Frances D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza
The Right Honourable The Baroness D'Souza CMG PC |
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Lord Speaker | |
Assumed office 1 September 2011 |
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Preceded by | Baroness Hayman |
Convener of the Crossbench Peers | |
In office 6 November 2007 – 31 August 2011 |
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Preceded by | The Lord Williamson of Horton |
Succeeded by | The Lord Laming |
Lord Temporal | |
Assumed office 1 July 2004 |
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Nominated by | Tony Blair |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Personal details | |
Born | Frances Gertrude Claire Russell 18 April 1944 Sussex, United Kingdom |
Nationality | British |
Political party | non-affiliated (Speaker) |
Other political affiliations |
Crossbench (until 2011) |
Spouse(s) | Stanislaus Joseph D'Souza (1959–1974 & 2003–present) Martin John Griffiths (1985–94) |
Committees | Procedure Committee (2005–present) House (2007–present) Selection; Privileges; Liaison; Administration and Works (2007–2011)[1] |
Frances Gertrude Claire D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza, CMG, PC, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , (born 18 April 1944) is a British scientist and life peer in the House of Lords. She is currently Lord Speaker, having taken office on 1 September 2011.
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Early life, education and early career
Frances Gertrude Claire Russell, the daughter of Robert Anthony Gilbert and Pauline (née Parmet) Russell, was educated at St Mary's School, Princethorpe and went to University College London to read Anthropology, graduating BSc in 1970. She subsequently undertook further study at Lady Margaret Hall, obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) in 1976 from the University of Oxford. She worked for the Nuffield Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition from 1973–77, Oxford Polytechnic (now Oxford Brookes University) from 1977–80, and was an independent research consultant for the United Nations from 1985-88.
Family
In 1959 she married Dr Stanislaus D'Souza; they had two children, but divorced in 1974. From 1985–1994 she was married to Martin Griffiths. In 2003 she and Stanislaus remarried. Their elder daughter is the journalist Christa D'Souza.[2][3]
Honours
D'Souza was invested as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1999.[4]
House of Lords
D'Souza was created a life peer as Baroness D'Souza, of Wychwood in the County of Oxfordshire on 1 July 2004.[1] She sat as a Crossbencher in the House of Lords, where she was the Convenor of the Crossbench Peers from 2007 to 2011 with attendance "well above average".[2][5]
On 13 July 2011, D'Souza was elected Lord Speaker of the House of Lords and began her new role on September 2011.[6] D'Souza now formally sits as a non-affiliated member of the House of Lords.
In December 2015 the results of a Freedom of Information request [7] revealed that D'Souza spent £230 to keep a chauffered car waiting while she watched a performance of Benjamin Britten’s Gloriana with the chairman of the Federation Council of Russia. The journey was just a mile from the Houses of Parliament. She spent £270 holding a car for four and a half hours while she had lunch with the Japanese ambassador in central London, and £738 keeping a luxury Mercedes parked for up to 10 hours during an event at Windsor Castle. It was also revealed that a 10-day official trip to Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the autumn of last year cost nearly £26,000.http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/speaker-of-house-of-lords-baroness-dsouza-charged-230-taxi-fare-to-taxpayer-after-night-at-the-opera-a6783466.html
References
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External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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Preceded by | Convenor of the Crossbench Peers 2007–2011 |
Succeeded by The Lord Laming |
Preceded by | Lord Speaker 2011–present |
Incumbent |
Order of precedence in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland | ||
Preceded by | Ladies Lord Speaker |
Succeeded by Ambassadors and High Commissioners to the United Kingdom |
Order of precedence in Scotland | ||
Preceded by
Ambassadors and High Commissioners
to the United Kingdom |
Ladies Lord Speaker |
Succeeded by Tricia Marwick MSP (Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament) |
Officers of the House of Commons and the House of Lords | |||
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House of Commons | House of Lords | ||
Speaker | John Bercow | Lord Speaker | The Baroness D'Souza |
Leader of the House of Commons | Chris Grayling | Leader of the House of Lords | The Baroness Stowell of Beeston |
Serjeant at Arms | Lawrence Ward | Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod | Lt-Gen. David Leakey |
Clerk of the House | David Natzler | Clerk of the Parliaments | David Beamish |
- Use dmy dates from July 2011
- Commons category link from Wikidata
- 1944 births
- Living people
- People from Sussex
- People from Warwickshire
- People from Oxfordshire
- Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
- Alumni of University College London
- Academics of Oxford Brookes University
- Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Crossbench life peers
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Female life peers
- People's peers