royal Hospitals NHS Trust (1993-97). Much of Morris’s prior career was spent working as a technical analyst for stock-broking firms; she first entered the field in 1974 when she became an assistant at investment company, Slater Walker Securities. Morris was born in 1954.
Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones of Hutton Roof
Pauline Neville-Jones was appointed to the House of Lords in 2007. She is currently Minister of State for Security, having been appointed to the role in 2010 after a period as Shadow Security Minister and National Security Adviser to David Cameron. Before entering politics, Neville-Jones was chairman of QinetiQ, one of the world’s leading defence technology and security companies. She had previously spent several years as a BBC governor, chairing the World Service consultative group and audit committee. The majority of her working life, however, has been spent in the diplomatic service. As a career diplomat, she occupied several important roles, working as political director of the Foreign Office (1994-96), chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee (1993-94) and Head of the Defence and Overseas Secretariat in the Cabinet Office (1991-94). Earlier in her career, she spent five years as a senior aide in the European Commission (1977-82) and several years serving on British Missions in Rhodesia, Singapore, Washington and Bonn. She became a diplomat in 1963 after spending two years as a Harkness Fellow of the Commonwealth Fund in the USA. She was born in 1939 and studied at Oxford University.
Baroness Helen Newlove of Warrington
Helen Newlove was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She has achieved prominence as an advocate of victim’s rights since her husband’s brutal murder in 2007. Newlove has campaigned against the UK’s bingedrinking culture and sought to improve safety in her hometown of Warrington. She was born in 1965.
Baroness Sheila Noakes of Goudhurst
Sheila Noakes was appointed to the House of Lords in 2000. A former accountant, she is an expert in public finance and public service management. Between 2003 and 2010 she was a Spokesperson for the Treasury, during which time she was especially involved in challenging the financial viability of the identity card scheme. She was a Spokesperson for Work and Pensions for two years prior to this. Noakes has spent the majority of her career working for the multinational accountancy firm, KPMG. She spent her final decade with the firm as head of international governmental practice, focusing on research and analysis of public sector issues. Between 1988 and 1991 she went on secondment, to work as Director of Finance on the NHS Management Executive. Here, she carried responsibility for financial management in the NHS. Prior to this, she had spent two years on a secondment to HM Treasury, acting as a financial adviser (1979-81). Noakes joined KPMG (then Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co) in 1970 after graduating from Bristol University. She was born in 1949.
Baroness Detta O’Cathain of the Barbican
Detta O’Cathain was appointed to the House of Lords in 1991. A former businesswomen, she is particularly interested in industry, commerce and finance. O’Cathain also takes an interest in family policy and is well-known for her socially conservative attitudes, which have prompted her to lead the campaign against allowing gay couples to adopt. Outside Parliament, O’Cathain has served on the boards of several large companies, in recent years working as a non-executive director of South East Water, BNP Paribas, Tesco, Thistle Hotels, and British Airways. Between 1990 and 95 she was managing director of the Barbican Centre, achieving notoriety as a result of her authoritarian style of leadership. O’Cathain had previously headed the Milk Marketing Board, gaining the role in 1985 after working her way up through the ranks of private-sector industry. Her early career included periods at the airline, Aer Lingus, clothing firm, Viyella, and vehicle manufacturing firm, British Leyland. She was born in 1938 and educated at University College Dublin.
Baroness Sally Oppenheim-Barnes of Gloucester
Sally Oppenheim-Barnes was appointed to the House of Lords in 1989. She spent seventeen years as the MP for Gloucester, first gaining election 1970. Between 1979 and 82 she was Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and for five years prior to that she served as Opposition Spokesperson for Prices and Consumer Protection, earning a position in the Shadow Cabinet. Before entering Parliament, Oppenheim-Barnes was a social worker. She was born in 1930.
Baroness Pauline Perry of Southwark
Pauline Perry was appointed to the House of Lords in 1991. A former Chief Inspector of Schools and university leader, she is particularly interested in education. Perry is currently President of the Council for Independent Further Education and in recent years has also served as President of the Foundation for Higher Education (2002-06) and chair of Roehampton University’s council (2000-05). In addition to this, she has been active in the Anglican community, serving as Chair of the Church of England Inquiry into Crown Appointments Commission (2001-03). Between 2001 and 06 Perry was ProVice Chancellor of the University of Surrey. Perry took on this role after spending seven years as President of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. She had moved to Cambridge in 1994 after presiding over South Bank Polytechnic’s transition to university status. Before embarking on her career as a university manager, Perry worked as a school inspector. She spent sixteen years working for HM Inspectorate, the latter five as Chief Inspector of Schools. Perry had acquired significant experience of education and teaching before becoming an inspector, having worked as an access course tutor and lecturer in education and philosophy. She was born in 1931 and studied at Cambridge University.
Baroness Patricia Rawlings of Westgate
Patricia Rawlings was appointed to the House of Lords in 1994. She is currently a Government Whip and Spokesperson for Scotland and Culture, Media and Sport. In recent years, she has also served as Opposition Spokesperson for International Development (1998-10) and Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1998-2010). Between 1998 and 2007 Rawlings was Chairman of the Council of King’s College London. She was made a Fellow of the university in 2003. Rawlings served in the European Parliament for five years prior to this, securing election in 1989. During this time, she received The Order of the Rose from the Republic of Bulgaria for services to Anglo/Euro-Bulgarian relations. Rawlings had previously undertaken studies as a mature student, studying International Relations at the London School of Economics and University College London. Prior to this, she was a nurse at Westminster Hospital. Rawlings was born in 1939.
Baroness Shireen Ritchie of Brompton
Shireen Ritchie was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She has served on Kensington and Chelsea Council since 1998, latterly as Cabinet Member for Family and Children’s Services. In addition to this, Ritchie chairs the Children and Young People Board on the Local Government Association and serves as a Board Member on the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, the independent body designed to safeguard the interests of children involved in family proceedings. In recent years, she has also been involved in Conservative efforts to enhance diversity within the party, promoting the controversial ‘A-list’ intended to increase the representation of minorities on the Tory benches. Ritchie was also a founding member of an earlier initiative, ‘Women2Win’.
Baroness Joan Seccombe of Kineton
Joan Seccombe was appointed to the House of Lords in 1991. She has held several frontbench positions in recent years, serving as Opposition Spokesperson for Constitutional and Legal Affairs (2005 and 10) and Education and Skills (2003 and 04). Seccombe also spent nine years as Opposition Deputy Chief Whip, acquiring the post in 2001. During her early years in the Lords, Seccombe was Vice-chair of the Conservative Party, holding special responsibility for Women (1987-97) Seccombe worked for a variety of organizations before gaining elevation to the peerage. Between 1988 and 2001 she was governor of Nuffield Hospitals, the private hospital group. Before that she served as a Member of the Women’s National Commission (1984-90) and as Chair of the Trading Standards Committee (1979-81). Seccombe first became involved in politics at a local level, serving on West Midlands County Council between 1977 and 81 and Chairing the West Midlands Conservative Women’s Committee from 1975 until 78. She was born in 1930.
Baroness Pamela Sharples of Chawton
Pamela Sharples was appointed to the House of Lords in 1973 after her husband was murdered whilst serving as governor of Bermuda. She has a particular interest in the armed forced, having worked for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force during the Second World War. She was born in 1923.
Baroness Deborah Stedman-Scott of Rolvenden
Debbie Stedman-Scott was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She is chief executive of Tomorrow’s People, a large employment charity that works in deprived areas of the UK. Stedman-Scott has worked for the organisation for over twenty-five years, first joining it in 1984 as a local development manager. During this time, she has deployed her specialist knowledge of welfare to work policy in various additional roles, serving as Deputy Chair of the Social Justice Policy Group, working on the Employment Advisory Group of the Confederation of British Industry and chairing the Employment Related Services Association. Stedman-Scott has also worked on the Advisory Board for the International Centre for Drugs Policy (ICPD) and is a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Baroness Margaret Thatcher of Kesteven
Margaret Thatcher was appointed to the House of Lords in 1992 after spending thirty-three years in the Commons, eleven as Prime Minister (197990). Thatcher’s record in office rendered her one of the most prominent and controversial political figures of modern British history, with her forceful attempts to ‘role back the frontiers of the state’ arousing both admiration and fierce protest amongst the electorate. During her three terms as PM, Thatcher pushed through an array of divisive measures, privatising public services, undermining union power, and liberalising the markets. Her radicalism was such that her approach has been understood as a distinctive political creed, defined as ‘Thatcherism’. She entered Downing Street after four years as Leader of the Opposition, having become the first woman to assume leadership of her party in 1974. Prior to this, Thatcher held various frontbench positions, serving as Secretary of State for Education and Science (1970-74) and as Opposition Spokesperson for Education, Transport, Treasury Matters, Housing and Pensions (1967-70). She entered Parliament in 1959, on her third attempt to gain election. Thatcher had previously worked as a barrister, qualifying in 1954 after first spending several years as a research scientist. She was born in 1925 and studied at Oxford University.
Baroness Trumpington of Sandwich
Jean Barker was appointed to the House of Lords in 1980. She was last on her party’s frontbenches in 1997 as Spokesperson for National Heritage (1996-97) and Government Whip (1992-97). Before gaining the latter role, Barker worked in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, serving as a Minister of State (1989-92) and Parliamentary Secretary (1987-89). Prior to this she was an Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Health and Social Security (1985-87). Barker gained this role after spending two years as a Government Whip (1983-85). Barker served on numerous public bodies before entering Parliament. At the time of her elevation to the peerage she was a General Commissioner of Income Tax (1975-83), a UK representative to the United Nations Status of Women Commission (1979-81), and a member of the Mental Health Review Tribunal (1975-1981). She had previously worked as a local councilor, serving on Cambridgeshire County Council between 1973 and 75 and on Cambridge City Council for a decade prior to this. Whilst in her early twenties, Barker contributed to the Second World War effort, working at Bletchley Park as a naval code-breaker. She was born in 1922.
Baroness Sandip Verma of Leicester
Sandip Verma was appointed to the House of Lords in 2006. She is currently Government Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, International Development, and Women and Equalities. Before acquiring these portfolios after the 2010 election Verma was Opposition Spokesperson for Universities and Skills and Children, Schools and Families. She gained a frontbench position almost immediately after entering the Lords, appointed Conservative Spokesperson for both Health and Education in 2006. Verma spent much of her prior career running her own business (supplying agency care workers), but turned to politics in the years preceding her elevation to the Lords, unsuccessfully contesting both the 2001 and 2005 General Elections. She began work at nineteen, joining the family firm, which manufactured high-fashion goods. Verma was born in 1959.
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi of Dewsbury
Sayeeda Warsi was appointed to the House of Lords in 2007. She is currently Chair of her party and a Cabinet minister without portfolio. Though lacking a specific brief she is expected, as a former shadow minister for community cohesion and social action (2007-10), to focus on the elusive matter of mending ‘broken Britain’. Warsi has built a strong public profile during her three years in Parliament and in 2009 was named as ‘Britain’s most powerful Muslim woman’ by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Warsi became involved in politics only shortly before her elevation to the peerage (and Shadow Cabinet). She contested the 2005 General Election, but lost by more that 5000 votes, attracting significant criticism as a result of her socially conservative and seemingly homophobic campaign material, which lamented the demise of Section 28 and spoke of gay relationships as a threat to the family. Before entering politics full time, Warsi ran her own local law firm, specialising in criminal defence cases. She had previously worked for John Whitfield, a former Tory MP for Dewsbury, at Whitfield Hallam Goodall Solicitors. Warsi joined the firm after completing her legal training with the Crown Prosecution Service and Home Office Immigration Department. She was born in 1971 and studied at Leeds University and the York College of Law.
Baroness Judith Wilcox of Plymouth
Judith Wilcox was appointed to the House of Lords in 1996. She is currently Parliamentary Secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills, appointed to the post as a result of her substantial business experience. Prior to gaining a ministerial position, Wilcox held various Spokesperson portfolios, including Energy and Climate Change (2008-10), Trade and Industry/Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (2006-08), the Cabinet Office (2005-06) and the Treasury (2003-05). She first gained a place on the Tory frontbenches in 2002 when she was made an Opposition Whip. Wilcox has also been involved in several committees during her time in the Lords, joining the European Select Committee for the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Affairs in 2000 and the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology four years earlier. In addition to this, she has held a number of non-executive roles outside Parliament, working with the Automobile Association, Port of London Authority, Cadbury Schweppes, Carpetright and Johnson Services. Before her elevation to the Lords, Wilcox was chairman of the National Consumer Council, the public body that then represented the interests of consumers (it has now been subsumed within Consumer Focus). For much of her six years with the organisation, she was also involved in business, Chairing Morinie et Cie between 1991 and 94 and acting as President of Pecheries de la Morinie between 1989 and 91. Prior to joining the latter firm, Wilcox headed her own company, Channel Foods Ltd, in Cornwall. She was born in 1940 and studied at the University of Plymouth.
Crossbench Peers Baroness Haleh Afshar of Heslington
Haleh Afshar was appointed to the House of Lords in 2007 and is currently Vice-Chair of the all-party Inter-Faith Group (2009-). Afshar is a prominent Muslim feminist and academic specialising in politics and women’s studies. She teaches at the University of York and is visiting Professor of Islamic law at Robert Schuman University, Strasbourg. Afshar has held positions on numerous important advisory bodies, serving as the Chair of the British Association of Middle Eastern Studies and Chair of the United Nation Association’s International Services. She also spent seven years as Deputy Chair of the British Council’s Gender and Development Task Force, and several years advising the Cabinet Office’s Women’s Unit. In March 2009 her work was recognised with a place in the top twenty of the Muslim Women Power List, compiled by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, The Times and Emel Magazine. Before entering academia, Afshar was a civil servant and journalist in her native Iran. She returned to the country after spending several years studying in York and Cambridge. Afshar was born in Tehran in 1944.
Baroness Kay Andrews of Southover
Kay Andrews was appointed to the House of Lords in 2000. She is currently Deputy Chair of Committees and until recently, also served as Deputy Speaker of the House. In 2009, she was made Chair of English Heritage, forcing her to end her former affiliation to the Labour Party. Until gaining the English Heritage post in 2009, Andrews was a member of Government, serving as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister/Department for Communities and Local Government (2005-09). She had previously been a Government Whip and Spokesperson for Health, Work and Pensions, and Education and Skills (2002-05). Before being raised to the peerage, Andrews was Director of Education Extra, a charity for out-of-school learning and activities. In 1998 she received an OBE for her contributions to education. Prior to joining the charity in 1992, Andrews spent seven years as a policy adviser to Neil Kinnock, then leader of the Labour Party, and five years as a parliamentary clerk. Between 1968 and 1970, she was a masters student and Fellow of the Science Policy Research Unit at Sussex University. She completed her undergraduate studies in 1964 at Bangor University. Andrews was born in 1943.
Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss of Marsh Green
Elizabeth Butler-Sloss was appointed to the House of Lords in 2006. She is currently Treasurer of the Women Parliamentarians Group (2009-) and Vicechair of the Trafficking of Women and Children Group (2007-). Butler-Sloss is a former judge and, though retired since 2004, chaired the inquest into Princess Diana’s death between 2006 and 07. At the time of her retirement, Butler-Sloss was President of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice, making her the highest-ranking female judge in the UK. During her five year tenure, she presided over numerous high-profile cases, her rulings including the decision to grant life-long anonymity to the Bulger killers and the right to die to a totally paralysed woman. Before being elevated to the President of the Family Division, Butler-Sloss spent eleven years as a Lord Justice of Appeal, gaining a place in the Court of Appeal after chairing the highly-publicised Cleveland child abuse inquiry in 1988. She was first promoted to the High Court in 1979, twenty-four years after she qualified as barrister. Butler-Sloss was born in 1933.
Baroness Sue Campbell of Loughborough
Sue Campbell was appointed to the House of Lords in 2008. She has chaired UK Sport since 2003, and is also Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust, the organisation she helped found in 1995. Prior to taking the leading role at UK Sport, Campbell spent three years as an adviser to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Education and Skills. She had previously been Chief Executive of the National Coaching Foundation. Before joining the Foundation in 1984, Campbell worked for the Sports Council of Great Britain, as a Regional Officer for the East Midlands. She began her career as a Physical Education teacher and lecturer, working at Loughborough University (1976-80), Leicester University (1972-76) and Whalley Range High School in Manchester (1970-72). In her youth, Campbell was a successful athlete, competing at an international level in both netball and pentathalon. She was born in 1948 and educated at Bedford College of Physical Education and the University of Leicester.
Baroness Jane Campbell of Surbiton
Jane Campbell was appointed to the House of Lords in 2007. She is a disability rights activist and currently chairs the Disability Group in the Lords (2009-). In recent years, Campbell has also led the Disability Committee on the Equality and Human Rights Commission (2007-09), served on the Disability Rights Commission (2000-06), Chaired the Social Care Institute for Excellence (2002), and worked as a disability adviser to the Departments for Work and Pensions and Health. In 2001 she was made a Dame in recognition of her long history of parliamentary lobbying for improved civil and human rights for a range of excluded communities. By this time, Campbell had spent several years as a governor of the National Institute Social Work (1995-2001) and director of the National Centre for Independent Living, the organisation she helped found in 1996. In 1996 she also co-authored Disability Politics, a book propounding her conviction that disabled people, whatever their diagnosis or place in society, should be able to take control of their lives and influence political and social change. Campbell’s vigorous pursuit of disability rights is shaped by her own experiences: her diagnosis with spinal muscal atrophy resulted in her exclusion from mainstream schooling, and her placing in a school that failed even to offer the most basic academic provision. It was only through a combination of good fortune and her own exertions that she was able to secure a place at Hatfield College and then Sussex University. She was born in 1959.
