Patricia Elizabeth Rawlings, Baroness Rawlings (born 27 January 1939) is a Conservative Party politician and former

frontbencher In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then know ...

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. She was also a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) from 1989 to 1994. She was Chairman of

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

Council from 1998 to 2007, and was made a Fellow of King's College (FKC) in 2003. She was President of the

National Council for Voluntary Organisations The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is the umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in England. It is a registered charity (no. 225922). It works to support the voluntary and community sector and to create an en ...

from 2002 to 2007, and President of the British Antique Dealers' Association 2005–2013. She is also a trustee of the Chevening Estate.

Education

Rawlings was educated in the United Kingdom and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. She trained as a nurse at

Westminster Hospital Westminster Hospital was a hospital in London, England, founded in 1719. In 1834 a medical school attached to the hospital was formally founded. In 1939 a newly built hospital and medical school opened in Horseferry Road, Westminster. In 1994 the ...

and is an active member of the

British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society () is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with 1 ...

(she was awarded the British Red Cross national Badge of Honour in 1987). She was a mature student at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

and studied for a postgraduate diploma in International Relations from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. She was awarded an Hon DLitt from the

University of Buckingham The University of Buckingham (UB) is a non-profit private university#United Kingdom, private university in Buckingham, England, and the oldest of the country's six private universities. It was founded as the University College at Buckingham (U ...

in 1998.

Political career

Having unsuccessfully fought Sheffield Central in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and Doncaster Central in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, Rawlings was elected at the 1989 European election as the MEP for Essex South West. That constituency was abolished for the 1994 European election when she was defeated by Labour's Hugh Kerr in the new Essex West and Hertfordshire East constituency. 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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

with the title Baroness Rawlings, of Burnham Westgate in the County of Norfolk on 5 October 1994 and entered the

where she held several frontbench positions. She served as an Opposition Whip (1997–1998), Spokesperson on Culture, Media and Sport (1997–1998), Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1998–2010) and

International Development International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic development, economic or human development (economics), human development on an international sca ...

(1998–2010). Following the 2010 general election, she served as the Government Whip with responsibility for Culture, Media and Sport and for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Baroness Rawlings retired from the government on 25 June 2012.

Controversy

In 2002 Baroness Rawlings became involved in a controversy over a 1.8-acre (7,300 m2) piece of land, owned by King's College London, and formerly owned by St Thomas' Hospital. King's had instructed Jones Lang LaSalle to value the site, resulting in a valuation of £10 million. An offer to buy the land for up to £24 million came unexpectedly from the Aga Khan Development Network, causing opposition from St Thomas'. It was rumoured that Baroness Rawlings had engineered the unsolicited offer which she strenuously denied, saying that as Chairman of King's College London Council she knew absolutely nothing about any such bid. Baroness Rawlings insisted that it was a valuable part of the King's College London estate and that it should be sold to the highest bidder on the open market. The College eventually decided to retain the property.

Personal life

Patricia Rawlings was married in 1962 to businessman David Wolfson, later Baron Wolfson of Sunningdale (1935-2021), but divorced in 1967; both partners held noble titles in their own right. She was the Honorary Secretary of Grillion's dining club, and a member of the Pilgrims Society. She lives in Burnham Westgate Hall, a Sir John Soane-designed house in

Burnham Market Burnham Market is a village and civil parish in the England, English county Norfolk. The village is located north-east of King's Lynn and north-west of Norwich. It is one of The Norfolk Burnhams, the Burnhams, a group of three adjacent vill ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, with parkland of over 30 acres, which property was put up for sale in 2019 with a guide price of £3.8M. The house had been previously put up for sale by Baroness Rawlings, in 2011, with a price of £7M;

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...

, the film actor, was said to want to buy the property at that time, but no sale occurred.

Foreign orders and decorations

*In 1991 Patricia Rawlings is the first British woman to be awarded the Order of the Rose (Silver), which was bestowed upon her by President

Zhelyu Zhelev Zhelyu Mitev Zhelev (; 3 March 1935 – 30 January 2015) was a Bulgarian politician and former dissident who served as the first democratically elected and non-Communist President of Bulgaria, from 1990 to 1997. Zhelev was one of the most prom ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, in recognition of her interest in Bulgaria. Rawlings is permitted to wear the decoration whenever she visits Bulgaria or goes to the Bulgarian embassy. *For services to Anglo-Brazilian relations, she was awarded the Grand Official, Order of the Southern Cross from the Republic of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in 1998.

Arms

References

External links

Patricia Rawlings
''conservatives.com''
Biography of Baroness Rawlings
''www.parliament.uk''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlings, Patricia Baroness Rawlings 1939 births Living people 20th-century women MEPs for England Alumni of the London School of Economics Conservative Party (UK) life peers Conservative Party (UK) MEPs Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Fellows of King's College London Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II MEPs for England 1989–1994 National Council for Voluntary Organisations presidents People associated with King's College London Spouses of life peers