Jenny Bailey is a British

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

politician who was the civic leader of

Cambridge City Council Cambridge City Council is a district council in the county of Cambridgeshire, which governs the City of Cambridge. History Cambridge was granted a Royal Charter by King John in 1207, which permitted the appointment of a mayor. The first recorde ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, England. Bailey served her mayoral term from 2007 to 2008. Bailey became a member of the city council in 2002, when she was elected to represent the suburb of

East Chesterton East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from ...

within Cambridge. She served the council continuously from 2002 to 2007, rising the ranks until she was chosen to become mayor in 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2010 Prior to her appointment as full mayor, she acted as a deputy in 2006. She was the first

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

mayor in the United Kingdom, but not the first in the world as

Georgina Beyer Georgina Beyer (born November 1957) is a New Zealand politician and former Labour Party Member of Parliament. In 1995 she was elected mayor of Carterton, making her the world's first openly transgender mayor. In 2005 she became the world's fi ...

, also a

trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

, became Mayor of

Carterton, New Zealand Carterton ( mi, Taratahi) is a small town in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and the seat of the Carterton District (a territorial authority or local government district). It lies in a farming area of the Wairarapa in New Zealand's North Isl ...

in 1995. Bailey herself was keen to play down the significance of her appointment, saying, "I don't want to let it define me." Bailey had undergone

gender transitioning Gender transition is the process of changing one's gender presentation or sex characteristics to accord with one's internal sense of gender identity – the idea of what it means to be a man or a woman,Brown, M. L. & Rounsley, C. A. (1996) ''True ...

11 years prior to assuming office in the council. Bailey was married before her transition, and became a parent to two sons. Bailey and her longtime companion Jennifer Liddle entered into a

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

on 22 September 2011. Liddle, a former councillor, is also a trans woman.

Personal life

Bailey was born in Doncaster Prison, where her father worked as a prison officer. She was brought up at

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

prison camp, and has said that her own confusion about her

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

arose as early as aged 6 or 7. In school, Bailey joined the radio club led by her

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

teacher and decided to follow this interest in her professional working life. Aged 20, she received a

sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

from local company Pye Telecom to take part in a three-year training course. This involved placements at

Lanchester Polytechnic , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , underg ...

, colleges in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

and industrial training in Cambridge. Bailey worked in several jobs as a telecommunications engineer before becoming involved in politics. In her 20s, she had to further suppress her confusion over her gender as she married a

cisgender Cisgender (often shortened to cis; sometimes cissexual) is a term used to describe a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth. The word ''cisgender'' is the antonym of ''transgender''. The prefix ''wiktionary:cis ...

woman and became a parent to two sons. However, the marriage met with an amicable demise soon after; Bailey maintained a relationship with her former wife and upon hearing that Bailey was to be sworn in as mayor, her former wife said that she was "incredibly proud". She began

hormone replacement therapy Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. These symptoms can include hot flashes, vaginal ...

in 1990, aged 29. There she met her current partner, Jennifer Liddle, who also worked as a software engineer and was also undergoing gender transitioning. Bailey had

sex reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and alle ...

in 1993. Bailey follows the

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

religion and is a vegetarian in accordance with these beliefs. On 22 September 2011 Bailey and Liddle entered into a

's Shire Hall.

Political activity

Bailey made the decision to enter politics in the early 2000s, later saying that her ambition to make a contribution to local life was the biggest incentive behind this career choice. She became a

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

for the Liberal Democrats in 2002 after being elected to represent East Chesterton. Bailey had long taken an interest in

environmental issues Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...

and made them a feature of her tenure in office; promoting cycling,

waste management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitoring ...

, recycling, and advocating the use of public transport; as well as implementing several schemes to aid local residents in these activities. She served as a school governor for

Chesterton Community College Chesterton Community College is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in Chesterton, Cambridge, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It was established in 1935 as two separate schools for boys and girls, which mer ...

for a short period. In 2004, she was appointed as Executive Councillor for Planning and Transportation, and in this role successfully led the Council's new parking enforcement role. She was also re-elected as councillor for East Chesterton, winning 40.7% of the vote; a margin of 2.4% over her partner, Liddle.Cambridge City Council Elections – East Chesterton Ward
CIX Online; Retrieved 17 February 2008 She was promoted to deputy mayor in 2006, acting as Ceremonial Bailiff to the mayor at select civic ceremonial events. At Cambridge City Council's annual meeting on 24 May 2007, Bailey was appointed mayor for the municipal year of 2007–2008, thus becoming the 801st first citizen of

. Her job as mayor entailed attending approximately 500 social engagements. Bailey chose two charities, Press Relief and the

Cambridge Museum of Technology The Cambridge Museum of Technology is an industrial heritage museum situated in Cambridge, England. The original building, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, housed a combined sewage pumping and waste destructor station built in 1894. The Museum h ...

, to be the primary benefactors of the fundraising done throughout her tenure. Bailey also vowed to give recognition to the unsung heroes of the city. She was succeeded by her deputy mayor, Mike Dixon, in 2008. Despite it being well known among councillors for several years, Bailey's appointment garnered significant media coverage, with

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

reporting the story in the USA. Bailey, however, said that she did not want the issue to eclipse being mayor.

References

External links

Official biography
Cambridge City Council {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Jenny 1962 births Living people Mayors of Cambridge English LGBT politicians Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors English transgender people Transgender women politicians Women mayors of places in England LGBT mayors of places in the United Kingdom Councillors in Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats (UK) mayors People from Chesterton, Cambridge Women councillors in England