Baroness Caroline Cox of Queensbury
Caroline Cox was appointed to the House of Lords in 1983. She is particularly interested in international development and humanitarian aid, and is Chair of the Lords’ Armenia Group (2002-), Vice-chair of the North Korea Group (2004-) and Secretary of the Indonesia Group (2006-). Cox is also involved with various charitable organisations, directing the Educational Research Trust and working with the Andrei Sakharov Foundation and Centre for Social Cohesion. In addition to this, she is Chancellor of Liverpool Hope University (2006-) and chair of The Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, the charity she founded in 2003 in an effort to provide lasting change through aid and advocacy for those suffering oppression and persecution. Cox is uncompromisingly Eurosceptic, and in 2004 was expelled from the Conservative Party after signing a letter urging voters to support UKIP in the European elections that year. She had also rebelled over the Maastricht Treaty twelve years earlier, demanding that its introduction should be subject to a referendum. Cox has expressed equally powerful convictions in relation to retaining the Christian element in state-school teaching, forcing through an amendment to the 1992 Education Reform Act. Before entering the Lords, Cox was Director of the Nursing Education Research Unit at Chelsea College of the University of London. She was appointed to the role in 1977 after spending several years as a sociology lecturer at the Polytechnic of North London and research assistant at Newcastle University. During her time in academia, Cox published numerous books, including A Sociology of Medical Practice (1975) and Rape of Reason (1975), a critique of the alleged socialist corruption of North London Polytechnic. Cox first entered higher education in 1965, undertaking a sociology degree at the University of London after first spending several years working as a nurse. She was born in 1937.
Baroness Ruth Deech of Cumnor
Ruth Deech was appointed to the House of Lords in 2005. She is a academic, lawyer and bioethicist, and is particularly interested in higher education, family law, reproductive technology and broadcasting. Deech is currently Chair of the Bar Standards Board (2009-) and Vice-chair of the Israel Group (2006-). Outside the Lords, she is Professor of Law at Gresham College (2008-12), a Board Member of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism at Tel Aviv University, and an Executive Council Member of the International Society of Family Law. Deech has also served as the an Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (2004-2008). Professor Deech held a number of prestigious positions within academia and the legal profession before she entered the Lords. She was BBC Governor on the Audit and Fair Trade Committees between 2002 and 2006 and Pro ViceChancellor of the University of Oxford from 2001 until 2004. Between 1994 and 2002 she held the position she is perhaps most noted for, chairing the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). Deech has spent most of her career at Oxford. She was Principal of St. Anne’s College from 1991 to 2004 and prior to this was Fellow and Tutor in Law of that college, specialising in Family and Property. Deech began teaching in 1970, after completing graduate studies at Brandeis University and a degree at Oxford. She was born in 1943.
Baroness Audrey Emerton of Tunbridge Wells and Clerkenwell
Audrey Emerton was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997. She is a former health care professional, who cites her chief policy interests as health, social care, voluntary services, defence and welfare. Emerton is currently Vice-chair of the Lords’ Veterans Group (2008-) and Secretary of the Dying Well Group (2008-). Her long history of involvement in health care has included more than fifty years of service to St John’s Ambulance, including four years as Chief Commander (1998-2002). Emerton also spent many years in nursing. She was Regional Director of Nursing in the South East Thames area between 1985 and 91, during which time she led a widely acclaimed programme that replaced Darenth Park Hospital, a huge asylum for people with learning disabilities. Emerton had previously been a Regional Nursing Officer (197385) and nurse (1953-73). She was born in 1935.
Baroness Ilora Finlay of Llandaff
Ilora Finlay was appointed to the House of Lords in 2001. She is a practising doctor and professor of palliative medicine at Cardiff University, and recently stepped down as President of the Royal Society of Medicine. Finlay sits on numerous related groups in the Lords, including the Medical Technology Group (2005-), the Hospice and Palliative Care Group (2006-), and the Cancer Group (2006-). She is also Chair of the Dying Well Group (2006-) and Vice-chair of the Allergy Group (2008-), Parkinson’s Disease Group (2008-), Suicide Prevention Group (2008-) and Continence Care Group (2009-). Finlay has promoted numerous bills during her time in Parliament: in 2009 she succeeded in changing government policy on organ donation to allow potential organ donors to specify a family member or close friend to whom they wish to donate their organs; two years previously she had attempted to alter the current system of organ donation from ‘opt in’ to ‘opt out’. In addition to working as a doctor and peer, Finlay is Vice President of Marie Curie, President of Multiple Sclerosis Cymru and a member of the UK Drugs Policy Commission. She was born in 1949.
Baroness Shreela Flather of Windsor and Maidenhead
Shreela Flather was appointed to the House of Lords in 1990, the first Asian woman to receive a peerage. Although now a Crossbencher, Flather has spent most of her time in the Lords on the Conservative benches, only resigning the party whip in 2008. Over the course of her career, she has held senior posts in numerous organisations involved in refugee, community, race relations and prison work. Flather sits on several related all-party groups, including the Humanist Group (2001-), the Population, Development and Reproductive Health Group (2001-), the Armenia Group (2004-), the India Group (2006-) and the Pro-Choice and Sexual Health Group (2007-). In recent years, she has also served on the Council of University College London (2000-06), chaired the Alcohol Education and Research Council (1995-2001), acted as Joint President of the Family Planning Association (1995-98) and worked as the UK’s representative on the EU Advisory Commission on Racism and Xenophobia (1995-97). Flather regards her most enduring achievement, however, as her contribution to the construction of a memorial commemorating the role of soldiers from the Indian sub-continent. This longoverdue tribute was built on Constitution Hill, London, in 2002. Prior to her elevation to the House of Lords, Flather served on the EU’s Economic and Social Committee (1987-90). She had previously worked on the Lord Chancellor’s Legal Aid Advisory Committee (1985-88) and as Mayor of Windsor and Maidenhead (1986-87), gaining the latter role after a decade serving as a councillor. During this time, Flather also worked on the Commission for Racial Equality (1980-86), Committee of Inquiry into the Education of Children from Ethnic Minority Groups (1979-85), and the Race Relations Board (1973-78). She began her career as a teacher, joining a school in Maidenhead after graduating from University College London. Flather was born in 1934 in India.
Baroness Rennie Fritchie of Gloucester
Rennie Fritchie was appointed to the House of Lords in 2005. She has had a long career specialising in training and development, and has held numerous positions on public bodies. Fritchie is currently United Kingdom Commissioner for Public Appointments, Chair of the 2gether NHS Foundation Trust in Gloucestershire, and deputy chair of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Audit Advisory Board. She also holds an honorary Professorship in Creative Leadership at York University and is Pro-Chancellor at Southampton University. Fritchie has previously worked as a Civil Service Commissioner (1999-2005) and health authority chair. She went into public health after first working as an equalities advisor. Fritchie had been one of the UK’s first full-time women’s training advisers, pioneering the training of staff in the then new Equal Opportunities Commission. Whilst there, she initiated several programmes to improve the status of women and published extensively on related topics. She was born in 1942.
Baroness Susan Greenfield of Ot Moor
Susan Greenfield was appointed to the House of Lords in 2001. She is a highly acclaimed and widely-recognised scientist, specialising in the study of neurodegenerative diseases. Greenfield directed the Royal Institution for twelve years, until being made redundant from the post in 2010 under controversial circumstances. She is pursuing a case of unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination. Since 1996 Greenfield has also held the position of Professor of Pharmacology at Oxford University. Her research concentrates on understanding brain functions and disorders, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, as well as the physical basis of consciousness. Greenfield was promoted to the Professorship after fifteen years as a University fellow and lecturer. Over the course of her career, she has written and broadcast widely and accessibly, presenting a major BBC2 series on the brain in 2000, delivering the Dimbleby Lecture in 1999, and becoming the first woman to give a Royal Institution Christmas lecture in 1994. Prior to gaining a university position, Greenfield undertook research and study in Paris and Oxford. She was born in 1950.
Baroness Sally Greengross of Notting Hill
Sally Greengross was appointed to the House of Lords in 2000. A former sociologist and Age Concern director, Greengross is an enthusiastic advocate of the interests of the elderly. In the Lords she is involved in numerous related all-party groups, including the Intergenerational Futures Group, the Dementia Group, the Compassion in Dying Group and the Ageing and Older People Group. Beyond Parliament, she is Chief Executive of the International Longevity Centre, President of the Pensions Policy Institute, a member of the Equality & Human Rights Commission, and an advisor to the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing at University College London. Prior to her elevation to the Lords, Greengross was Director of Age Concern, a national charity which provides practical support to the elderly and guidance to policy makers. She was able to further disseminate her expertise through membership of various academic and political bodies: Greengross was joint chair of the Institute of Gerontology at King’s College London, executive chair of the Millennium Debate of the Age, and chair of the RSA Gerontology Project. She also acted as an advisor to the UN and World Health Authority. Before becoming Director General of Age Concern in 1987, Greengross spent a decade as Assistant Director . She had preciously been a lecturer in sociology in the Department of Health Care and Social Work at the former West London Institute of Higher Education (now Brunel University). Greengross entered academia in her thirties, having begun her professional life as a language teacher and interpreter. She was born in 1935 and studied at the London School of Economics.
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson of Eaglescliffe
Tanni Grey-Thompson was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. A former wheelchair athlete, she is particularly interested in sport, women and disability rights. She is currently a non-executive director for UK Athletics (2007-), and sits on the board of the London Marathon (2007-) and the Board of Transport for London (2008). In recent years, she has also worked as a television sports presenter, appearing on BBC1 and BBC Wales. Until retiring from competition in 2007, Grey-Thompson enjoyed a successful international athletics career. She won sixteen medals over the course of five Paralympics games and triumphed in six London Marathons. Her success led to her to win Welsh Sports Personality of the Year three times, and prompted numerous universities to award honorary degrees. She was born 1969 and studied at Loughborough University.
Baroness Helene Hayman of Dartmouth Park – Lord Speaker
Helene Hayman was appointed to the House of Lords in 1996. She is the first elected speaker of the House of Lords, a role that entails presiding over proceedings in the chamber, as well as representing the House in ceremonial occasions. Since the job requires impartiality, Hayman resigned her Labour Party membership in 2006 on gaining the position. Prior to this, she had held numerous frontbench positions, serving as a junior minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1999-2001), Department of Health (1998-99) and Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1997-98). Hayman was also Opposition Spokesperson for Health between 1996 and 97. Hayman had a varied career before entering the Lords. She served on the ethics committees of both the Royal College of Gynaecologists (1982 to 1997) and University College London (1987 to 1997). Between 1992 and 97 she was also a member of the Council of University College, London, and chair of Whittington Hospital NHS Trust. She had previously been a member of the Bloomsbury Health Authority. Prior to this, Hayman was an MP, representing Welwyn and Hatfield in the Commons from 1974 until 79. She was just twenty-five when elected, making her the ‘Baby of the House’. Before entering Parliament, Hayman briefly worked as Deputy Director of the National Council for One-Parent Families (now Gingerbread). She gained the role in 1974, having spent several years working in social services and for the housing charity, Shelter. Hayman was born in 1949 and studied at Cambridge University.
Baroness Sarah Hogg of Kettlethorpe
Sarah Hogg was appointed to the House of Lords in 1995. She is an economist, and currently chairs the Financial Reporting Council, the quango that sets non-enforceable standards of corporate governance and financial reporting. She was vice-chair of the organisation for three years before gaining promotion to chair in 2010. Until 2010, Hogg also worked for the venture capital group, 3i. She became the first woman to chair a FTSE 100 company when she gained the job in 2001. Between 2000 and 04 Hogg was Governor of the BBC. She has balanced each of these appointments with positions on various company boards, including GLN, the engineer, NatWest, P&O Princess Cruises and the BG Group. Before entering the City, Hogg spent five years heading John Major’s policy unit. Here, she attracted opprobrium as the alleged architect of the unsuccessful Back to Basics campaign. She had previously been a financial journalist, working for The Economist, The Times and the Daily Telegraph. She was also involved in the start-up of The Independent, with responsibility for hiring and managing its business team from 1986 to 1989. Hogg was born in 1946 and studied at Oxford University.
Baroness Valerie Howarth of Beckland
Valerie Howarth was appointed to the House of Lords in 2001. A former social worker and Childline director, she is particularly interested in social care and children. Howarth is currently chair of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, a public body designed to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, give advice to the family courts, and make provision for children to be represented. She has held the position since 2008, having joined CAFCASS four years previously. Between 1986 and 2001 Howarth was Chief Executive of ChildLine, the free national helpline for children in trouble or danger. Under her leadership, ChildLine counselled over one million children, evolving from a small London based project to a UK-wide children’s charity. During this time, she was also the first UK representative of the European Forum for Child Welfare and a founder of the King’s Cross Homelessness Project and London Homelessness Forum. Before joining Childline, Howarth was Director of Social Services in Brent, a position she had progressed to after spending years as a social worker in London. She was born in 1948.
Baroness Elspeth Howe of Idlicote
Elspeth Howe was appointed to the House of Lords in 2001. She has worked on numerous public bodies, currently serving as Vice-president of the Institute of Business Ethics Advisory Council (2002-). Between 1993 and 99 she chaired the Broadcasting Standards Commission. Howe has also been involved in the areas of employment and equal opportunity, serving on the Board of Business in the Community (1990-98), the Department of Employment’s Working Group on Women’s Issues (1992-97), as President of the Federation of Recruitment and Employment Services (1980-1994), and as Deputy-chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission (1975-79). She also has an interest in criminal justice, particularly juvenile crime, and served as chairman of an Inner London Juvenile Court for 20 years. Howe has been married to former Tory Foreign Secretary Lord Howe for over forty years. She was born in 1932.
Baroness Kidron
Beeban Kidron was raised to the peerage as Baroness Kidron, of Angel in the London Borough of Islington in 2012. She is an English film director who first gained notoriety with her 1989 BBC adaptation of Jeanette Winterson’s autobiographical novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, which went on to win three Baftas. Since then, her film credits include Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and a series of successful documentaries. In 2006, she co-founded FILMCLUB, an educational charity which sets up after-school film clubs in schools in England and Wales. It is now one of the largest and most influential after-school clubs in the United Kingdom, attracting over 160,000 children and young people each week. Kidron was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Kingston University in 2010 for her contribution to education. She became a board member of the UK Film Council in 2008 with a mandate to provide film education. Aside from her Parliamentary work, Kidron is currently a trustee for the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, a council member at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, a governor of the British Film Institute and a trustee of Cross Street Charitable Foundation. She was born in 1961.
Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller of Northampton
Eliza Manningham-Buller was appointed to the House of Lords in 2008. Having spent the majority of her working life in the security services, she is particularly interested in national security and defence. Manningham-Buller headed Britain’s Security Service (MI5) from 2002 to 2007, leading the organisation though substantial change in the wake of 9/11 and the growing threat from Al-Qaeda. She is credited with modernising the agency, establishing a website, opening recruitment and publishing terror risk assessments. Before taking the helm, Manningham-Buller spent five years as Deputy Director. Prior to this, she had been director of the agency’s Irish counter-terrorism branch, spearheading the fight against the Provisional IRA. Manningham-Buller had acquired special expertise in counter-terrorism whilst involved in the Lockerbie investigation and as a senior liaison officer to Washington during the first Gulf War. She joined the service in 1974, after spending three years teaching at an elite girls’ school. She was born in 1948 and studied at Oxford University.
Countess Mar
Margaret of Mar became a member of the House of Lords in 1975. After the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, she was elected as one of the 92 hereditary peers retained in the House.She is currently Deputy Speaker of the Lords, a position which she also served from 1999 to 2007. During her Parliamentary career, she has also twice served as Deputy Chair of Committees from 1997 to 2007 and again from 2010 to 2012. Aside from her work in Parliament, she has held a variety of non-political offices including her current roles as Patron of the Gulf Veterans’ Association, President of the Guild of Agricultural Journalists, President of the Elderly Accommodation Counsel, and Honorary Associate of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and of the British Veterinary Association. She was born in 1940.
Baroness Susan Masham of Ilton
Susan Cunliffe-Lister was appointed to the House of Lords in 1970. She takes a particular interest in issues surrounding disability, health and penal reform, and serves on numerous related all-party groups, including the AIDS, Cancer, Prison Health and Chronic Pain Groups. Outside Parliament, Cunliffe-Lister works with numerous disability charities, including the Spinal Injuries Association, The Yorkshire Association for the Disabled, and the Institute for Spinal Research. She has a long history of involvement with such organizations, having championed the cause of disability rights since being disabled through a riding accident in 1959. Cunliffe-Lister was born in 1935.
Baroness Molly Meacher of Spitalfields
Molly Meacher was appointed to the House of Lords in 2006. A social worker and Chair of East London and City Mental Health Trust, she is particularly interested in welfare benefits, social care and mental health. She is also a Project Chairman at the grant-making Paul Hamlyn Foundation and a member of the Mental Health Foundation’s ‘Right Here’ programme, which seeks to reform mental health services for young people. Until 2002, Meacher worked as Deputy Chair of the Police Complaints Authority. She took up the post in 1994 after spending three years as an employment advisor to the Russian government. Prior to this, she worked for the Mental Health Foundation and as a social worker. She entered the profession in 1980 after qualifying at the University of London. She had previously studied economics at the University of York. She was born in 1940.
