Untitled Document

FORMER WOMEN MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS

Table 1 lists all former women members of the House of Lords since the passage of the Life Peerages Act of 1958 allowed for women’s membership. Hereditary peeresses, indicated with †, were admitted by the 1963 Peerage Act. Women in the Scottish peerage are called ‘Lady’ rather than ‘Baroness’. The Lords differs from the other assemblies in the Observatory in that it has no fixed membership, and a higher annual turnover. The best means we have of analysing the Lords’ composition, in Table 2, is to use the figures listed in Dod’s and Whitaker’s Almanack in the years of parliamentary elections, as at 1 January, since women’s admission in 1958.

Table 1: Former women members of the House of Lords (as at 22 October 2010)

Title	Name	Party	Dates
Baroness Wootton of Abinger	Barbara Wootton	Labour	1958-88
Baroness Swanborough	Stella Isaacs	Cross-Bench	1958-71
Baroness Elliot of Harwood	Katherine Elliot	Conservative	1958-94
Baroness Ravensdale of Kedleston ‡	Irene Curzon	Cross-Bench	1958-66
Baroness Horsbrugh	Florence Horsbrugh	Conservative	1959-69
Baroness Summerskill	Edith Summerskill	Labour	1961-80
Baroness Burton of Coventry	Elaine Burton	Labour, SDP (1981-)	1962-91
Countess of Sutherland †	Elizabeth Sutherland	Conservative	1963-99
Countess of Erroll †	Diana Hay	Unknown	1963-78
Countess of Dysart †	Wenefryde Greaves	(Did not take seat)	1963-75
Countess of Loudon †	Barbara Abney-Hastings	Cross-Bench	1963-99
Countess of Seafield †	Nina Ogilvie-Grant-Studley-Herbert	(Did not take seat)	1963-69
Baroness De Ros †	Georgiana Maxwell	(Did not take seat)	1963-83
Baroness Furnivall †	Rosamund Dent	(Did not take seat)	1963-68
Baroness Strange of Knokin †	Elizabeth Philipps	Unknown	1963-71
Baroness Zouche †	Mary Frankland	(Did not take seat)	1963-65
Baroness Beaumont †	Mona Fitzalan-Howard	Conservative	1963-71
Baroness Audley †	Rossina Macnamee	Unknown	1963-73
Baroness Berkeley †	Eva Fitzhardinge	Conservative	1963-64
Baroness Lucas of Crudwell and Dingwall †	Anne Palmer	Cross-Bench	1963-91
Baroness Berners †	Vera Williams	(Did not take seat)	1963-92
Lady Kinloss †	Beatrice Freeman-Grenville	Cross-Bench	1963-99
Lady Ruthven of Freeland †	Bridget Monckton	Conservative	1963-82
Lady Nairne †	Katherine Bingham	Conservative	1963-95
Baroness Gaitskell	Dora Gaitskell	Labour	1963-89
Baroness Northchurch	Frances Davidson	Conservative	1965-85
Baroness Brooke of Ystradfellte	Barbara Brooke	Conservative	1964-2000
Baroness Emmet of Amberley	Evelyn Emmet	Conservative	1964-80
Baroness Phillips	Norah Phillips	Labour	1964-92
Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury	Violet Bonham Carter	Liberal	1964-69
Lady Semphill †	Ann Forbes-Semphill	Conservative	1965-95
Baroness Plummer	Beatrice Plummer	Labour	1965-72
Baroness Spencer-Churchill	Clementine Spencer-Churchill	Cross-Bench	1965-77
Countess of Kintore †	Ethel Keith	(Did not take seat)	1966-74
Baroness Sharp	Evelyn Sharp	Cross-Bench	1966-85

