Jennifer Elizabeth Randerson, Baroness Randerson (born 26 May 1948) is a Welsh Liberal Democrat member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. She is former junior minister in the Wales Office serving in the Cameron–Clegg coalition. Prior to her peerage she was an

Assembly Member Assembly Member or AM may refer to: * A Member of the London Assembly (2000–pres.) *A Member of the Tobago House of Assembly (1980–pres.) Defunct titles * A Member of the National Assembly for Wales (1999–2020), now Member of th ...

for Cardiff Central from 1999 to 2011 when she served in the

Welsh Labour Welsh Labour ( cy, Llafur Cymru) is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 1922 ...

Lib Dem The Liberal Democrats (commonly referred to as the Lib Dems) are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom. Since the 1992 general election, with the exception of the 2015 general election, they have been the third-largest UK political ...

administration of the 2000–2003

Welsh Assembly Government Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

. She is a former Cardiff councillor for Cyncoed. In 2019 she was appointed Chancellor of Cardiff University.

Background

Randerson was educated at

Bedford College, University of London Bedford College was in York Place after 1874 Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for women in the United Kingdom. In 1900, it became a constituent of the University of London. Having played a lead ...

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Physiology and Biochemistry, 1983, now part of

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

.Royal Holloway College, ''Higher Magazine No.17'', autumn 2012, accessed 24 November 2012 She was a

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

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 ...

1983–2000 and was a lecturer at Cardiff Tertiary College. She led the official opposition on the Council in Cardiff for four years. She introduced "Creative Future", a culture strategy for Wales and "Iaith Pawb", a strategy for the promulgation of the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

National Assembly for Wales

Randerson was elected as Assembly Member for Cardiff Central at the 1999 Assembly Elections beating the Labour candidate

Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford (born 19 September 1954) is a Welsh politician serving as First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour since 2018. He previously served in the Welsh Government as Cabinet Secretary for Finance from 2016 to 2018 and Minist ...

. She served as Minister for Culture, Sport and the Welsh Language in the Liberal Democrat/Labour Partnership Government from 2000 to 2003. She was acting Welsh Deputy First Minister from 6 July 2001 to 13 June 2002. She was Health and Social Services; Equal Opportunities and Finance Spokeswoman for the Welsh Liberal Democrats during the Second Assembly. She chaired Assembly Business and Standing Orders Committees during the Second Assembly. Randerson stood for the leadership of the Welsh Liberal Democrats in 2008 but was defeated by

Kirsty Williams Victoria Kirstyn Williams (born 19 March 1971) is a Welsh politician who served as Minister for Education in the Welsh Government from 2016 to 2021. She was a Member of the Senedd (MS) from 1999 to 2021. She previously served as the Leader of ...

who gained 60% to Jenny's 40% of the all member ballot. In the third Assembly Jenny Randerson was the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Education, Transport and the Economy. She did not seek re-election at the 2011 Assembly elections, with Nigel Howells – her Liberal Democrat successor, being narrowly defeated by

Jenny Rathbone Jenny Ann Rathbone (born 12 February 1950) is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician who has been a Member of the Senedd (MS) since 2011. Career She was Labour candidate for Cardiff Central at the 2010 General Election coming second to Li ...

House of Lords

On 27 January 2011, 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 Randerson, of

Roath Park Roath Park ( cy, Parc y Rhath) Cardiff, Wales, is one of Cardiff's most popular parks, owned by Cardiff County Council and managed by the Parks Section. It retains a classic Victorian atmosphere and has many facilities. The park has recently b ...

in the

City of Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

and was introduced in the

on 31 January 2011, and sits on the Liberal Democrat benches. On 4 September 2012, she was appointed a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Wales Office. Baroness Randerson is the first female Welsh Liberal Democrat to hold ministerial office at Westminster and the first Welsh Liberal to hold a ministerial post since

Gwilym Lloyd-George Gwilym Lloyd George, 1st Viscount Tenby, (4 December 1894 – 14 February 1967) was a Welsh politician and cabinet minister. The younger son of David Lloyd George, he served as Home Secretary from 1954 to 1957. Background, education and milit ...

in 1945. Although English by birth and upbringing, she is also the first female non Labour Welsh politician to hold a government post at Westminster.

References

External links

Jenny Randerson AM
official biography at the Welsh Assembly website
Jenny Randerson AM
profile at the site of Welsh Liberal Democrats

Offices held

{{DEFAULTSORT:Randerson, Jennifer Randerson, Baroness 1948 births Living people Councillors in Cardiff Liberal Democrat members of the Senedd Wales AMs 1999–2003 Wales AMs 2003–2007 Wales AMs 2007–2011 Members of the Welsh Assembly Government Alumni of Bedford College, London Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Female members of the Senedd Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors 20th-century British women politicians Women members of the Welsh Assembly Government Women councillors in Wales