Baroness Delyth Morgan of Drefelin
Delyth Morgan was appointed to the House of Lords in 2004. Having spent much of her career working for charities, she is particularly interested in the voluntary sector, women, children and health. Until recently, Morgan was Opposition Spokesperson for Education. Prior to this, she spent two years at the Department for Children, Schools and Families as Parliamentary UnderSecretary of State. Morgan joined the DCSF from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, where she was Under-Secretary of State for intellectual property and quality. She began her parliamentary career as a Government Whip and Spokesperson for Communities and Local Government, Work and Pensions, Scotland and Wales (2007-08). At the time of her elevation to the peerage, Morgan was chief executive of Breakthrough Breast Cancer (1996–2005) and a member of the Cancer Task Force (2000–05). She had previously been director of communications for the National Asthma Campaign (1992–96). Before this, Morgan directed the Workplace Nurseries Campaign (1988–92) and was campaigns organiser at Shelter (1986–88). She entered the voluntary sector after graduating from Bedford College, London. Morgan was born in 1961.
Baroness Elaine Murphy of Aldgate
Elaine Murphy was appointed to the House of Lords in 2004. A doctor and clinical academic, she is particularly interested in mental health, the NHS, learning disabilities, ageing and higher education. Murphy is currently a Visiting Professor at Queen Mary College, Vice-President of the Alzheimer’s Society and Chair of Council at St George’s, University of London. Prior to moving to St. Mary’s, she was Professor of Psychiatry at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals (now part of King’s College, London). Before entering academia, Murphy worked as a general manager in the NHS and as a UK advisor to the World Health Authority. She has also served as Vice-Chair of the Mental Health Act Commission. Murphy was born in 1947.
Baroness Julia Neuberger of Primrose Hill
Julia Neuberger was appointed to the House of Lords in 2004. She has enjoyed a varied career, serving as a rabbi and in various voluntary sector roles. Whilst in the Lords, Neuberger worked as Gordon Brown’s ‘Champion of Volunteering’ (2007-09) and as a Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson (2004-07). In the latter role she was able to draw on the extensive knowledge she had acquired through earlier work in the health sector. Between 1997 and 2004, Neuberger was chief executive of the King’s Fund, an influential health think tank, and for four years prior to this, she was Chair of Camden & Islington Community Health Services NHS Trust. She had previously spent two years at Harvard Medical School, undertaking research (1991-1992). Before shifting her focus to health care, Neuberger was a rabbi, leading the South London Liberal Synagogue. She was the first British woman to lead her own synagogue, and only the second to become a rabbi. Neuberger completed the necessary training at the reformist Leo Baeck College in North London, having already studied Hebrew at Cambridge University. She was born in 1950.
Baroness Nuala O’Loan of Kirkinriola
Nuala O’Loan was appointed to the House of Lords in 2009. She rose to prominence as Northern Ireland’s first Police Ombudsman, a post she held from 1999 until 2007. During this time, O’Loan led several high-profile and contentious investigations, including the inquiry into the police’s handling of the 1998 Omagh bombing. She also served as an intermediary in difficult cases involving alleged criminal activity by Irish Republicans. Prior to gaining this appointment, O’Loan was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ulster, holding the Jean Monnet Chair in European Law. She began lecturing in 1974 after qualifying as a solicitor. O’Loan was born in 1951 and studied at Kings College London.
Baroness Onora O’Neill of Bengarve
Onora O’Neill was appointed to the House of Lords in 1999. She is a prominent political philosopher, who has written widely on ethics, international justice, bioethics and the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. She also works on questions of trust and accountability in public life. In the Lords, she is particularly interested in constitutional reform, higher education, medical ethics, languages, and publishing. O’Neill has occupied numerous academic posts, and is currently President of the British Academy, Chair of the Nuffield Foundation, Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge University, and a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Prior to moving to Cambridge, she taught at several universities in the UK, Germany and USA, gaining her first post after completing a doctorate at Harvard, where she studied under John Rawls, the pre-eminent twentieth century liberal philosopher. Prior to this, O’Neill studied at Oxford University. She was born in 1941.
Baroness Usha Prashar of Runnymede
Usha Prashar was appointed to the House of Lords in 1999. She is particularly interested in criminal justice and race relations, and is a member of the Committee appointed to consider the UK’s involvement in Iraq and Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission. Pashar has held important roles in a variety of public and private sector organizations. Before being appointed to the Judicial Appointments Commission, she was inaugural civil service commissioner, responsible for promoting an effective and impartial civil service through ensuring fair recruitment practices. She had previously been executive chairman of the Parole Board of England and Wales (1997-2000). Between 1991 and 1997, Prashar balanced numerous roles, working on the royal commission on criminal justice, the Lord Chancellor’s advisory committee on legal education and conduct, and the Arts Council, where she chaired the cultural diversity panel. From 1986 to 1991, she was the director of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, an umbrella body for voluntary organisations in England. Prashar spent the two years prior to this at the Policy Studies Institute, researching public health issues. She joined the Institute from the Runnymede Trust, the UK’s leading independent race equality think tank, where she had been director. Prashar had previously acquired several years of relevant experience whilst working as a conciliation officer with the former Race Relations Board. She was born in 1948 and studied at Leeds and Glasgow Universities.
Baroness Kathleen Richardson of Calow
The Reverend Kathleen Richardson was appointed to the House of Lords in 1998. Formerly a Methodist minister, she is particularly interested in church affairs and inter-faith relations, chairing the London Ecumenical Aids Trust and serving as Vice President of the Council for Christians and Jews. She is also a panel member on the Robert Hamill Inquiry, set up to investigate the murder of a Northern Irish Catholic in order to determine whether any wrongful act or omission by the Royal Ulster Constabulary facilitated his death. Between 1995 and 1999 Richardson was Moderator of the Free Church Federal Council, the first woman to be elected to the post. She also achieved a first for women when she gained the Presidency of the Methodist Conference in 1992. Prior to this appointment, Richardson had been Chairman of the West Yorkshire District of the Methodist Church. She was ordained into the Methodist ministry in 1980, after first serving as a Deaconess and Lay Worker. Richardson originally trained as a teacher. She was born in 1938.
Lady Saltoun of Abernethy
Flora Fraser, 21st Lady Saltoun, is the only women in the Lords who holds her seat as an elected hereditary peer. She was one of the 90 hereditary peers elected to remain in the House after the 1999 House of Lords act. Her chief interests are Scottish affairs, defence, forestry, children, rural issues and fisheries. Fraser first entered the Lords in 1979, after the death of her father. She was born in 1930.
Baroness Stern of Vauxhall
Vivien Stern was raised to the peerage as Baroness Stern, of Vauxhall in the London Borough of Lambeth in 1999. Stern spent the majority of her career in the fight against crime. She became the Director of NACRO, the leading crime reduction charity in England and Wales, from 1977 to 1996. During this time, she was also Secretary General of Penal Reform International, a post which she held from 1989 until 2006. In 1997, she was appointed a Senior Research Fellow of London University, based at the International Centre for Prison Studies in King’s College London. She lists her political interests as criminal justice, foreign affairs, human rights, international development, penal reform, and prisons, and has written several books, including Creating Criminals: prisons and people in a market society; Bricks of Shame: Britain’s prisons; Failures in Penal Policy; Imprisoned by Our Prisons: a programme for reform (Fabian Series); The Prisons We Deserve and A Sin Against the Future: imprisonment in the world. In 2009, she was invited by the Government to conduct a review of UK rape laws. Her subsequent report The Stern Review has since attracted significant approval. Stern is a patron of several charities including the Prisoners’ Education Trust, the Royal Philanthropic Society, New Bridge Foundation and Clean Break. She was born in 1941.
Baroness Jo Valentine of Putney
Jo Valentine was appointed to the House of Lords in 2005. She is Chief Executive of London First, an organisation that aims to ‘influence national and local government policies and investment decisions to support London’s global competitiveness’. Valentine gained promotion to the top role within the organisation in 2003, after spending six years as a Managing Director. She had previously spent two years heading the Central London Partnership, which seeks to bring together the public and private sector in several inner London boroughs. Prior to this, Valentine worked in corporate finance and planning, working for the BOC Group, a multinational industrial gas company. She joined the firm after a brief break from the City, during which she led The Blackburn Partnership, a community regeneration project (198890). Valentine began her career as a merchant banker, joining Barings in 1981 after graduating from Oxford University. She was born in 1958.
Baroness Mary Warnock of Weeke
Mary Warnock was appointed to the House of Lords in 1985. She is a philosopher and has published widely, engaging with important ethical debates including those surrounding embryology and euthanasia. In recent years she has attracted publicity as a result of her vocal advocacy of the right to die. However, Warnock is perhaps best known for her role as chair of the inquiry into human fertilisation, which in 1984 published its recommendation that embryo research should be legalised. A Question of Life: The Warnock Report on Human Fertilisation and Embryology reached this conclusion after shifting the definition of an embryo from an entity created at conception to one that comes into existence 14 days later. At the time of the inquiry, Warnock was a Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University. She balanced academic work with responsibility for chairing an inquiry on a previous occasion, leading a committee on special educational needs between 1974 and 1978, whilst also working at Oxford. The inquiry resulted in the ‘statement system’, under which local authorities have a duty to assess, identify and respond to special needs (she has since lamented the recommendation). Warnock had acquired some experience of the education system several years earlier, whilst working as Headmistress of the independent Oxford High School (1966-72). She joined the school after spending almost two decades as a tutor in philosophy at Oxford University, where, in 1949, she had completed her own studies. Warnock was born in 1924.
Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey
Lola Young was appointed to the House of Lords in 2004. Having worked in academia, the arts and social services, she holds diverse interests, including culture, equalities, mental health, and children and young people in care. Young currently works as a freelance art and heritage consultant, also sitting on the board of the South Bank Centre. Before entering the Lords, she was Head of Culture at the Greater London Authority. Whilst in this role she developed a number of strategic initiatives alongside the Mayor of London, building relationships with external agencies in order to deliver a range of programmes to enhance culture in London. Young joined the GLA in 2001 after spending nine years at the University of Middlesex, during which time she rose from lecturer to professor of cultural studies. Between 1997 and 2001, she also directed the Archives and Museum of Black Heritage. Young first entered academia in 1990, lecturing in media studies at Thames Valley University. She had previously been a training and development manager at the Haringey Arts Council, gaining the post in 1985 after spending several years as a professional actor. Young began her career as a residential social worker in Islington. She was born in 1951.
Labour Peers Baroness Irene Adams of Craigielea
Irene Adams was appointed to the House of Lords in 2005 after spending fifteen years as MP for Paisley North. During her time in the Commons, she was Chairman of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee (2001-05) and a member of the Chairman’s Panel (1998-2005). Before gaining a place in Parliament, Adams was constituency secretary to her husband, Allen Adams, who was then MP for Paisley North. She has also been a councillor, holding positions on Strathclyde Regional Council (1979-84), Renfrew District Council (1974-78) and Paisley Town Council (1970). She was born in 1947.
Baroness Andrews of Southover
Kay Andrews was appointed to the House of Lords in 2000. She is currently Deputy Chair of Committees and until recently, also served as Deputy Speaker of the House. In 2009, she was made Chair of English Heritage, forcing her to end her former affiliation to the Labour Party. Until gaining the English Heritage post in 2009, Andrews was a member of Government, serving as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister/Department for Communities and Local Government (2005-09). She had previously been a Government Whip and Spokesperson for Health, Work and Pensions, and Education and Skills (2002-05). Before being raised to the peerage, Andrews was Director of Education Extra, a charity for out-of-school learning and activities. In 1998 she received an OBE for her contributions to education. Prior to joining the charity in 1992, Andrews spent seven years as a policy adviser to Neil Kinnock, then leader of the Labour Party, and five years as a parliamentary clerk. Between 1968 and 1970, she was a masters student and Fellow of the Science Policy Research Unit at Sussex University. She completed her undergraduate studies in 1964 at Bangor University. Andrews was born in 1943.
Baroness Hilary Armstrong of Hill Top
Hilary Armstrong was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010 after spending twenty-three years as the MP for North Durham. She sat on the backbenches during her final three years in the Commons, having resigned from government in June 2007 in response to Tony Blair’s departure. Prior to this, Armstrong had been Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (a figurehead role) and Minister for the Cabinet Office and Social Exclusion (2006-07). She had previously spent five years as Government Chief Whip (2001-06) and four years as Minister for Local Government and Housing. In the years before Labour entered government, she served as the Opposition Spokesperson for the Environment and London (1995-97), for the Treasury and Economic Affairs (1994-95) and for Education (1988-92). Before winning her place in the Commons, Armstrong was parliamentary researcher to Ernest Armstrong, her father and predecessor as MP for North Durham. She had previously been a lecturer in Youth and Community Work at Sunderland University, gaining the post after spending several years as a social worker and VSO volunteer. Armstrong was born in 1945 and studied at Birmingham University.
Baroness Joan Bakewell of Stockport
Joan Bakewell was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She is a journalist, known for her willingness to confront contentious issues and, in recent years, her vocal advocacy of the rights of older people. Bakewell has produced and featured on numerous high-profile television programmes, including Taboo, a controversial exploration of the boundaries of taste, decency and censorship, and The Heart of the Matter, a long-running documentary series. She first rose to prominence in the mid-1960s as one of the presenters of Late Night Line Up, a pioneering BBC 2 discussion programme. It was as a result of her performance on this show that Bakewell was, much to her annoyance, dubbed ‘the thinking man’s crumpet’. She entered journalism after graduating from Cambridge University. Bakewell was born in 1933.
Baroness Angela Billingham of Banbury
Angela Billingham was appointed to the House of Lords in 2000. She is currently Opposition spokesperson for Culture, Media and Sport in the Lords, and is particularly interested in Europe, education, health, sport and urban regeneration. Billingham served a term in the European Parliament before her creation as a Life Peer, representing Northamptonshire and Blaby between 1994 and 1999. She had previously spent several years as a local councillor, serving on Oxfordshire County Council (1993-94), Cherwell District Council (1974-84) and Banbury County Council (1970-74). During this time, Billingham worked as a teacher, entering the profession after studying at Oxford University and the Institute of Education. She was born in 1939.
Baroness Tessa Blackstone of Stoke Newington
Tessa Blackstone was appointed to the House of Lords in 1987. She has spent most of her career working in Higher Education, and since 2004 has been Vice-Chancellor of the University of Greenwich. In recent years, Blackstone has also served as Chair of the Fabian Society, the Institute for Public Policy Research and the BBC’s General Advisory Council. Before joining Greenwich University, she spent several years in government, serving as a Minister in the Department for Culture, Media and Sports (2001-03), and in the Department of Education (1997-2001), where she presided over a period of significant Alevel reform. She had previously spent a decade as Master of Birkbeck College, London. Over the course of her career there, Blackstone acquired a reputation for her strong-principles and blunt and forceful manner; a style that prompted some former academic colleagues to dub her the ‘Red Baroness’. Before she was raised to the peerage, Blackstone was Deputy Education Officer in the Inner London Education Authority. Prior to this, during the Callaghan years, she was a member of the Central Policy Review Staff in the Cabinet Office. Whilst there, she was subject to much Whitehall resentment, her perceived radicalism prompting dismay from some. Before joining the Policy Review, Blackstone was a lecturer in social administration at the London School of Economics. She began her academic career at the former Enfield College (now Middlesex University), after graduating from LSE. Blackstone was born in 1942.
Baroness May Blood of Blackwatertown
May Blood was appointed to the House of Lords in 1999, making her the first Northern Irish woman to receive a life peerage. She was raised to the peerage in recognition of her community activism and trade union work, which has included co-founding the non-sectarian Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition (1996) and promoting equality for women at work. Since 1994, Blackwatertown has been a volunteer information officer for the Greater Shankill Partnership, a community regeneration project. She had previously worked as a manager of Cairn Martin Wood Products, joining the company in 1991 after spending thirty-eight years working in Blackstaff linen mill. It was during her time at the mill that Blood first got involved with the union movement, becoming a shop steward and pushing for the creation of a women’s committee in the Transport and General Workers’ Union. She was born in 1938.
Baroness Betty Boothroyd of Sandwell
Betty Boothroyd was appointed to the House of Lords in 2001, shortly after she retired from a twenty-seven year Commons career. Boothroyd is best known for her eight-year tenure as Commons Speaker, during which time she amassed considerable popularity as a result of her forthright but fair style of arbitration. Her status is such that she has been awarded eight honorary degrees and is even replicated in wax at Madame Tussaud’s Museum in London. Before becoming the first (and, so far, only) woman to hold the position of speaker in 1992, Boothroyd spent five years as Deputy Speaker. Prior to this, she was a member of the House of Commons Commission (198387) and Labour’s National Executive Committee (1981-87). Between 1975 and 1977, Boothroyd worked in the European Parliament as an MEP, and during her first two years in Parliament she was an Assistant Government Whip. She entered the Commons in 1973, winning the West Bromwich seat only after four earlier attempts at election. Boothroyd acquired significant political experience before becoming an MP, spending time on Hammersmith Council (1965-68) and several years as a secretary and political assistant to senior Labour figures. She gained her first real taste of politics in the early 1960s when she travelled to America to witness Kennedy’s election campaign and work as a legislative assistant to an American congressman. Boothroyd began her working-life as a dancer, joining the ‘Tiller Girls’ dancing troupe in the 1940s. She was born in 1929 and studied at the Dewbury College of Commerce and Art.
