Kishwer Falkner, Baroness Falkner of Margravine (; born 9 March 1955) is a British politician and

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 ...

who is a non-aligned member of the House of Lords. She was the Chairman of the EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee in the

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from 2015 to 2019. Prior to her ennoblement as a life peer with the title Baroness Falkner of Margravine, of Barons Court in the

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham. The borou ...

on 2 June 2004, Falkner worked for the Liberal Democrats in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

and party headquarters including as Director of International Affairs and Director of Policy. She also worked at the

Commonwealth Secretariat The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating co-operation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads o ...

and as Chief Executive of Student Partnerships Worldwide. In February 2008 she was appointed as the inaugural

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of The

University of Northampton The University of Northampton is a public university based in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England. It was formed in 1999 by the amalgamation of a number of training colleges, and gained full university status as the University of Northampton in ...

. She is currently a member of the

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's Enforcement Decision Making Committee. She is also a Visiting Professor at The Policy Institute at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

and an honorary associate of the National Secular Society. In December 2020, she became chair of the

Equality and Human Rights Commission The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of eq ...

(EHRC). Her appointment led to criticism both from her predecessor and staff members who said EHRC had become politicised and

transphobic Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...

during her tenure.

Life

Kishwer Falkner was born in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and after living and working in the Middle East, moved to the UK in the late 1970s. Falkner was educated at convent schools in Pakistan, the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

where she obtained a BSc (Econ) in International Relations and the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

where she obtained an MA in International Relations and European Studies.

Political career

She joined the Liberal Democrats in the mid-1980s and worked for the party in several posts till 1999. Falkner contested Kensington and Chelsea in the 2001 General Election and was on the Liberal Democrats list for

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in the 2004 European elections. Kishwer was the Liberal Democrats’ Director of International and European Affairs for several years, co-authoring much of the Party's policy on the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, and coordinating a joint response for European Liberals on issues related to Europe's structures and place in the world. Kishwer also worked for the

, where she continued to work on the broader issues of globalisation, democracy and development. In 2003–04, Kishwer was chief executive of a charity working with young people in some of the poorest parts of Africa and Asia.

EHRC head

On 1 December 2020, she became chair of the

(EHRC).

Transphobia controversy

Falkner and the EHRC under her leadership have come under criticism from trans and other LGBTIQ+ organisations following comments she made in May 2021 to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', in which she said that women had the right to question

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 ...

identity without fear of abuse, stigmatisation or loss of employment. Her predecessor as EHRC chair, David Isaac, said the commission was politicised by the Conservative Party during her tenure. Several former and current staff members of EHRC described the public body as "transphobic," "anti-LGBT+" and an "enemy of human rights" during Falkner's tenure, and media reported that several staff members had resigned in protest of EHRC's "descent into transphobia." EHRC was also criticised for holding private meetings with anti-trans groups such as

LGB Alliance The LGB Alliance is a British advocacy group founded in the UK in 2019, in opposition to the policies of LGBT rights charity Stonewall (charity), Stonewall on transgender issues. Its founders were Bev Jackson, Kate Harris, Allison Bailey, Malc ...

and

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John Nicolson John MacKenzie Nicolson (born 23 June 1961) is a Scottish journalist, broadcaster and Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. Since the 2019 general election he has been the SNP Member of Parliament (MP) for Ochil and South Perthshire. He w ...

, deputy chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global LGBT+ Rights in the UK Parliament, said: "Sadly the EHRC appears now to be working against, not for, LGBT rights. Our community no longer see it as our friend but as our opponent. It's yet another organisation tainted by

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

and his appointees." When asked in an interview with '' Holyrood'' if she was a transphobe, Falkner replied: "I don't know what the meaning of that word is." However, despite claiming not to know the meaning of the word, Falkner complained that the word was used "too much".

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falkner, Kishwer Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Falkner of Margravine Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of the University of Kent 1955 births Living people Pakistani emigrants to the United Kingdom British politicians of Pakistani descent Liberal Democrats (UK) parliamentary candidates