Janet Anne Royall, Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, (born 20 August 1955), is a British Labour Co-operative Party politician. She was Leader of the House of Lords and

Lord President of the Council The lord president of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the ...

. She is the principal of

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

Education and early political career

Royall grew up in Gloucestershire in Hucclecote and Newnham on Severn, where her parents ran a shop. Royall was educated at the Royal Forest of Dean Grammar School and Westfield College, University of London, where she gained a BA in Spanish and French in 1977. Royall was a special adviser to Neil Kinnock, 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 in a 2002 by-election, losing to Huw Irranca-Davies. In 2003 she became head of the European Commission office in Wales.

House of Lords

On 25 June 2004, she was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, of

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. An estimate in 2012 placed the populat ...

in the County of Gloucestershire. She spoke for the Health,

International Development International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic or human development on an international scale. It is the basis for international classifications ...

and Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. On 24 January 2008 Royall was appointed government

chief whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

in the House of Lords, on the resignation of

Lord Grocott Bruce Joseph Grocott, Baron Grocott PC (born 1 November 1940) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. Early life Grocott was born in Kings Langley near Watford, and was educated at the University of Leicester. He obtained an MA ...

. She was appointed a Privy Counsellor later in the year. On 3 October 2008, she was appointed to the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

by Gordon Brown, as Leader of the House of Lords and

. 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. She voted for a 100% elected House, on the last occasion that the House of Lords voted on Reform of the House of Lords in March 2007. She has called for a national referendum on any reforms of the chamber. In September 2012, she spoke out against the proposed badger cull. She announced in May 2015 that she would not seek re-election as the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in the House of Lords. In 2016, she chaired an investigation into allegations of

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

in Oxford University Labour Club and was subsequently one of two Vice-Chairs of the

Chakrabarti Inquiry The Chakrabarti Inquiry was a 2016 investigation into allegations of antisemitism and other forms of racism in the United Kingdom's Labour Party. Chaired by barrister Shami Chakrabarti, the inquiry was launched following comments made by two hi ...

into antisemitism in the UK Labour Party.

Principal of Somerville College

In February 2017,

, announced the selection of Baroness Royall as its next principal.Announcement of new Principal at Somerville College
Somerville College, 9 Feb 2017. She succeeded

Alice Prochaska Alice Prochaska (born 12 July 1947) is a former archivist and librarian, who served as Pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford and Principal of Somerville College, Oxford, from 2010 to 2017. Career Alice Prochaska studied at Somerville ...

at the end of August 2017.

Personal life

She was married to Stuart Hercock from 1980 until his death in 2010, and has a daughter, Charlie, and two sons, Ned and Harry.

References

External links

Profile
at www.parliament.uk
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
from Dod Online
The Rt Hon the Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, PC
at Debrett's ''People of Today'' , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Royall of Blaisdon, Janet 1955 births Alumni of Westfield College Alumni of the University of London Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster Female members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms Labour Co-operative life peers Leaders of the House of Lords Living people Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Members of the Fabian Society Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People from Newnham on Severn People from the Borough of Tewkesbury Principals of Somerville College, Oxford