Baroness Jean Corston of St George
Jean Corston was appointed to the House of Lords in 2005. A former MP and barrister, she is particularly interested in promoting equal opportunities and human rights, chairing the Women in the Penal System Group (2009-). Corston was the subject of significant media attention when, in 2007, she delivered a report outlining the need for a radically new approach to treating women in the criminal justice system. The report, commissioned by the Home Office, outlined ‘the need for a distinct, radically different, visibly-led, strategic, proportionate, holistic, woman-centred, integrated approach’. It has since played an important role in shaping government policy. Corston spent thirteen years as the Labour MP for Bristol East (1992-2005) before being raised to the peerage. She chaired the Parliamentary Labour Party during the four years prior to her departure, becoming the first woman to hold the post when she won it in 2001. During this time, she also chaired the parliamentary joint committee on human rights, which held an inquiry into deaths in custody between 2002 and 2005. She had previously been Parliamentary Private Secretary to David Blunkett as Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1997-2000). Corston qualified as a barrister shortly before entering Parliament, studying at the Inns of Court School of Law, Open University and London School of Economics as a mature student. Before returning to her studies in 1989, Corston worked at the Inland Revenue. She was also involved in Labour politics, working as an assistant national agent (1985-86) and regional organiser in the South West (1981-85). Corston was born in 1942.
Baroness Christine Crawley of Edgbaston
Christine Crawley was appointed to the House of Lords in 1998 and is a former MEP and teacher. In 2010, she was Opposition Spokesperson for Communities and Local Government, Health, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and until recently was also Opposition Deputy Chief Whip. She has held multiple spokesperson portfolios during her time in the Lords, her areas of responsibility including International Development (2008), Northern Ireland (2007-08), Transport (2007-08), Universities and Skills (2005-08), Children, Schools and Families (2005-08), Defence (200208) and International Development (2002-04). She also served as a Government Whip from 2002 until 2008. In addition to her parliamentary work, Crawley has helped further women’s interests through her work with the National Women’s Network and the Women’s National Commission (1999-2001). Crawley spent fourteen years as an MEP before joining the Lords, first gaining election to the European Parliament in 1984 as the representative for Birmingham East. Whilst there, she was active on the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, chairing the committee in 1989 and helping push through the European Maternity Leave Directive. Prior to 1984, Crawley was a teacher and Town and District Councillor in South Oxfordshire. She was born in 1950 and studied at Roehampton University.
Baroness Brenda Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde
Brenda Dean was appointed to the House of Lords in 1993. A former trade union leader, she is interested in industry, women’s issues, pensions and housing. Beyond the Lords, Dean is Chairman of the Covent Garden Market Authority, a Board Member of the University College Hospital Support Committee, a Trustee of the Thomson Foundation (involved in media training), and a non-executive director of a book supplier and a house building firm. Dean has been a member of numerous bodies – parliamentary and non-parliamentary – during her time in the Lords. She was a member of the Senior Salaries Review Body from 1999 until 2004, sat on the Armed Forces Pay Review Body between 1999 and 2004, chaired the Housing Corporation from 1997 until 2003, and was a member of the Press Complaints Commission between 1993 and 1998. Dean has also occupied various government posts, serving as an Opposition Whip (1996-97) and as an Opposition Spokesperson for National Heritage (1996-97) and Employment (1994-96). In addition to this, she has been involved with the governance of numerous universities, including the London School of Economics (1994-99), the Open University (1995-98) and City University (1991-96). Before entering the Lords, Dean was General Secretary of the SOGAT printers union. Her election to the post in 1985 made her the first woman to lead a major craft or industrial union. She had previously served as General President of the union (1983-85), as Branch Secretary (1976-83) and as Assistant Branch Secretary (1971-76). Dean first became active in the union in 1959 when she became an Administrative Secretary whilst working as a typist at a local printing firm. She was born in 1943.
Baroness Rita Donaghy of Peckham
Rita Donaghy was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She is a former trade unionist and has held numerous positions in public life. Donaghy is currently an independent consultant to the King’s College Hospital Foundation Trust and a member of the Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards at the Department of Health. In addition to this, she recently chaired an enquiry into work-related deaths in the construction industry. Between 2000 and 2007, Donaghy was Chair of the industrial conciliation service ACAS. During this time she also served on the Committee on Standards in Public Life (2001-07), the Low Pay Commission (1997-2000) and the Employment Tribunal Taskforce. Donaghy spent the year prior to her appointment to the ACAS as TUC President. She was elected to the role after more than three decades of involvement in the union movement, during which time she was a member of the TUC general council and a member of NALGO’s National Executive. Donaghy began her career as an assistant registrar at the Institute of Education, University of London. She was born in 1944 and studied at Durham University (she also holds Honorary Doctorates from the Open University (2003), Keele University (2004), and Greenwich University (2005).
Baroness Jeannie Drake of Sheen
Jeannie Drake was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She is a former trade union leader and an expert in the pensions industry. Drake is a trustee of both the O2 and Alliance and Leicester pension funds and is an Employment Appeal Tribunal member. In addition to this, she is a member of the Labour Party National Policy Forum and a non-executive board member of the Pension Protection Fund and Personal Accounts Delivery Authority. She has also served on both the Equality and Human Rights (2006-09) and Equal Opportunities Commissions (2000-07). Drake spent more than thirtyfive years in the trade union movement before stepping down as Deputy General Secretary of the Communications Workers Union in 2008. During her tenure, she spent a year as elected President of the TUC (2005). She was first elected to the General Secretary post in 1995, having spent a decade as Deputy General Secretary of the Clerical Section of the NCU. Drake had previously worked at the Civil and Public Servants Association (CPSA), joining the organisation in 1976. She began her union career after leaving university, becoming a research officer for the Health Union, NUPE. Drake was born in 1948.
Baroness Marcia Falkender of West Haddon
Marcia Falkender was appointed to the House of Lords in 1974. She achieved wide renown during the 60s and 70s, whilst working as Harold Wilson’s political secretary. Falkender was thought to exercise a great deal of control over the then Prime Minister, and it was widely claimed that she was responsible for the so-called ‘Lavender List’, Wilson’s now-infamous resignation honours list. Before joining Wilson’s office in 1956, she spent a year working for the General Secretary of the Labour Party, gaining the post in 1955 after graduating from Queen Mary College, London. Falkender was born in 1932.
Baroness Josephine Farrington of Ribbleton
Josephine Farrington was appointed to the House of Lords in 1994. She has a long history of involvement in local government and European affairs and is currently a Representative to the EU Committee of the Regions, the assembly of local representatives that provides sub-national authorities with a direct voice within the EU (1994-). In recent years, she has also worked as a Government Whip (1997-2010) and Spokesperson for the Environment and Rural Affairs (2001-2007), Northern Ireland (1997-2007), Women’s Issues/Equality Agenda (2003), the Cabinet Office (2001-02), the Wales Office (2002), and Local Government (1997-2001). Between 1977 and 1997, Farrington was a member of Lancashire County Council, chairing the council between 1992 and 1993, and the Education Committee from 1981 until 1991. She served on several other public bodies during this time, leading the Labour Group on the Association of County Councils between 1987 and 1994 and serving on the Council of Europe Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities from 1981 until 1994. As part of the latter role, Farrington worked as an international observer at local elections in Poland, Ukraine and Albania. She first became involved in politics in 1973 when she was elected to Preston Borough Council. Farrington was born in 1940.
Baroness Margaret Ford of Cunninghame
Margaret Ford was appointed to the House of Lords in 2006. She has a background in urban development and housing, and holds an interest in regeneration, planning, energy and public sector reform. Since 2009, Ford has led the Olympic Park Legacy Company, the public sector organisation responsible for the long-term planning, development, management and maintenance of the Olympic Park and its facilities after the London 2012 Games. She is also Non-Executive Director of the international services company, Serco, and Chairman of Irvine Bay Urban Regeneration Company. Prior to taking on the Olympic Park role, Ford was Managing Director of Social Infrastructure and Development at the Royal Bank of Canada. She joined the RBC after stepping down as the Chair of English Partnerships, where she spent six years leading a new approach to housing and regeneration across England. She had previously been Chief Executive of Good Practice Ltd, an international online publisher, and Non-Executive Director of the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority. Ford’s earlier career was spent working for various Scottish public sector organisations, including Lothian Health Board, the Scottish Prison Service and Scottish Homes, the national housing agency in Scotland. She was born in 1957.
Baroness Anita Gale of Blaenrhondda
Anita Gale was appointed to the House of Lords in 1999. She has a long history of involvement in the gender equality movement, and cites her chief political interests as women’s rights, Wales, health and the environment. Gale is an Opposition Whip, Vice-Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party Women’s Committee, and a member of various all-party groups, including the Women in Science, Children in Wales and South Africa Groups. In recent years, Gale has also been the commissioner for Wales on the Women’s National Commission, the official, independent, advisory body giving the views of women to the Government and has worked as treasurer on Harriet Harman’s deputy leadership campaign. Prior to her elevation to the peerage, Gale was the Labour Party’s General Secretary for Wales. She gained the post in 1984, after spending eight years as Women’s Officer for Wales. Gale began her involvement in the Labour Party and women’s movement whilst working as a sewing machinist. She was born in 1940.
Baroness Anne Gibson of Market Rasen
Anne Gibson was appointed to the House of Lords in 2000. A former trade unionist, she is particularly interested in industrial relations, equality issues, women’s issues and health and safety at work. Gibson serves on several related all-party groups, including the Corporate Responsibility Group, the Bullying and Workplace Violence Group, and the Women, Peace and Security Group. She has also been a Deputy Speaker since 2008. Outside Parliament, she has served as President of the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents (2004-08) and Chair of the Bullying at Work Partnership Committee (200308) Prior to her elevation to the Lords, Gibson was chair of the European Community Committee on Violence at Work (1996-2001) and a member of the Trade Union Congress General Council (1989-2000). Between 1991 and 1998 she worked on the Equal Opportunities Committee and as a member of the Department of Employment’s Advisory Group for Older Workers. Gibson had previously been an assistant secretary of the Organisation and Industrial Relations Department of the TUC. Before gaining this role in 1977, she briefly worked on House Magazine, an impartial political weekly. She joined the magazine in 1976 after graduating from the University of Essex with a degree in government. Before becoming engaged in politics and trade unionism on a full-time basis, Gibson was a bank cashier and local party organiser. She was born in 1940.
Baroness Llin Golding of Newcastle-under-Lyme
Llin Golding was appointed to the House of Lords in 2001. A former radiographer and MP, Golding is particularly interested in the health service, trade unions and children. She sits on a diverse array of all-party groups, subjects including Solvent Abuse, Angling, Greyhounds, Betting and Gaming, and War Crimes. Golding served fifteen years in the House of Commons before being elevated to the peerage. During this time, she was an Opposition Spokesperson for Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs (1995-97), Children and Families (1993-95) and Social Security (1992-93). She also spent five years as an Opposition Whip (1987-92) and three years on the BBC Advisory Committee (1989-92). Before being elected as the MP for Newcastle-UnderLyme in 1986, Golding was a hospital radiographer. She also supported the work of her husband, John Golding, her predecessor in the Newcastle seat. Golding was born in 1933.
Baroness Mary Goudie of Roundwood
Mary Goudie was appointed to the House of Lords in 1998. She is particularly interested in human rights issues, currently chairing the Women Leaders’ Council, part of the UN’s Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking. Goudie is also an executive and board member of the Vital Voices Partnership, an organisation that seeks to empower emerging women leaders and social entrepreneurs around the globe by offering training and vital resources. Before concentrating her efforts on charitable work, Goudie was a public affairs consultant, working independently (1995-98) and for the World Wide Fund for Nature (1990-95). She had previously directed House magazine, a publication that focuses on the Westminster world, and the Hansard Society, a political research and education charity. Prior to joining the latter organisation in 1985, Goudie was secretary of the Labour Party Solidarity Campaign. She began her career in Brent, working for the Brent People’s Housing Association (1977-81) and as a local councillor. Goudie was born in 1946.
Baroness Joyce Gould of Potternewton
Joyce Gould was appointed to the House of Lords in 1993. A former trade unionist and advocate of women’s rights, she is particularly interested in gender equality, race relations, population and development, the disabled, and sexual health. Gould is a member of several related all-party groups, including the Pro-Choice and Sexual Health Group and the Sex Equality Group. In addition to this, she chairs both the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and the Women’s National Commission, an official advisory body, responsible for ensuring women’s views are incorporated into policy making. Gould is also interested in electoral reform and constitutional issues, and has worked with the Constitution Unit (2001-07), Hansard Society (1999-2007), and Jenkins Commission (1997-98). Earlier in her Parliamentary career, Gould spent several years on the Labour frontbenches, working as Opposition Spokesperson for Women (1996-97) and the Citizen’s Charter (1994-96), and as an Opposition Whip (1994-97) Prior to her elevation to the Lords, Gould worked for the Labour Party. She occupied numerous positions, including director of organisation (1985-93), assistant national agent and chief women’s officer (1975-85), and assistant regional organiser (1969-75). During her time working for the party, Gould also undertook several voluntary roles, serving as Vice-President of Socialist International Women between 1978 and 1985, as a committee member on the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination from 1965 until 1975, and on the National Labour Women’s Committee between 1960 and 1969. Before entering politics, Gould worked as a secretary and pharmaceutical dispenser. Gould was born in 1932 and educated at Bradford Technical College.
Baroness Dianne Hayter of Kentish Town
Dianne Hayter was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She has served on numerous public bodies over the course of her career, and currently chairs both the Property Standards Board and Legal Services Consumer Panel. Between 2007 and 2008, Hayter chaired the Labour Party, rising to the role after almost a decade on the party’s National Executive Committee. Prior to this, she balanced roles in various organisations, working on the Board of the National Consumer Council (2001-08), Vice-Chairing the Financial Services Consumer Panel (2001-05) and serving on the Board of the National Patient Safety Agency (2001-04). Hayter also managed to fit in academic study during this time, working towards a doctorate at the University of London between 2000 and 2004. Before opting for a portfolio career, Hayter headed the Pelican Cancer Centre (1999-2001). She had previously directed corporate affairs at the Wellcome Trust, the global charity dedicated to improving health. Prior to this, she was chief executive of the European Parliamentary Labour Party, gaining the role in 1990 after spending seven years leading Alcohol Concern. Between 1982 and 1983, Hayter had a brief foray into broadcasting, joining Channel 4′s A Week in Politics upon leaving the Fabian Society, where she had been general secretary. Hayter began her career as a trade union research officer, joining the General and Municipal Workers’ Union in 1970 after graduating from Durham University. She was born in 1949.
Baroness Anna Healy of Primrose Hill
Anna Healy was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She is currently Chief of Staff to Harriet Harman, deputy leader of the Labour Party since 2007 and interim leader between May and September 2010. Healy joined Harman from Carlton television, where she had worked as press and strategic communications co-ordinator. She had previously been a parliamentary press officer and strategist for the Labour Party. Since starting work for Labour in 1978, Healy has been an adviser to a string of the party’s politicians, including Tony Blair, Mo Mowlam and her husband, Jon Cruddas. She was born in 1955.
Baroness Ruth Henig of Lancaster
Ruth Henig was appointed to the House of Lords in 2004. She is particularly interested in the police and the criminal justice system, and currently serves as President of the Association of Police Authorities, having chaired the same organisation between 1997 and 2005. During this time, Henig also worked on the National Criminal Justice Board (2003-05), the Street Crime Action Group (2002-04), and the Lawrence Steering Group, convened to oversee the implementation of the recommendations of the Stephen Lawrence enquiry (1998-2005). Henig fitted local government work in alongside these responsibilities, serving on Lancashire County Council from 1981 until 2005. It was through her work as a councillor that she first became involved in policing, gaining appointment to the Lancashire Police Authority in 1989 after first chairing the Lancashire Police Committee on the council. Henig began her career as a historian, having published numerous books on modern European history. She gained her first teaching post in 1968 at Lancaster University, after completing a degree at Bedford College, London. She was born in 1943.
Baroness Jennifer Hilton of Eggardon
Jennifer Hilton was appointed to the House of Lords in 1991. She is a Labour Delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, a body concerned with early warning, conflict prevention and post-conflict rehabilitation. Since entering the Lords, Hilton has also worked as an Opposition Spokesperson for Home Affairs (1994-97) and the Environment (1991-97) and as an Opposition Whip (1991-95). She was born in 1936.
Baroness Patricia Hollis of Heigham
Patricia Hollis was appointed to the House of Lords in 1990. A specialist in women’s history and local council veteran, she is particularly interested in local government, heritage, pensions, women’s issues and housing. Hollis’s extra-parliamentary roles reflect these interests: she is Governor of the Pensions Policy Institute (2010-), Chair of Broadland Housing Association (2009-), President of the Women’s Local Government Society (2007-) and Vice-President of the Local Government Association (2005-). She has previously served on the National Federation of Housing Associations (199397), Association of District Councils (1990-97) and Association of Metropolitan Authorities (1990-97). During her time in Parliament, she has served as Opposition Whip (1990-95), Opposition Spokesperson for Environment and Social Security (1990-97), Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Government Spokesperson for: Department of Social Security (1997-2001) and the Department for Work and Pensions (2001-05). At the time of her elevation to the Lords, Hollis was an academic and local councillor. She worked at the University of East Anglia from 1967 until 1990, latterly as Dean of the School of English and American Studies (1988 to 1990). For the majority of this time she was also a Norwich City Councillor, serving as leader from 1983 to 1988. Before being appointed lecturer in Modern History at UEA, Hollis undertook study at Oxford, Berkley, Columbia and Cambridge Universities. She was born in 1941.
Baroness Rosalind Howells of St Davids
Rosalind Howells was appointed to the House of Lords in 1999. A former community worker and race equality activist, she is particularly interested in community relations, international affairs (Africa/Caribbean), education and health. She has worked as Director of the Greenwich Racial Equality Council and as a Community and Equal Opportunities Worker. Howells is also a trustee of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, and served as the unofficial advisor to the Lawrence family. Howells was the first black woman to sit on the GLC’s Training Board, the first female member of the Court of Governors of the University of Greenwich and was the Vice-Chair at the London Voluntary Services Council. She has worked with the Carnival Liaison Committee, and the Greater London Action in Race Equality and has been an active campaigner for justice in the field of race relations. Howells was born in 1931 in Granada and was educated at South West London College and City College in Washington DC.
