Janet Anne Royall, Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, PC (born 20 August 1955) is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Labour politician

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

. She is the current Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords.

Education and early political career

Royall was educated at the Royal Forest of Dean

Forest of Dean

The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. The forest is a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and north, the River Severn to the south, and the City of Gloucester to the east.The...

 Grammar School and Westfield College

Westfield College

Westfield College was a small college situated in Kidderpore Avenue, Hampstead, London, and was a constituent college of the University of London from 1882 to 1989. The college originally admitted only women as students and became coeducational in 1964. In 1989, Westfield College merged with Queen...

, University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

 where she gained a BA

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in Spanish and French in 1977.

Royall was a special adviser to Neil Kinnock

Neil Kinnock

Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock is a Welsh politician belonging to the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995 and as Labour Leader and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from 1983 until 1992 - his leadership of the party during nearly nine years making him...

, the Leader of the Labour Party, in the 1980s, and she has remained a close ally of his ever since. She sought selection as Labour's candidate for Ogmore

Ogmore (UK Parliament constituency)

Ogmore is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Boundaries :Taking its name from the River Ogmore, the constituency is situated close to the source of the river in the Ogwr valley and excludes the village of Ogmore-by-Sea, which is the...

 in a 2002 by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

. However, the constituency party preferred Huw Irranca-Davies

Huw Irranca-Davies

Ifor Huw Irranca-Davies , born Ifor Huw Davies, is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Ogmore since 2002...

 as their candidate. When in 2003 she became head of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

's office in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, there were calls for her to stand down because of her connections to the Labour party.

House of Lords

On 25 June 2004 she was created Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, of Blaisdon

Blaisdon

Blaisdon is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean of Gloucestershire, England, about ten miles west of Gloucester. Its population in 2005 was estimated by Gloucestershire County Council to be 249. The local church is dedicated to St...

 in the County of Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

. In the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

, she became government spokesman for Health, International Development

Department for International Development

The Department For International Development is a United Kingdom government department with a Cabinet Minister in charge. It was separated from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1997. The goal of the department is "to promote sustainable development and eliminate world poverty". The current...

 and Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...

.

On 24 January 2008 Baroness Royall was appointed government Chief Whip

Chief Whip

The Chief Whip is a political office in some legislatures assigned to an elected member whose task is to administer the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires.-The Whips Office:...

 in the House of Lords, following the resignation of Lord Grocott

Bruce Grocott, Baron Grocott

Bruce Joseph Grocott, Baron Grocott PC is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.Grocott was born in Kings Langley near Watford, and was educated at Leicester University. He obtained an MA from Manchester University after conducting research on Local Government...

, and was created a Privy Counsellor later in the year. On 3 October 2008, she was promoted to the cabinet by Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

, who made her Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council

Lord President of the Council

The Lord President of the Council is the fourth of the Great Officers of State of the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord High Treasurer and above the Lord Privy Seal. The Lord President usually attends each meeting of the Privy Council, presenting business for the monarch's approval...

. On 5 June 2009, Royall was succeeded as Lord President by Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary and was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is, in modern times, a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom that includes as part of its duties, the administration of the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster...

.

Family

She was married to Stuart Hercock until his death in 2010, and has a daughter, Charlie and two sons, Ned and Harry.

External links

• Baroness Royall of Blaisdon from Dod Online
• The Rt Hon the Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, PC at Debrett's People of Today

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