Baroness Stocks	Mary Stocks	Labour, X-Bench (1974-)	1966-75
Baroness Berkeley †	Mary Foley	Conservative	1967-92
Baroness Llewelyn-Davies of Hastoe	Patricia Llewlyn-Davies	Labour	1967-97
Baroness Birk	Alma Birk	Labour	1967-97
Baroness Serota	Beatrice Serota	Labour	1967-2002
Baroness Wharton †	Elizabeth Vintcent	(Did not take seat)	1969-74
Baroness Dacre †	Rachel Douglas-Home	Cross-Bench	1970-99
Baroness Tweedsmuir of Belhelvie	Priscilla Buchan	Conservative	1970-78
Baroness White	Irene White	Labour	1970-99
Baroness Bacon	Alice Bacon	Labour	1970-93
Baroness Lee of Asheridge	Jennie Lee	Labour	1970-86
Baroness Portal of Hungerford †	Rosemary Portal	Cross-Bench	1971-90
Baroness Seear	Nancy Seear	Liberal, SLDP (1988-89), Liberal Democrat	1971-97
Baroness MacLeod of Borve	Evelyn MacLeod	Conservative	1971-99
Baroness Young	Janet Young	Conservative	1971-2002
Countess of Dudley †	Barbara Hamilton	Conservative	1972-99
Baroness Hornsby-Smith	Patricia Hornsby-Smith	Conservative	1974-85
Baroness Pike	Mervyn Pike	Conservative	1974-2004
Baroness Stedman	Phyllis Stedman	Labour, SDP (1981-91), Cross-Bench	1974-96
Baroness Robson of Kiddington	Inga-Stina Robson	Liberal, SLDP (1988-89), Liberal Democrat	1974-99
Baroness Ward of North Tyneside	Irene Ward	Conservative	1975-79
Baroness Stewart of Alvechurch	Mary Stewart	Labour	1975-84
Baroness Vickers	Joan Vickers	Conservative	1975-94
Countess of Dysart †	Rosamund Greaves	(Did not take seat)	1975-99
Lady Herries of Terregles †	Anne Fitzalan-Howard	(Did not take seat)	1975-99
Baroness Faithfull	Lucy Faithfull	Conservative	1976-91
Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth	Barbara Jackson	Labour	1976-81
Baroness Denington	Evelyn Denington	Labour	1978-98
Baroness Ryder of Warsaw	Sue Ryder	Cross-Bench	1978-2000
Countess Mountbatten of Burma †	Patricia Knatchbull	Cross-Bench	1979-99
Baroness Airey of Abingdon	Diana Neave	Conservative	1979-92
Baroness Skrimshire of Quarter	Betty Harvie Anderson	Conservative	1979
Baroness Ewart-Biggs	Jane Ewart-Biggs	Cross-Bench	1981-92
Baroness Lane-Fox	Felicity Lane-Fox	Conservative	1981-88
Baroness Willoughby de Eresby †	Nancy Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby	Cross-Bench	1983-99
Baroness Braye †	Mary Aubrey-Fletcher	Conservative	1985-99
Baroness Strange †	Jean Drummond of Megginch	Cross-Bench	1986-2005
Baroness Blatch	Emily Blatch	Conservative	1987-2005
Baroness Hart of South Lanark	Judith Hart	Labour	1987-91
Baroness Brigstocke	Heather Brigstocke	Conservative	1990-2004
Baroness Wharton †	Myrtle 'Ziki' Robertson	Cross-Bench	1990-99
Baroness Castle of Blackburn	Barbara Castle	Labour	1990-2002
Baroness Denton of Wakefield	Jean Denton	Conservative	1991-2001
Baroness Berners †	Pamela Kirkham	Conservative	1995-99
Baroness Lloyd of Highbury	June Lloyd	Cross-Bench	1996-2006
Baroness Lestor of Eccles	Joan Lestor	Labour	1997-98
Baroness Darcy de Knayth †	Davinia Ingrams	Cross-Bench	1963-2008
Baroness Michie of Gallanach	Ray Michie	Liberal Democrat	2001 - 2008
Baroness Hylton-Foster	Audrey Hylton-Foster	Cross-Bench	1965-2002
Baroness Arlington †	Jennifer Forwood	Cross-Bench	1999
Baroness David	Nora David	Labour	1978-2007
Baroness Elles	Diana Elles	Conservative	1972-2009
Baroness Hale of Richmond	Brenda Hale	Cross-Bench	2004-2009
Baroness Chapman	Nicola Chapman	Cross-Bench	2004-2009
Baroness Park of Monmouth	Daphne Park	Conservative	1990 - 2010

‡ Baroness Ravensdale was both a hereditary peeress, from 1925, and a life peeress.
** Baroness Brenda Hale of Richmond (Other/Non-affiliated) was elected to the House of Lords as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in 2004. She was the first woman to hold this position. In 2009 all of the Law Lords were transferred to the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, where she now serves as a Justice.

Table 2: Gender breakdown of the House of Lords, 1959 to 2005

Date	Women	Men	% Women
1959	4	880	0.4
1964	26	941	3
1966	33	994	3
1970	39	1017	4
1974	47	1027	4
1979	56	1104	5
1983	62	1114	5
1987	54	1120	5
1992	75	1138	6
1997	87	1207	7
2001	111	580	16
2005	126	555	19
2009	146	563	20

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