Baroness Beverly Hughes of Stretford
Beverly Hughes was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. For thirteen years prior to her elevation to the Lords, she was a member of the Commons, representing Stretford and Urmston. During this time, she held numerous positions within government, latterly as Minister for the North West (200709) and as a junior minister in the Department for Education and Skills/Children, Schools and Families (2005-09). Prior to this, she spent several years working in the Home Office, specialising in immigration and citizenship. Hughes began her parliamentary career in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, where she worked as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary and Private Secretary. Before becoming an MP, Hughes worked as an academic at Manchester University, heading the Social Policy department. She joined the institution in 1976 as a research associate. Between 1986 and 1997 Hughes was also a local councillor in Trafford, leading the council during her final two years there. She began her career in 1971 as a probation officer in Merseyside, starting work after graduating from Manchester University. Hughes was born in 1950.
Baroness Margaret Jay of Paddington
Margaret Jay was appointed to the House of Lords in 1992. She is Chair of the Overseas Development Institute, a leading independent think tank focused on international development and humanitarian issues. She has a strong interest in health issues, co-founding the National Aids Trust in 1987, working on the NHS’s Central Research and Development Committee, and serving on the World Bank International Advisory Group on Health. During her first decade in the Lords, Jay held numerous frontbench posts, serving as Minister for Women (1998-2001), Leader of the House of Lords (1998-2001), Junior Health Minister (1997-98) and Opposition Spokesperson for Health (199297). Jay spent much of her career in media and broadcasting. Before entering politics, she worked at the BBC, contributing to various current affairs programmes and presenting the BBC 2 series Social History of Medicine. She had previously worked in television production. She was born in 1939 and studied at Oxford University.
Baroness Maggie Jones of Whitchurch
Maggie Jones was appointed to the House of Lords in 2006. She has a background in trade unionism, and is currently Director of Policy and Public Affairs at the trade union, UNISON. In addition to this, she is on the boards of the charities Shelter and the Empty Homes Agency, both of which campaign for affordable housing for all. Jones also holds several government posts, serving as Spokesperson for Culture, Media and Sport and for Health. She gained her place in the Lords after failing to win a Labour safe seat in the 2005 general election. Her loss came about as a result of local resentment at her selection, which had come at the expense of a respected local candidate. Jones did have significant experience: by 2005 she had worked on the trade union section of Labour’s National Executive Committee for twelve years, chairing the Joint policy committee between 2003 and 2005 and the Party between 2000 and 2001. She had also spent several years chairing Labour’s Local Government Committee (1996-2004). Jones first became involved in the Labour and union movement when she joined the National Union of Public Employees as a regional officer in 1979. She was born in 1955 and studied at the University of Sussex.
Baroness Helena Kennedy of the Shaws
Helena Kennedy was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997. She is a highly acclaimed barrister and an expert in human rights law, civil liberties and constitutional issues. In recent years Kennedy has worked on the International Bar Association Task Force on Terrorism, chaired the Human Genetics Commission, and led an inquiry into sudden infant death. She is also chair of JUSTICE, the human rights and law reform organisation, and VicePresident of the Association of Women Barristers, which seeks to further the position of women within the profession. Previous public roles have included chairmanship of Charter 88, the constitutional reform group, and VicePresidency of the National Assembly of Women, a women’s rights organisation. As a specialist in criminal law, Kennedy has acted in a number of high-profile trials, with cases including the Brighton Bombing Trial, Israeli Embassy Bombing and Guildford Four Appeal. She was made a QC in 1997, twenty-five years after she was first called to the bar. Kennedy was born in 1950 and studied at the Inns of Court School of Law.
Baroness Denise Kingsmill of Holland Park
Denise Kingsmill was appointed to the House of Lords in 2006. A former employment lawyer, she has held numerous roles in both the public sector and corporate world. She is a non-executive director of British Airways and senior adviser to the Royal Bank of Scotland as well as a trustee of the Cambridge University Business School and pro-chancellor of Brunel University. Between 1997 and 2003, she was Deputy Chair of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, which later became the Competition Commission, where she led inquiries into equity underwriting, energy supply, media and banking. During this time, she also headed a government-appointed task force inquiry into women’s employment and pay in the UK. Prior to 1997, Kingsmill worked in corporate law, working for the city firm DJ Freeman. The company had taken over her own firm in 1990. Prior to this, Kingsmill focused on employment and trade union law, having trained with Robin Thompson & Partners, specialists in that field. She qualified as a solicitor as a mature student, after first spending several years at ICI Fibres in Kensington, where she promoted the crease-resistant fibre Crimplene. Kingsmill was born in 1947 and studied at Cambridge University.
Baroness Oona King of Bow
Oona King was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. Though currently working as Channel Four’s head of diversity, she has spent the majority of her career in politics. In 2010, she unsuccessfully challenged Ken Livingstone for the Labour nomination for the 2012 London Mayor contest. Until launching her campaign, King worked as Gordon Brown’s Senior Policy Advisor, a role she took on in 2008 after spending three years in various media roles. She entered journalism after losing her Commons seat in a high-profile contest against George Galloway and his Respect Party. Prior to this, King spent eight years as MP for Bethnal Green and Bow. During this time she served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Stephen Timms and Patricia Hewitt (200305) and on the Transport (2001-05) and International Development (19972001) Select Committees. Before entering parliament, King was a trade union organiser. She began work for the GMB after spending five years in Brussels, where she worked as an assistant to Glenys Kinnock and Glyn Ford, and as a researcher for the Socialist Group. King gained the latter position after competing studies at Berkeley and York universities. She was born in 1967.
Baroness Glenys Kinnock of Holyhead
Glenys Kinnock was appointed to the House of Lords in 2009. A former MEP for Wales and president of One World Action, a development NGO, she is particularly interested in international development, the regions, gender issues, children’s rights and education. She has held several related frontbench posts, serving as Opposition Spokesperson for International Development (2011-), for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2010) and as a Minister for Africa and the UN (2009-10) and Europe (2009). Kinnock served in the European Parliament for fifteen years, first gaining election in 1994. During this time, she was Labour spokesperson on International Development, a Member of the European Parliament’s Development and Cooperation Committee, and a substitute member of the Committee on Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs. She was also co-president of the African, Caribbean and Pacific-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly from 2002 until 2009. Kinnock was a teacher before joining the EU, but has long been immersed in politics, partly as a result of her marriage to former Labour leader Neil Kinnock. She was born in 1944 and studied at Cardiff University.
Baroness Helen Liddell of Coatdyke
Helen Liddell was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. Between 2005 and 2009, she was High Commissioner to Australia. She spent the eleven years prior to this as the MP for Airdrie and Shotts (1997-2005) and Monklands East (1994-97). Liddell held numerous frontbench posts during this time, serving as Secretary of State for Scotland (2001-03), Minister for Energy and Competitiveness in Europe (1999-2001), Minister for Transport (1999) and Minister for Education in the Scottish Office. She had previously been an Economic Secretary at the Treasury (1997-98) and Opposition Spokesperson on Scotland (1995-97) Before entering Parliament, Liddell was Chief Executive of Business Ventures Ltd (1993-1994). She spent the six years prior to this as an Executive Director of the Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail. Liddell moved into the media after more than a decade working as General Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party. She gained that post at just twenty six, after spending a year working as a BBC correspondent. Liddell was born in 1950 and studied at Strathclyde University.
Baroness Lister of Burtersett
Ruth Lister was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She is Professor of Social Policy at Loughborough University and an acknowledged authority on citizenship and poverty, particularly the gender dimensions of each of these subjects. Alongside her academic activities, Lister contributes to the National Equality Panel, which reports to the Minister for Women and Equality, and the Community Development Foundation. She is also actively involved in the pressure group Compass and a member of the Women’s Budget Group Prior to taking up her current position at Loughborough, Lister led Bradford University’s Social Policy department. She entered academia after spending sixteen years working for the Child Poverty Action Group, the latter eight as director. Before joining the campaign group, Lister studied sociology at Essex and Sussex universities. She was born in 1949.
Baroness Betty Lockwood of Dewsbury
Betty Lockwood was appointed to the House of Lords in 1978. She has a long history of activism in the Labour and women’s rights movements and is particular interested in sex equality, education, training and industry. Lockwood is currently Chair of the National Coal Mining Museum for England, President of the Yorkshire Arthritis Research Campaign and a member of Soroptimist International, a group working to advance the status of women. She has also been involved in higher education, serving as a member of Bradford University Council (1983-2005) and as President of Birkbeck College (1983-89). Between 1982 and 1983, Lockwood was Chair of the European Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, and for eight years prior to that she served as the first chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission. She had proved her commitment to the Commission’s aims with her earlier campaigning for equal pay and work as Women’s Officer of the Labour Party. Lockwood became engaged in Labour politics after studying at the trade union-run Ruskin College, Oxford. She had gained a place there on a scholarship after studying at night school. Lockwood left school at fourteen to begin work. She was born in 1924.
Baroness Margaret McDonagh of Mitcham and Morden
Margaret McDonagh was appointed to the House of Lords in 2004. She has held a range of senior positions within both public and private organizations and is currently a Non-Executive Director of investments company, Standard Life, healthcare property developers, CareCapital, and airport owners, TBI. In recent years McDonagh has also been a Director and founder of BBM Consultants Ltd and Chief Executive Officer of AM Creative Ltd, both talent management agencies. Prior to this, McDonagh spent fifteen years working for the Labour Party, latterly as a member of Blair’s inner circle and General Secretary of the party. On gaining this post in 1998, she became both the first woman and youngest person to occupy the position. She won the promotion after acting as General Election Coordinator for Labour’s landslide General Election victory in 1997. McDonagh had previously been a party organiser in London. She was born in 1961.
Baroness Genista McIntosh of Hudnall
Genista McIntosh was appointed to the House of Lords in 1999. She is Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chairman of the Committees. Having spent much of her career in theatre management, McIntosh is particularly interested in the arts, and currently serves on the boards of the Theatres Trust, the Foundation for Sport and the Arts, the Roundhouse Trust, the National Opera Studio, the Almeida Theatre and Welsh National Opera. She has occupied senior positions in several major arts organisations. She was Principal of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama between 2002 and 2003, and was Executive Director of the Royal National Theatre from 1990 until 2002, a period broken only by a five-month stint as Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House (1997). Prior to this, McIntosh held a number of posts at the Royal Shakespeare Company. She was born in 1943 and educated at the University of York.
Baroness Ann Mallalieu of Studdridge
Ann Mallalieu was appointed to the House of Lords in 1991. A practising barrister, she is particularly interested in justice and home affairs. She is also interested in agricultural and rural affairs, chairing the Countryside Alliance and leading the Leave Country Sports Alone Campaign. During her early years in the Lords, Mallalieu was Opposition Spokesperson for Legal (1992-97) and Home Affairs (1992-97). Before embarking on her career as a criminal barrister, Mallalieu briefly worked as a trainee presenter on Yorkshire Television. She was born in 1945 and studied at Cambridge University.
Baroness Doreen Massey of Darwen
Doreen Massey was appointed to the House of Lords in 1999. She is a health education specialist, with a focus on drug and alcohol misuse, HIV/AIDS and sexual health. She chairs the all-party Children Group in the Lords. Massey is also a member of both the Advisory Council for Alcohol and Drug Education and the Trust for the Study of Adolescence. A former Director of the UK Family Planning Association, Massey has published and campaigned widely on sex education. She has also spoken in favour of the phasing out of religious schools and the abolition of compulsory worship. Massey began her career as a teacher. She was born in 1938.
Baroness Morgan of Ely
Eluned Morgan was raised to the peerage as Baroness Morgan of Ely, in the City of Cardiff in 2011. Aside from her Parliamentary work, she currently works as Director of National Development for SSE in Wales. Morgan is a former member of the European Parliament for the Labour Party for Wales. In 1994, she was the youngest MEP when she took up her seat, a post she retained until 2009. While in Parliament, she served as the budget control spokesperson for the Socialist Group. She was also the Labour Party’s European spokesperson on Energy, Industry and Science. She was responsible for drafting the European Parliament’s response to the Energy Green Paper and presided over the period in which fuel poverty was for the first time placed on the European agenda. She also served on the Welsh Labour Party Executive for ten years and was a founding member of the Yes for Wales Cross-party group which campaigned for the Welsh Assembly to be established. Morgan is a Fellow of Trinity College Carmarthen, and is an Honorary Distinguished Professor of Cardiff University. She is the Chair of the Cardiff Business Partnership, on the board of the Wales Governance Centre, and on the Council of Atlantic College. She was born in 1967.
Baroness Sally Morgan of Huyton
Sally Morgan was appointed to the House of Lords in 2001. She is particularly interested in education and equality issues, and currently serves on the advisory boards of both the Institute of Education and Future Leaders, an organisation that seeks to equip head teachers for roles in challenging schools. Morgan also has a long history of Labour Party involvement. Between 1997 and 2005 she was a close aide to Tony Blair, working as his ‘director of political and government relations’. During 2001 she also served as a junior minister in the Cabinet Office. Before joining Blair, Morgan worked for two of his predecessors as Labour leader, directing campaigns under John Smith and advising Neil Kinnock. During her early years as a party employee, she was also a member of Wandsworth Borough Council, serving from 1986 until 1990. Until 1985, Morgan taught geography. She began teaching in 1981 after earning a teaching qualification from Kings College and a degree from Durham University. At both institutions, Morgan was heavily involved in student politics, working as Labour’s student organizer. She was born in 1959.
Baroness Estelle Morris of Yardley
Estelle Morris was appointed to the House of Lords in 2005. She is a former teacher and MP, with a particular interest in political engagement, education and training. These interests are reflected in her current positions: she is President of the National Children’s Bureau and Pro-Vice Chancellor of Sunderland University. In the Lords, she is Vice-Chair of the Media Literacy Group and Chair of the Scientific Research in Learning and Education Group. Before stepping down as an MP in 2005, Morris spent two years as Minister for the Arts. She gained this position after resigning as Secretary of State for Education, a role she felt she was not equipped for, despite having spent five years working in the Department for Education and Skills. Before joining the DFES as a junior minister, Morris was Opposition Spokesperson for Education and Employment (1995-97) and an Opposition Whip (1994-95). She joined the Commons in 1992 as the MP for Birmingham Yardley. Prior to entering Parliament, Morris was a secondary school teacher, teaching sport and humanities at an inner-city comprehensive in Coventry. Between 1979 and 1991 she also served on Warwick District council, leading the Labour Group from 1982 until 1989. Morris began teaching in 1974 after qualifying at Coventry College of Education. She was born in 1952.
Baroness Susan Nye of Lambeth
Sue Nye was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. Until the last election she was Gordon Brown’s director of government relations. She spent eighteen years as a close aide to the former Prime Minister but only briefly came to public prominence when, during the last election campaign, Brown blamed her for introducing him to Gillian Duffy, the voter he branded a ‘bigoted woman’. Nye has spent her entire career assisting Labour leaders, working under Neil Kinnock and, before that, Michael Foot. She began work for the party during the Callaghan government of the late 1970s. She was born in 1944.
Baroness Jill Pitkeathley of Caversham
Jill Pitkeathley was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997. A former social worker and charity chief-executive, she is particularly interested in health, social care and the voluntary sector. Since 2002, she has worked as Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chair of Committees, also holding positions on the All Party Carers Group and Community and Voluntary Sector Group. Outside Parliament, Pitkeathley has chaired numerous voluntary organizations. She is currently an advisor to the Futurebuilders Fund, a grant-making organisation, and Chair of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Services, the independent body set up to safeguard the welfare of children involved in family court proceedings. In recent years, she has also turned her hand to writing, producing two successful novels based on the early life of Jane Austen. Prior to being made a working peer in 1997, Pitkeathley headed the Carers National Association (now Carers UK). She gained this position in 1986, after spending more than a decade as a voluntary services coordinator for Berkshire health authority. During this time, she published numerous research papers exploring the role of carers. Pitkeathley began her career as a social worker, entering the profession after graduating from Bristol University. She was born in 1940.
Baroness Margaret Prosser of Battersea
Margaret Prosser was appointed to the House of Lords in 2004. A former trade unionist and current Deputy Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, she is particularly interested in work, equalities and equal pay. In recent years, Prosser has Chaired the Women’s National Commission (2002-07), been a member of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (1995-2007) and served on the Low Pay Commission (2000-05). In 2004, she was also asked by Tony Blair to chair the Women and Work Commission, which investigated the reasons for the enduring gender pay and opportunities gap. During the two decades prior to this, Prosser worked for the Transport and General Workers’ Union, latterly as Deputy General Secretary (1999–2002). Whilst at the union, she also spent a year as President of the TUC (1995-96), and several years as a National Organiser and Secretary. Before joining the TGWU, Prosser worked as a law and welfare adviser in Southwark. She began work as an advisor in 1974, whilst studying at North East London Polytechnic (now the University of East London). Prosser was born in 1937.
Baroness Joyce Quin of Gateshead
Joyce Quin was appointed to the House of Lords in 2006. A former MP and French teacher, she is particularly interested in European affairs, industrial policy and regional development. She is currently Chair of the Franco-British Council, an organisation that seeks to promote better understanding and collaborative action between the two nations. Between 1987 and 2006, Quin was MP for Gateshead East and (from 1997) Washington West. During this time, she served on the Joint Committee on House of Lords Reform (200305) and as a junior minister at the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Department (1999-2001), Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1998-99) and Home Office (1997-98). Prior to this, she spent several years as an Opposition Spokesperson, with responsibility for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1993-97), Employment (1992-93) and Trade and Industry (1989-92). Before gaining election to the Commons, Quin was a lecturer, teaching French at Bath and Durham Universities. She began her career as an international affairs researcher for the Labour Party, joining in 1969 after studying at the London School of Economics and Newcastle University. Quin was born in 1944.
Baroness Meta Ramsay of Cartvale
Meta Ramsay was appointed to the House of Lords in 1996. A former MI6 officer, she is particularly interested in foreign affairs, defence and intelligence. Ramsay is currently a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which seeks to build parliamentary and public consensus in support of Alliance policies. She is also a member of the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy and an advisor to the Foreign Policy Centre, a prominent think tank. During her time in Parliament, Ramsay has occupied numerous positions, serving as Deputy Speaker between 2002 and 2008 and as a Government Whip between 1997 and 2001. She held several spokesperson portfolios in addition to this, with responsibility for Foreign Affairs and Europe (1998-2001), Scotland (1997-2001), Health (1997-98) and Culture, Media and Sport (1997-98). Ramsay served on the Intelligence and Security Select Committee during her first year in the Lords. Ramsay worked for the Labour Party for several years before her elevation to the Lords. Between 1994 and 1995, she was a special advisor to John Cunningham, then Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Ramsay went to work for him after the death of John Smith, to whom she had been foreign policy adviser. She entered politics in 1992, after spending more than two decades with the intelligence service. Whilst at MI6, she had served in Stockholm and in Helsinki, where she was involved in the successful exfiltration of the former KGB Colonel Oleg Gordievsky. Ramsay joined in 1969 after completing studies at the Geneva Institute for International Studies and Glasgow University. She was born in 1936.
Baroness Ruth Rendell of Babergh
Ruth Rendell was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997. She is an acclaimed and prolific crime novelist, the author of dozens of psychological thrillers and murder mysteries. Her books include the popular Inspector Wexford series and several novels written under the pseudonym of Barbara Vine. Rendell has received many awards for her work, including the Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger (a lifetime achievement award) and the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a reflection of the quality of her work. Rendell is a long-time Labour supporter, and in 1998 was named in a list of the biggest private donors to the Party. She was born in 1930.
Baroness Janet Royall of Blaisdon
Janet Royall was appointed to the House of Lords in 2004. She is currently Shadow Leader of the House and until recently, held roles as Opposition Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, Education, Northern Ireland and Work and Pensions. Prior to the last election, Royall was Leader of the Lords and Lord President of the Council. In recent years, she has also served as a Government Whip (2005-08) and Spokesperson for Equality, International Development and Health. Before her elevation to the Lords, Royall was Head of the European Office in Wales, gaining this position in 2003 after spending two years as co-ordinator of the Press and Communications Department in the European Commission. Prior to this, she was a political advisor to Neil Kinnock, aiding him during his time as a European Commissioner (19952001) and Labour Party Leader (1985-94). She began her career working for the British Labour Group in the European Parliament. Royall was born in 1955 and studied at Westfield College, University of London.
Baroness Patricia Scotland of Asthal
Patricia Scotland was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997. She is a barrister and from 2010 to 2011, served as Shadow Attorney General. Between 2007 and 2010, Scotland was Attorney General, the independent supervisor of the prosecuting authorities and guardian of the public interest. Her suitability for this role was challenged in 2009 when it was found that her housekeeper was an illegal immigrant, and that Scotland had failed to inquire into her right to work in the UK. Before being elevated to the role of Attorney General (and in the process becoming the first woman to hold the post), Scotland held numerous frontbench posts. She was Home Office Minister between 2003 and 2007, and Government Spokesperson for Trade and Industry and Women’s Issues between 2004 and 2005. Prior to this, Scotland worked as a Parliamentary Secretary in the Lord Chancellor’s Department and as a Government Spokesperson for the Law Officers’ Department (2001-03). She first gained a government position in 1999 when she was made Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Government Spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Scotland had been a practicing barrister for twenty years before her elevation to the Lords. In 1991 she was made a QC, becoming the first black woman to be awarded the distinction and the youngest person to take the silk since William Pit the Younger. Scotland had attracted praise for her success in pursuing family law cases. She was called to the bar in 1977, after qualifying through a University of London external degree. Scotland was born in 1955 in Dominica, migrating to Britain aged two.
Baroness Maeve Sherlock of Durham
Maeve Sherlock was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She has a background in the charity sector and has been a member of the Human Rights and Equality Commission since 2007. Sherlock is also a doctoral student at Durham University, currently researching the interface between faith and the State in modern Britain. In recent years, she has worked in numerous important advisory roles. During the 2007 Spending Review she chaired an Advisory Panel advising ministers on the future role of the Third Sector in economic and social regeneration. Prior to this, Maeve was Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, the largest charity working with refugees and asylumseekers (2003-06). She had previously spent three years as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Treasury, offering advice on a portfolio of issues including child poverty, labour markets and the Third Sector. Before moving to the Treasury, Sherlock was chief executive of The National Council for One Parent Families and, prior to that, director of UKCOSA, a charity focusing on overseas students and international education. She entered the charity sector after spending five years working for the National Union of Students. Sherlock was born in 1961 and studied at Liverpool University.
Baroness Angela Smith of Basildon
Angela Smith was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010 after spending thirteen years as MP for Basildon. During this time, she held numerous roles within government, in recent years serving as a Minister at the Cabinet Office (2009-10) and as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Gordon Brown, a position that entitled her to sit in Cabinet (2007-09). Prior to this, Smith was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government (2006-07) and at the Northern Ireland Office (200206). Earlier in her parliamentary career, she worked as an Assistant Government Whip (2001-02) and as PPS to Paul Boateng, then a Minister in the Home Office (1999-2001). Smith acquired significant political experience before entering Parliament, spending two years as a parliamentary researcher to Alun Michael MP and much of the decade prior to that as head of political and public relations at the League Against Cruel Sports. Between 1989 and 1997, she also served on Essex County Council. Smith began her career in 1981 as a trainee local government accountant, gaining the job after graduating from De Montford University. She was born in 1959.
Baroness Elizabeth Smith of Gilmorehill
Elizabeth Smith was appointed to the House of Lords in 1995 after the death of her husband, John Smith, then leader of the Labour Party. She is particularly interested in the arts, and is currently Chair of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and President of Scottish Opera. Smith also leads the John Smith Fellowship Trust, the charity established to promote the ideals of her late husband, and serves on the boards of several organisations with interests in Russia and other former Soviet Union countries. These organizations include the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Russia and the Centre for European Reform. During the early years of her career, Smith was a French teacher. She was born in 1940 and studied at Glasgow University.
Baroness Elizabeth Symons of Vernham Dean
Elizabeth Symons was appointed to the House of Lords in 1996. She holds non-executive and consultancy positions in various organizations, including British Airways, DLA Piper (City lawyers) and Rio Tinto (mining). During her first decade in Parliament, Symons held numerous positions within government. Between 2003 and 2005, she was Minister for the Middle East and for two years prior to that she was Minister for International Trade and Investment. Symons balanced these roles with her responsibilities as Deputy Leader of the Lords and Government Spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Trade and Industry (2001-05). She began her ministerial career in 1999 when appointed Minister of State for Defence Procurement. Symons had previously spent two years as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Before gaining elevation to the Lords, Symons was general secretary of the Association of First Division Civil Servants, the trade union for senior civil servants and public sector professionals. She held this role for a decade, also serving on the Employment Appeal Tribunal (1995-97) and General Council of the TUC (1989-96). Prior to joining the FDA, Symons worked for the Inland Revenue Staff Federation, a trade union that has since merged with the National Union of Civil and Public Servants to form the Public Services, Tax and Commerce Union (1977-89). She began her career as an administrative trainee at the Department of the Environment, joining in 1974 after graduating from Cambridge University. Symons was born in 1951.
Baroness Ann Taylor of Bolton – Labour
Ann Taylor was appointed to the House of Lords in 2005 after spending twenty-seven years in the Commons (1974-83; 1987-2005). She is particularly interested in intelligence, security and defence, having spent three years at the Ministry of Defence, with responsibility for International Defence and Security (2008-10) and Defence Equipment and Support (2007-08). Taylor had previously acquired experience for this role whilst Chairing the Commons’ Intelligence and Security Select Committee (2001-05). She has also occupied numerous frontbench positions during her lengthy Parliamentary career, including Government Chief Whip (1998-2001), Leader of the House of Commons (1997-98), Shadow Leader of the House (1994-97), Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1994-95) and Shadow Secretary of State for Education (1992-94). Taylor spent the first few years after her return to the Commons as an Opposition Spokesperson, with responsibility for the Environment (1988-92) and the Home Office (1987-88). Prior to losing her seat as MP for Bolton West in the 1983 General Election, Taylor was Opposition Spokesperson for Housing (1981-83). She had previously been Opposition Frontbench Spokesperson for Education (1979-81), a Government Whip (1977-79), and Parliamentary Private Secretary to Fred Mulley during his time as Secretary of State for Defence and Education (1975-77). Before gaining election to the Commons in 1974, Taylor was a teacher and Open University tutor. She was born in 1947.
Baroness Glenys Thornton of Manningham
Glenys Thornton was appointed to the House of Lords in 1998. She is currently Opposition Equalities Spokesperson. In recent years, she has also served as Opposition Spokesperson for Health (2010-12), for Work and Pensions (2010), as a junior health minister (2010), Whip (2008-10) and Government Spokesperson for Equality, Work and Pensions and Health (2008). Thornton has long been engaged with Labour politics and the third sector, working for numerous voluntary and political organisations over the course of her career. She chaired the Social Enterprise Coalition for much of the last decade, whilst also directing Emily’s List, a grant-making body established to help Labour women campaign for Commons seats. Between 1993 and 1996, Thornton worked for the Fabian Society, directing development for the latter two years and serving as general secretary prior to that. She had previously been public and political affairs advisor at the Communication Workers Union (1986-92), balancing the role with chairmanship of the Greater London Labour Party (1986-91). Thornton joined the CWU after spending five years as political secretary of the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society, a consumer co-operative based in South East London. Before gaining this position, she was projects director at the Institute of Community Studies, an urban think-tank established by Michael Young (1978-81). She began her career in 1976 as a national organiser for Gingerbread, a campaign and support group for single parent families. Thornton was born in 1952 and studied at the London School of Economics.
Baroness Muriel Turner of Camden
Muriel Turner was appointed to the House of Lords in 1985. A former trade union leader, she is interested in employment and social welfare issues, focusing on pensions in particular. During her time in the Lords, Turner has worked as Deputy Speaker (2002-2008), Deputy Chair of the Committees (1997-2008), and Opposition Spokesperson for Employment and Social Security (1987-96). She has combined her work in the Lords with various advisory roles, sitting on the Pensions Advisory Service (1989-2007), the Personal Investment Authority Ombudsman Bureau (1994-97), and the Occupational Pensions Board (1978-93). In addition to this, Turner has served on the Equal Opportunities Commission (1982-88) and on the General Council of the TUC (1981-87). Between 1970 and 1987, she was assistant general secretary of the ASTMS union. She was born in 1927.
Baroness Margaret Wall of New Barnet
Margaret Wall was appointed to the House of Lords in 2004. A NHS Trust Chair and former trade union leader, she is particularly interested in employment, health services, welfare provision and education. In 2003, Wall was recruited to work with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, employed to encourage trade union and employee engagement in the workplace. She had previously been Director of Policy and Political engagement at Amicus, a large trade union that has since merged with the Transport and General Worker’s Union to form Unite. She first entered the union in 1986, after becoming involved with the labour movement whilst working for a large chemical company in the North West. Wall was born in 1941 and educated at the University of Liverpool.
Baroness Diana Warwick of Undercliffe
Diana Warwick was appointed to the House of Lords in 1999. She has recently been appointed Chair of the Human Tissue Authority, a watchdog that supports public confidence by licensing organisations that store and use human tissue for purposes such as research and patient treatment. Warwick moved to the HTA after stepping down as Chief Executive of Universities UK, where she was responsible for representing the interests of 130 universities. Previously, she was Chief Executive of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, an independent public body established to support the consolidation of democratic institutions in developing countries (1992-95). Warwick spent her career prior to that in the union movement, working as General Secretary of the Association of University Teachers (1983-92), as assistant secretary of the Civil and Public Servants Association (1972-83) and as an assistant at the National Union of teachers (1969-72). She made this quick ascent through the unions after graduating from Bedford College, London. Warwick was born in 1940.
Baroness Margaret Wheeler of Blackfriars
Margaret Wheeler was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She has recently retired as director of Organisation and Staff Development at the public service union UNISON. In addition to her trade union work, Wheeler has served on numerous public bodies, including the Department of Trade and Industry’s enquiry into productivity and high performance and the 1994 Social Justice Commission, established by John Smith (then Labour leader) to assess progress made since the 1944 Beveridge Report. Wheeler was born in 1949.
Baroness Janet Whitaker of Beeston
Janet Whitaker was raised to the peerage as Baroness Whitaker of Beeston in the County of Nottinghamshire in 1999. Since joining the Lords, she has been an International Development Liaison Peer from 1999 to 2007 and has chaired the Design in Public Procurement Inquiry (2009) and the Design Education Inquiry (2011). She lists her political interests as architecture and design, international development and race relations. Prior to joining the Lords, she was a magistrate from 1985 to 2006. During this time, she was also a member of the Employment Tribunal (1995-2000) and Deputy Chair, followed by Chair of the Camden Racial Equality Council (1996-99). She was also non-executive director of Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust from 1997 to 2001. Aside from her work in Parliament, Whitaker is also a member of the advisory board at the British Institute of Human Rights, as well as Vice President of the British Humanist Association and of One World Trust. She was born in 1936.
Baroness Rosalie Wilkins of Chesham Bois
Rosalie Wilkins was appointed to the House of Lords in 1999. She is one of the leading advocates of disability rights in Parliament, serving as Vice-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups for Disability and Deafness. She is also Co-Vice Chair of Hammersmith and Fulham Action on Disability, an independent, user-led organisation that provides high quality services to disabled people and campaigns for real choice and control. Between 2003 and 2008, Wilkins was President of the College of Occupational Therapists. Most of her career prior to this was spent in the media, where she was involved in bringing about better coverage of disability issues. She was a freelance video and documentary producer between 1988 and 1996, and presenter and coproducer of the pioneering BBC Link Programme from 1975 to 1988. During her time with the BBC she was also a member of its General Advisory Council. Before entering broadcasting, Wilkins briefly worked at MIND, joining the mental health charity after spending three years at the Central Council for the Disabled, where she was a personal assistant. Wilkins was born in 1946.
Baroness Bryony Worthington of Cambridge
Bryony Worthington was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. A climate change expert, she is currently director of the carbon trading think-tank and campaign group Sandbag, which she founded, as well as a board member of the 10:10 campaign. Prior to this, Worthington was a government relations and policy adviser to Scottish and Southern Electricity. Whilst there, she was seconded to government to take part in writing the climate change bill, which is now law and binds the UK to cutting its carbon emissions. She joined the energy company from Friends of the Earth, where she led the climate change awareness campaign. Worthington began her career in the non-governmental sector, working as a conservation activist. She was born in 1972.
Liberal Democrat Peers Baroness Liz Barker of Anagach
Liz Barker was appointed to the House of Lords in 1999, and since 2004 has been the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Health in the Lords. She is also a member of various party policy working groups, including those on the Future of Social Services, Liberal Democracy, Freedom and Fairness for Women, and ‘An Age of Opportunity’. Barker has extensive knowledge of health and social care, acquired through twenty-five years work in the voluntary sector, much of this with Age Concern. She also has a long history of party involvement, having been a member of the Federal Policy Committee since 1997, worked for the Liberator magazine from 1983 to 1986, and chaired the Union of Liberal Students between 1982 and 1983. She was born in 1961 and studied at Southampton University.
Baroness Floella Benjamin of Beckenham
Floella Benjamin was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She is best known for her work as a children’s television presenter, although she has also appeared in numerous dramas and musicals, and has run her own production company for over twenty years. In 2006 Benjamin was awarded an honorary doctorate from Exeter University, in recognition of her contributions to popular culture, and in 2004 she won a BAFTA for Special Lifetime Achievement. She had previously received an OBE for her contribution to television (2001). Benjamin began working as an actor in the early 1970s in London’s West End. She was born in 1949 in Trinidad and emigrated to Britain in 1960.
Baroness Jane Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury
Jane Bonham-Carter was made a Life Peer in 2004 and is currently party Spokesperson for Broadcasting and the Arts in the Lords. She also sits on the House of Lords Communication Committee. Other recent political roles include membership of the Liberal Democrat Communications and Campaign Committee (1998-2006), membership of the Britain in Europe Council (19982005) and membership of the Referendum Campaign team (2004-05). Before entering the Lords, Bonham-Carter was a television producer. She worked for Brook Lapping Productions for several years, joining the company in 1998 after a brief departure from television to direct the Liberal Democrat’s Communications team. Prior to this, Bonham-Carter was programme editor of A Week In Politics at Channel 4 (1993-1996) and an editor of Panorama and then Newsnight at the BBC (1988 – 1993). She was born in 1957 and studied at University College, London.
Baroness Sarah ‘Sal’ Brinton of Kenardington
Sal Brinton was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She is Executive Director of the Association of Universities in the East of England and director of her own consultancy business, which specialises in training and development. In recent years Brinton has also served on the Board of the East of England development Agency (1998 – 2004) and as bursar of Selwyn College, Cambridge. Prior to becoming involved in education and development, Brinton worked as a venture capitalist, investing in high-tech companies and in the construction industry. She began her career in the mid-70s at the BBC, working on programmes such as Doctor Who, Grandstand and Playschool. Brinton was born in 1955.
Baroness Dee Doocey of Hampton
Dee Doocey was raised to the peerage as Baroness Doocey of Hampton in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in 2010. Doocey is a former Chair (2010-11) and Deputy Chair (2011-12) of the London Assembly. Prior to this, she was a member from 2004 to 2012. During this time, she was also Chair of the Assembly’s Economy, Culture and Sport Committee (2004-12) which helped scrutinize the preparations of the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. From 2006 to 2012, Doocey was also a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority. Before her election to the London Assembly, Doocey ran a management consulting business, DD Enterprises. She has also had a long-standing involvement with the Liberal Party, having been the Director of Finance and Administration at Liberal Party headquarters during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Prior to joining the Assembly, she served as a councilor in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames from 1986 to 1994. Doocey was born in 1948.
Baroness Kishwer Falkner of Margravine
Kishwer Falkner was appointed to the House of Lords in 2004. She is an academic and policy advisor, with particular interests in international affairs, political Islam, diversity and equality, and governance. Falkner has occupied numerous frontbench posts in recent years, serving as Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs (2009-10), the Home Office (2009-10), Justice (2008-09), Children, Schools and Families (2007-08), Communities and Local Government (2005-06) and the Home Office (2004-05). In 2006, she was also a Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, teaching on US foreign policy and democracy for the Muslim World. Falkner worked for the Liberal Democrats prior to her appointment to the Lords, advising the party on policy issues, sitting on the Party’s Federal Policy Committee from 1999 until 2001, and working as Director of Policy and International Affairs between 1993 and 1999. Falkner had previously worked for the Commonwealth Secretariat, researching political development in Commonwealth countries, and as Chief Executive of Students Partnership Worldwide, an international charity focusing on the needs of young people in Africa and Asia. She was born in 1955 in Pakistan and moved to Britain to undertake studies at the London School of Economics and Kent University.
Baroness Sue Garden of Frognal
Sue Garden was appointed to the House of Lords in 2007. She has a background in teaching and welfare advice, and is particularly interested in education and skills. During her time in Parliament, Garden has served as Liberal Democrat Spokeperson for both Innovation, Universities and Skills (2009-10) and Children, Schools and Families (2008-09). She also spent two years as a party Whip (2008-10). Prior to entering the Lords, Garden worked for City & Guilds, helping develop vocational qualifications. She was also involved in politics, working on the Liberal Democrat Federal Conference Committee between 2004 and 2008 and contesting Finchley and Golders Green in the 2005 general election. Before joining City & Guilds in 1988, Garden was a volunteer with the Citizens’ Advice Bureau. Garden also worked as a military caseworker: she spent many years living on RAF bases, making frequent moves to accompany her husband, the late Lord Tim Garden. She began her career as a teacher, working in England and Germany. Garden was born in 1965 and studied at Oxford University.
Baroness Sally Hamwee of Richmond upon Thames
Sally Hamwee was appointed to the House of Lords in 1991. She has a long history of involvement in local government and is particularly interested in planning, London, the arts, media and housing. Hamwee has occupied numerous related frontbench positions during her time in the Lords, acting as Party Spokeperson for Communities and Local Government between 2004 and 2010, and as Spokesperson for Local Government and the Regions for three years prior to that. For much of this time, Hamwee was also a member of the London Assembly, where she spent several years as Chair and Deputy Chair (2000-08). During her first decade in Parliament, Hamwee was Spokesperson for: Environment, Transport and the Regions (1999-2000), Local Government and Planning (1998-2000), Housing and Planning (199398) and Local Government (1991-98). Between 1996 and 1998, she was also a member of the Liberal Democrats’ Federal Policy Committee. Prior to her elevation to the Lords, Hamwee served for many years as a councillor in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. She was also a member of the London Planning Advisory Committee from 1986 to 1994. Hamwee was born in 1947.
Baroness Angela Harris of Richmond
Angela Harris was appointed to the House of Lords in 1999. She is particularly interested in policing, having served as Vice-President of the National Association of Police Authorities since 2006. Since 2008, Harris has been Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chairman of Committees. In recent years, she has also worked as a Whip, Deputy Spokesperson on Northern Ireland and as a member of the Home Affairs Team for policing matters. Between 1994 and 2001, Harris was Chair of the North Yorkshire Police Authority. She was also a member of North Yorkshire County Council during this time, having been elected to the body in 1981. Harris began her working life as an air stewardess, joining an airline after leaving Lancashire and Ealing Hotel and Catering College. She was born in 1944.
Baroness Meral Hussein-Ece of Highbury
Meral Hussein-Ece was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010, becoming the first woman of Turkish origin to sit in Parliament. She is currently a special advisor to Nick Clegg on community cohesion. Hussein-Ece has a long history of involvement in local government, serving on Islington Council for the last eight years, and on Hackney Council for eight years prior to that. In 2009, she was made a Commissioner to the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The previous year, Harriet Harman appointed her to the Government’s Task Force to increase the number of ethnic minority women councillors in the UK. In addition to working as a councillor, Hussein-Ece has been involved with public health, chairing Islington Health Partnership Board and serving as non-executive director of Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust. She was born in 1953.
Baroness Judith Jolly of Congdon’s Shop
Judith Jolly was raised to the peerage as Baroness Jolly of Congdon’s Shop, Cornwall, in 2010. She has long-been involved with the Liberal Democrat Party. Having joined the Party in 1984, she was a member of the Liberal Democrats Federal Executive Committee from 2002 to 2010 and has served as Chair of the Devon and Cornwall Regional Executive since 2007. Jolly has been a teacher for the majority of her professional life, having taught mathematics for over 15 years and become a pioneer of IT in schools, before moving to Oman and teaching English in the British Council. In 1997, she was appointed as non-executive director for an NHS Trust for Mental Health and Learning Disability. She is also a former Chair of the North and East Cornwall NHS Primary Care Trust and a former lay member of the Commission for Health Improvement. Aside from her roles in the NHS, Jolly has been heavily active in the community and non-profit sectors, working on the boards of Citizens Advice Bureau, Credit Union, regeneration organisations and as a member of the Diocesan Synod.
Baroness Susan Kramer of Richmond
Susan Kramer was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She is a former MP and banker. Before losing her seat to Zac Goldsmith in May 2010, Kramer spent five years representing Richmond Park in the Commons. During this time, she occupied numerous positions on her party’s front bench, serving as spokesperson for Transport, the Cabinet Office and Trade and Industry. Prior to gaining her seat, Kramer made several unsuccessful attempts to enter politics, standing for the European Parliament and twice seeking election as Mayor of London. She had previously worked in finance, managing her own infrastructure finance company and, before that, rising through the ranks of Citibank to become Vice-President of the firm’s Chicago office. Kramer studied at Oxford University and the University of Illinois. She was born in 1950.
Baroness Veronica Linklater of Butterstone
Veronica Linklater was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997. She has worked in the voluntary and charity sector for several decades, and is particularly interested in children’s welfare, education, special needs, and prison reform. She is founder and President of the Butterstone New School, a boarding school ‘for educationally fragile children’, and a member of various children’s and mental health charities. Between 2001 and 2008, she chaired the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation initiative ‘Rethinking Crime and Punishment’, which looked at the use of imprisonment and alternatives to custody, focusing particularly on the effectiveness of community penalties. During this time, she was also Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Penal Affairs (2005-07). From 1989 until 1997, Linklater was a member of the Children’s Panel in Edinburgh South, a local body which makes vital decisions about vulnerable children in need of care or who have offended. She had previously been involved in the justice system as a London Justice of the Peace and member of the Prison Reform Trust. Before entering the voluntary sector, Linklater briefly worked as a Child Care Officer for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets (1967-68). She was born in 1943 and studied at Sussex and London Univerities.
Baroness Diana Maddock of Christchurch
Diana Maddock was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997. A former MP and local council veteran, she is particularly interested in education, local government, housing and the environment. Maddock sits on various related all-party groups, including the Homelessness and Housing Need Group, the University Group and the Building Societies and Financial Mutuals Group. She is also on a sub-committee of the European Select Committee. In recent years, she has served on Berwick-upon-Tweed (2007-09) and Northumberland County councils (2005-08). Between 1998 and 2004, Maddock was Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Housing, also serving as President of the Party during her first two years in the role. She had previously spent four years as MP for Christchurch, during which time she was Party Spokesperson for Housing, Women’s Issues and Family Policy. Before entering Parliament via a 1993 by-election, Maddock served on Southampton City Council (1984-93), where she was leader of the Liberal Democrat Group. She had previously been a teacher, working in Southampton, Bournemouth and Sweden. She was born in 1947 and studied at Portsmouth University.
Baroness Susan Miller of Chilthorne Domer
Susan Miller was appointed to the House of Lords in 1998. She is particularly interested in the environment, street children, human rights and food security, and is a co-president of the international organisation of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non proliferation and Disarmament. Miller is also a member of several related all-party groups, including those on Street Children and Food and Health. She has been a member of the Liberal Democrat Federal Policy Committee since 2004 and over the last decade has occupied several frontbench posts, working as Spokesperson for Home Affairs (2007-09), the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2001-07) and Agriculture and Rural Affairs (1999-2001). Miller served several terms as a local councilor, sitting on Somerset County Council between 1997 and 2005 and on South Somerset District Council from 1991 until 1998, the latter two years as leader. Before entering politics full-time, she worked in publishing, holding positions at Penguin, David and Charles, and Weindenfeld and Nicolson. She entered the profession after studying publishing at Oxford Brookes University. Miller was born in 1954.
Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne
Emma Nicholson was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997. She is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Human Trafficking and speaks regularly on health care and education in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Nicholson is also the Executive Chairman of the Iraq Britain Business Council, an organisation which facilitates business and trade investment in Iraq. Between 1999 and 2009, she was a member of the European Parliament, where she served on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Whilst there, she generated controversy through her strong opposition to international adoptions, which she believed had become a market and subject to corruption. The Romanian government implemented legislation to control the practice of de facto adoption as a result, in part, of her pressure. Nicholson spent a decade in the Commons before gaining elevation to the peerage. For much of this time, she was a Conservative, only switching her allegiance to the Liberal Democrats in 1995 after declaring her disillusionment with the Tories. Before joining the latter party – and quickly gaining the position of Spokesperson for Overseas Development and Human Rights – Nicholson was a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Jack, aiding him at the Treasury (1995), Ministry of Agriculture (1993-95) and Home Office (1992-93). She entered the Commons in 1987 as the MP for Devon West and Torridge. She had previously been Vice-Chair of the party and director of fundraising at Save the Children. She joined the charity in 1974 after spending thirteen years working for a computer company, where she was a software designer and systems analyst. Nicholson was born in 1941.
Baroness Lindsay Northover
Lindsay Northover was appointed to the House of Lords in 2000. She is currently Party Spokesperson on International Development, and a member of various related All Party Groups, including those on Overseas Development, Africa and Aid, Debt and Trade. She has previously served on the House of Lords Sub-Committee on the European Union (on Foreign Affairs, International Development and Defence) and as Health Spokesperson. She has a long history of political activism, standing for election on several occasions (1983, 87 and 97), sitting on the 1987 committee which negotiated the Liberal/SDP merger, and serving as Chair of Women Liberal Democrats. Before concentrating on politics, Northover worked as an academic historian, lecturing on Twentieth Century Medicine at University College London, the Wellcome Institute, and St. Thomas’s Hospital Medical School. She began her career in academia after gaining degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr College, and Oxford University. Northover was born in 1954.
Baroness Kate Parminter of Godalming
Kate Parminter was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She is particularly interested in the environment, education, equality issues and Lords reform. Parminter has been an elected member of her party’s Federal Executive since 2008 and is also a trustee of prominent left-wing think-tank, the Institute of Public Policy Research. Parminter was involved in policy-making prior to her elevation to the Lords, serving on the advisory groups of both the National Consumer Council and Every Child A Reader, a government scheme promoting reading in schools. In addition to this, she worked as a freelance public affairs consultant, advising a range of clients including Lloyds, the City of London Corporation, Mencap and Age Concern. Before going freelance, Parminter worked in the charity sector, directing the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England between 1998 and 2004 and holding several posts with the RSPCA during the eight years prior to that. Before joining the RSPCA, Parminter briefly worked as a public relations executive and as a parliamentary researcher to Simon Hughes MP. She joined Hughes after spending two years on Nestlé’s graduate scheme. During this time, she was elected as a Horsham District Councillor, a post she was to retain for eight years (1987-95). Parminter was born in 1964 and studied at Oxford University.
Baroness Jenny Randerson of Roath Park
Jenny Randerson was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She has a long history of political involvement and currently serves as Welsh Assembly Member for Cardiff Central, although she is due to stand down at the next election. In the Assembly, Randerson acts as Spokesperson for Education, Economy and Sport. Prior to gaining this position in 2008, she was Liberal Democrat lead on Health, Social Services and Finance and Chair of the Assembly Business Committee. Randerson entered the Assembly in 1999, taking up the post of Minister for Culture, Sport and Welsh Language shortly afterwards. Before gaining election, Randerson worked as a college lecturer and Cardiff City councillor. She first became involved in local politics in 1983, having entered teaching in 1970 on graduation from Bedford College. Randerson was born in 1948.
Baroness Rosalind Scott of Needham Market
Ros Scott was appointed to the House of Lords in 2000. She won election to the role of President of the Liberal Democrat Party in 2008. During her time in Parliament, Scott has held numerous positions on her party’s frontbench, working as a Spokesperson for Communities and Local Government (200409), Transport (2002-04), Local Government and the Regions (2001-02) and as a Whip. She has also worked as part of various organizations, chairing the Local Government Association between 2002 and 2004 and serving on the Inter-Parliamentary Union (2000-), Council of European Municipalities and Regions (1997-2003), Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe (1997-2003) and EU Committee of the Regions (1998-2002). Scott became involved in these organisations as a result of her work in local government, which she first entered in 1991 when elected to Mid Suffolk District Council. During her time as a local councillor Scott studied for a degree at the University of East Anglia, graduating in 1999. She was born in 1957.
Baroness Margaret Sharp of Guildford
Margaret Sharp was appointed to the House of Lords in 1998. An economist and academic, she is particularly interested in economic policy, industrial issues, science and education. Sharp has held numerous related posts on the Liberal Democrat frontbench, serving as Spokesperson for Science and Technology (2009-10), Innovation, Universities and Skills (2007-09), Further Education, Higher Education and Skills (2004-07) and Education and Employment (2000-04). Beyond politics, Sharp retains an association with academia, holding an honorary fellowship at Sussex University. Before retiring in 1999, she had spent eighteen years at the institution, leading its Science Policy Research Unit. During this time, she was involved in the ascent of the Social Democrat Party, helping found the party in 1981 and standing as a candidate in two subsequent general elections. Sharp went to Sussex after a brief period at the National Economic Development Office. She joined the NEDO in 1977, after spending more than a decade as an economics lecturer at the Brookings Institute in Washington and London School of Economics. Sharp began her career in 1960 as a civil servant, working at the Treasury and Board of Trade. She was born in 1938 and educated at Cambridge University.
Baroness Susan Thomas of Walliswood
Susan Thomas was appointed to the House of Lords in 1994. She has occupied numerous frontbench positions since entering Parliament, including Party Spokesperson for Women and Equality (2007-09), Deputy Speaker (2002-07) and Party Spokesperson for Women’s Issues (2001-06). She also chaired the EU Sub-Committee on Social Policy and Consumer Affairs (2005-07) and sat on the EU Sub-Committee on Law and Institutions (2001-05). During her first seven years in the Lords, Thomas served as Party Spokesperson for Transport. Thomas’ political involvement predates her elevation to the peerage. She has contested numerous elections, standing as a Liberal Democrat candidate in the 1994 European Elections and for the Liberal Alliance at both the 1983 and 1987 General Elections. Thomas has enjoyed more success in local elections, however, holding a place on Surrey County Council between 1985 and 1997, latterly as Council Chair. Prior to this, Thomas was what she describes as a ‘diplomatic wife’, accompanying her husband whilst he worked in Moscow, Lisbon, Washington and Havana. She was born in 1935 and studied at Oxford University.
Baroness Celia Thomas of Winchester
Celia Thomas was appointed to the House of Lords in 2006. She is currently Chairman of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee and, beyond the Lords, is Vice-President of both the Lloyd George Society and Muscular Dystrophy Campaign (Thomas has the disease). She is particularly interested in employment and disability, having spent three years as Party Spokesperson for Work and Pensions (2007-10). Thomas was well acquainted with Parliament by the time of her elevation to the peerage, having spent almost thirty years as head of the Liberal, then Liberal Democrat, Whips’ Office in the Lords. Prior to gaining this position in 1977 she spent a year working for Jeremy Thorpe MP. Thomas had previously been a school administrator and fundraiser for Winchester Cathedral. She was born in 1945.
Baroness Jenny Tonge of Kew
Jenny Tonge was appointed to the House of Lords in 2005 after spending eight years as the MP for Richmond Park. A former doctor, she is especially knowledgeable about health issues. She was, however, dismissed from her position as Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for health in 2010 after she called for an inquiry into allegations that Israeli soldiers were involved in organ trafficking in Haiti. This was not the first time Tonge’s stance towards Israel had prompted condemnation: in 2004 she was sacked after expressing empathy for Palestinian suicide bombers who, she suggested, were pushed into extremism by Israeli actions. She was Spokesperson for Children at the time, and had spent the six years prior to this as Spokesperson for International Development. Before entering politics, Tonge was a community health manager in Ealing. She entered public health in 1992, after spending almost two decades as a general practitioner and family planning specialist. Tonge began practising medicine in 1974, after studying medicine at University College Hospital. She was born in 1941.
Baroness Claire Tyler of Enfield
Claire Tyler was appointed to the House of Lords in 2010. She is chief executive of Relate, a charity which works to ‘promote health, respect and justice in couple and family relationships’. Tyler joined Relate in 2007, having spent the previous two decades as a civil servant. Whilst working in the civil service, she occupied a range of roles, directing the Vulnerable Children Group, leading the Social Exclusion Unit and heading the teen advice service Connexions. Prior to joining the Department of Employment in 1988, Tyler spent ten years at the Greater London Council. She was born in 1957.
Baroness Joan Walmsley of West Derby
Joan Walmsley was appointed to the House of Lords in 2000. A former teacher, she is particularly interested in education, child protection and young offenders. Walmsley has occupied numerous related frontbench roles during her time in Parliament, serving as Party Spokesperson for Children, Schools and Families (2004-10), the Home Office (2003-04) and Education and Skills (2001-03). In addition to this, she has served on the Liberal Democrats’ Federal Executive (2003-04) and as President of Women Liberal Democrats (2002-04). Before entering the Lords, Walmlsey ran her own public relations company. She established the firm in 1995, eight years after leaving teaching to become a PR consultant at Hill and Knowlton. Walmsley had previously taught at Buxton College (1979-86). It was during this period that she first became involved in politics, supporting her husband’s attempt to win the 1986 WestDerbyshire by-election. Walmsley began her career in the health service, joining Christie Hospital in Manchester in 1966 after graduating from Liverpool University. She was born in 1943.
Baroness Shirley Williams of Crosby
Shirley Williams was appointed to the House of Lords in 1993. She is a wellestablished public figure, having represented three different parties and made frequent media appearances over the course of her five-decade long political career. In recent years, Williams has been particularly vocal in her support for the extension of human rights and nuclear disarmament, working on the International Commission on Nuclear Proliferation and Nuclear Disarmament, serving as Co-President of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and sitting on the board of the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Williams was last on the frontbenches of the Lords in 2004 as leader of the Liberal Democrat peers. She gained this post in 2001, after two years as Deputy Leader and four years as Party Spokesperson for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. Prior to entering the Lords, Williams taught at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (she retains an association with the School, still serving as an overseer). She entered academia in 1983 after losing the Commons seat she had won only two years previously in a sensational by-election victory, which had seen her overturn a huge Tory majority to secure a place in Parliament for the newly formed Social Democratic Party (SDP). She, along with Roy Jenkins, David Owen and Bill Rodgers, had co-founded the SDP that year, after becoming disaffected with the Labour Party and it’s apparent shift to the left. Williams had previously spent fifteen years as a Labour MP, holding ministerial positions for much of this time. Between 1976 and 1979, she was both Paymaster General and Secretary of State for Education and Science, and prior to that she spent two years as Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection. Williams gained elevation to this role after first spending several years as a junior minister in the Home Office, Department of Education and Science, and Ministry of Labour. She began her parliamentary career in 1964 as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Kenneth Robinson, then Minister of Health. Prior to entering the Commons, Williams was General Secretary of the Fabian Society and, before that, a journalist with the Daily Mirror and Financial Times, posts she gained after graduating from Oxford University. She was born in 1930 to Vera Brittain, the respected feminist writer and left-wing intellectual.
Non-Affiliated/Other Peers Baroness Valerie Amos of Brondesbury
Valerie Amos was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997. She is currently Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs at the United Nations, having been appointed by Ban Ki-moon in July 2010. Amos is also the UK’s High Commissioner to Australia. Before gaining the position of High Commissioner, Amos was Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council (2003-07). During this time, she was also Government Spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Office (2003-05). Prior to becoming Leader of the Lords, Amos briefly held the International Development portfolio, making her the first black woman to sit in cabinet (2003). For the previous two years she had been a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Government Spokesperson at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Amos began her parliamentary career as a Government Whip (1998-2001) and spokesperson for Women’s Issues (1998-2001), International Development (1998-2007) and Social Security (1998-2001). Prior to being raised to the peerage, Amos worked for Amos Fraser Bernard, the consultancy she co-founded in 1995. Her consultancy work included advising the post-apartheid South African Government on public service reform, human rights and employment equity. She had acquired extensive experience of these policy areas during her time as Chief Executive of the Equal Opportunities Commission (1989–94) and through her work in London local government, where she had been a women’s-issues officer and race relations associate. Studied sociology at Warwick University, Cultural Studies at Birmingham University and undertook doctoral research at the University of East Anglia. Amos was born in 1954 in Guyana, and moved to Britain aged nine.
Baroness Cathy Ashton of Upholland
Cathy Ashton was appointed to the House of Lords in 1999. She is currently on a leave of absence from the Lords, fully occupied with her duties as the European Union’s first high representative for foreign affairs and security policy. Before her unexpected appointment to the post in late 2009, Ashton spent a year as the UK’s trade commissioner in Europe. Alhough Ashton’s appointment to both posts was greeted with some surprise, given her relative lack of experience in the field, she has been commended for her diplomatic style of working. Before being dispatched to Brussels, Ashton held a number of ministerial posts, steadily rising through the Labour ranks. Between 2007 and 2008 she was leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council, playing an important role in steering the controversial Lisbon Treaty through the upper chamber. She had previously been Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Government Spokesperson for the Department for Constitutional Affairs/Ministry of Justice (2004-07). Her success in this role was recognised with several awards: in 2006 she won Stonewall’s ‘Politician of the Year’ prize, awarded to those that have made a positive impact on the lives of British LGBT people, and in 2005 she was voted ‘Minister of the Year’ by The House Magazine and ‘Peer of the Year’ by Channel 4. Ashton’s early years in government were spent as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Government Spokesperson at the Department for Education and Skills (200104). For much of the decade preceding her appointment to the Lords, Ashton worked as a freelance policy adviser, also taking on the roles of chair of the Hertfordshire Health Authority and Vice-President of the National Council of One-Parent Families. Before that, she was Director of Business in the Community, working with businesses to tackle inequality and improve corporate responsibility (1983-89). She began her varied career as an administrator for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, gaining the role in 1977 after graduating from Bedford College, London. Ashton was born in 1956.
Baroness Lynda Clark of Calton
Lynda Clark was appointed to the House of Lords in 2005 and is a judge and former barrister and Labour MP. Until being made a judge in 2006, Calton was Advocate General for Scotland. This post was created in 1999 as part of Scottish devolution, and involves advising the UK government on Scots Law and representing the Scottish legal community in Westminster. Clark had been an MP for two years at the time of her appointment, having won the Edinburgh Pentlands seat in 1997. Before entering Parliament, Clark was a practising barrister and member of the Queen’s Counsel. She was admitted as a member of the English Bar in 1988, having spent eleven years working in Scotland. During her period of practice at the Scottish Bar, she was appointed Standing Junior Counsel to the Department of Energy and also served as a member of the Scottish Legal Aid Board and of Edinburgh University Court. In addition to this, she served for a period as Chairman of the Education Committee of the Faculty of Advocates and was involved in the training of members of the Bar. Prior to qualifying as a barrister, Clark was a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh and tutor in jurisprudence at the University of Dundee (1972-75). She had completed her undergraduate studies in law at the latter university in 1970. Clark was born in 1949.
Baroness Frances D’Souza of Wychwood
Frances D’Souza was appointed to the House of Lords in 2004. She is an anthropologist and is particularly interested in human rights and development. D’Souza is a Governor of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, consultant to the REDRESS Trust, and trustee of numerous organizations concerned with international development. In the Lords, she is Convener of the Crossbench peers, and sits on various groups, including the Urban Regeneration, Sport and Culture Group (2009-), the Africa Group (2007-), the British Council Group (2005-), and the Afghanistan Group (2005-). Before entering the Lords, D’Souza worked as an academic. She spent several years directing an independent research group focusing on applying systematic evaluation methods to emergency aid and has also worked as an independent research consultant to the UN (1985 to 1988). Prior to this, she taught at Oxford Brookes University. D’Souza began her academic career at the Nuffield Institute of Comparative Medicine (1973 to 1977), joining the Institute whilst still studying for a doctorate at Oxford University. She was born in 1944.
Baroness Brenda Hale of Richmond
Brenda Hale was elevated to the House of Lords in 2004. She gained her place on being made a Law Lord (a judge in the UK’s highest court of appeal), an appointment which made her the most senior female judge in British history. Hale had previously been a member of the Court of Appeal, the second most senior court in the English judicial system. She was only the second woman to achieve this status when promoted the Court in 1999. Hale first became a fulltime judge in 1994 when she gained a position in the Family Division of the High Court. She was unusual among High Court judges in having previously pursued a career as an academic and public servant rather than as a practising barrister. Hale had spent the decade prior to this as a member of the Law Commission, a statutory body which promotes the reform of the law. Several important pieces of legislation resulted from the work of her team at the Commission, including the 1989 Children Act. Between 1966 and 84, Hale taught law at Manchester University, also qualifying as a barrister and practising for a while at the Manchester Bar. She specialised in Family and Social Welfare law, was founding editor of the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, and authored a pioneering case book on ‘The Family, Law and Society. She was born in 1945 and studied law at Cambridge University.
Baroness Sarah Ludford of Clerkenwell
Sarah Ludford was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997. As a sitting MEP, she is currently excluded from participation in the Lords due to a recent rule change banning dual mandates (i.e. membership of both national and European Parliament). In the European Parliament she is Liberal Democrat spokeswoman on the Civil Liberties, Justice & Home Affairs committee and Vice-Chair of the Delegation for relations with the United States. She is also a member of the European Parliament’s Sub-Committee on Human Rights and the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Before gaining election as an MEP for London in 1999, Ludford worked as a consultant on European affairs. She was also a councilor in Islington (1991-99) and Vice-Chair of the Liberal Democrats’ Federal Policy Committee (1991-1997). Ludford had previously acquired experience of European affairs whilst working as a European adviser to Lloyd’s Bank and American Express (1985-90) and as an official in the European Commission (1979-85). Prior to this, she practised as a barrister and spent several years working for the civil service. She was born in 1951 and studied at the London School of Economics.
Baroness Wendy Nicol of Newnham
Wendy Nicol was appointed to the House of Lords in 1982. During her time in Parliament, she has served as Deputy Speaker, Deputy Chair of Committees (1995-2002), Opposition Spokesperson for Green issues (1983-92), Opposition Spokesperson for Energy (1988-89) and Opposition Whip (198389). Before entering the Lords, Nicol served on Cambridge City Council (1978-82) and on the Co-operative Wholesale Society’s Board (1976-85). She had previously been an Inspector of the Admiralty (1944-48) and clerical officer of the Inland Revenue (1942-44). Nicol was born in 1923.
Baroness Eileen Paisley of St George’s
Eileen Paisley was appointed to the House of Lords in 2006. She is honourary vice-president of the Irish Democratic Unionist Party and married to the party’s former leader, Ian Paisley. A socially conservative protestant, she has cited her key political interests as abortion and euthanasia. Paisley has a long history of political involvement, having been elected to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention in 1975 and Northern Ireland Assembly two years previously. Prior to this, she spent several years as a councillor on Belfast Corporation. Paisley was born in 1934.
Baroness Beryl Platt of Writtle
Beryl Platt was appointed to the House of Lords in 1981. A former engineer, she is particularly interested in technology, technical education and women’s opportunities in engineering. Platt was a member of the European Communities Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men between 1983 and 88 and in 1984 helped set up Women into Science and Engineering. She has also served many years as a local councillor, serving on Essex County Council between 1965 and 86 and on Chelmsford District Council between 1958 and 73. Platt’s earlier engineering career encompassed periods at British airways, where she researched air safety, and Hawkers, where she helped design fighter planes. She joined the latter firm in 1943, after graduating from Cambridge University, where she had been one of only five women on a 250-strong Mechanical Sciences course. Platt was born in 1923.
Baroness Pola Uddin of Bethnal Green
Pola Uddin was appointed to the House of Lords in 1998, becoming the first Muslim woman to gain elevation to the peerage. She currently serves on the Select Committee on European Affairs and All-Party Group for Children, Women and Disablement. Between 2008 and 2009, Uddin chaired the Government’s Taskforce on Black and Ethnic Minority Women, appointed to the role as a result of her long history of involvement in community work aimed at furthering the rights of Bengali women in the East End. Before entering the Lords, Uddin was a social services manager and local councillor. She spent eight years on Tower Hamlets Council, two of these as deputy leader (1990-98). Whilst working in local government, Uddin was involved in heading up a number of women-centered projects, including the Jagonari Centre, the UK’s first purpose built Asian Women’s education and training centre. Before progressing into social service management, Uddin was a youth and community officer. She entered the field after completing a diploma in social services at what is now London Metropolitan University. Uddin was born in 1959 in Bangladesh, emigrating to Britain aged thirteen.
Baroness Shriti Vadera of Holland Park
Shriti Vadera was appointed to the House of Lords in 2007. An expert in banking and finance, she currently works as a financial consultant to two large investment companies and as a senior policy advisor to the Presidential Committee of the G20. She has previously deployed her specialist knowledge in government, serving as a junior minister in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills during the peak of the global financial crisis (2007-09) and, prior to that, working as an economic advisor in the Treasury (19992007). She became a key aide to Gordon Brown during her time at the Treasury, advising him on business and city issues, as well as public enterprises. Vadera moved into public service after spending fourteen years as an investment banker at UBS Warburg. Whilst with the firm, she worked on international development issues, as well as South African privatization efforts. Vadera joined UBD Warburg after graduating from Oxford University. She was born in 1962 in Uganda, but left the country ten years later following the forced expulsion of Ugandan Asians.
Baroness Barbara Young of Old Scone
Barbara Young was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997. She has a background in environmentalism and health management, in recent years serving on the Climate Change Adaptation Committee (2009-) and chairing the Care Quality Commission, an organisation established to review all adult social care services in England (2008-09). Between 2000 and 2008, Young was chief executive of the Environment Agency, the public body responsible for environmental protection and regulation. Her acceptance of this role demanded that she abandon her prior affiliation to the Labour Party. Before joining the Environment Agency, Young was chairman of English Nature, taking the role in 1998 after spending eight years as chief executive of the RSPB. Her earlier career was spent in health management: between 1973 and 1991 she worked for six different health authorities, mostly in London. Young was born in 1948 and studied at the Universities of Edinburgh and Strathclyde.
Conservative Peers Joyce Aneley Elizabeth Berridge Virginia Bottomley Angela Browning Peta Buscombe Hazel Byford Elizabeth Carnegy Lynda Chalker Julia Cumberlege Margaret Eaton Diana Eccles Janet Fookes Trixie Gardner Joan Hanham Gloria Hooper Phyllis James Jill Knight Doreen Miller Patricia Morris Pauline Neville-‐Jones Helen Newlove Sheila Noakes Detta O’Cathain Sally Oppenheim-‐Barnes Pauline Perry Patricia Rawlings Shireen Ritchie Joan Seccombe Pamela Sharples Gillian Shephard Debbie Stedman-‐Scott Margaret Thatcher Baroness Trumpington (Jean Barker) Sandip Verma Sayeeda Warsi Judith Wilcox Crossbench Peers Haleh Afshar Kay Andrews Elizabeth Butler-‐Sloss Sue Campbell Jane Campbell Caroline Cox Ruth Deech
Audrey Emerton Ilora Finlay Shreela Flather Rennie Fritchie Susan Greenfield Sally Greengross Tanni Grey-‐Thompson Helene Hayman Sarah Hogg Valerie Howarth Elspeth Howe Beeban Kidron Eliza Manningham-‐Buller Countess Mar Susan Masham (Cunliffe-‐Lister) Molly Meacher Delyth Morgan Elaine Murphy Julia Neuberger Nuala O’Loan Onora O’Neill Usha Prashar Kathleen Richardson Lady Saltoun (Flora Fraser) Vivien Stern Jo Valentine Mary Warnock Lola Young Labour Peers Irene Adams Kay Andrews Hilary Armstrong Joan Bakewell Angela Billingham Tessa Blackstone May Blood Betty Boothroyd Janet Cohen Jean Corston Christine Crawley Brenda Dean Rita Donaghy Jeannie Drake Marcia Falkender Josephine Farrington Margaret Ford
Anita Gale Anne Gibson Llin Golding Mary Goudie Joyce Gould Dianne Hayter Anna Healy Ruth Henig Jennifer Hilton Patricia Hollis Rosalind Howells Beverly Hughes Margaret Jay Maggie Jones Helena Kennedy Denise Kingsmill Oona King Glenys Kinnock Helen Liddell Ruth Lister Betty Lockwood Margaret McDonagh Genista McIntosh Ann Mallalieu Doreen Massey Eluned Morgan Sally Morgan Estelle Morris Sue Nye Jill Pitkeathley Margaret Prosser Joyce Quin Meta Ramsay Ruth Rendell Janet Royall Patricia Scotland Maeve Sherlock Angela Smith Elizabeth Smith Elizabeth Symons Ann Taylor Glenys Thornton Muriel Turner Margaret Wall Diana Warwick Margaret Wheeler Janet Whitaker Rosalie Wilkins Bryony Worthington
Liberal Democrat Peers Liz Barker Floella Benjamin Jane Bonham-‐Carter Sal Brinton Dee Doocey Kishwer Falkner Sue Garden Sally Hamwee Angela Harris Meral Hussein-‐Ece Judith Jolly Susan Kramer Veronica Linklater Dianna Maddock Susan Miller Emma Nicholson Lindsay Northover Kate Parminter Jenny Randerson Rosalind Scott Margaret Sharp Susan Thomas Celia Thomas Jenny Tonge Claire Tyler Joan Walmsley Shirley Williams Non-Affiliated/Other Peers Valerie Amos Cathy Ashton Lynda Clark Frances D’Souza Brenda Hale Sarah Ludford Wendy Nicol Eileen Paisley Beryl Platt Pola Uddin Shriti Vadera Barbara Young
