Tina Wendy Stowell, Baroness Stowell of Beeston, (born 2 July 1967) is a British Conservative politician and

member of the House of Lords This is a list of members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Current sitting members Lords Spiritual 26 bishops of the Church of England sit in the House of Lords: the Archbishops of Canterbury and ...

. Baroness Stowell served as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal under

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

. She was succeeded by the

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

on 14 July 2016.

Early life and education

Stowell grew up in Beeston, Nottinghamshire. Her father was a painter/decorator and her mother worked in a local factory. She attended Chilwell Comprehensive School, where she gained five O-levels, followed by Broxtowe College in Beeston.

Career

After leaving college, Stowell worked at the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

between 1986 and 1988. She was then employed at the

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in the

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until 1991, before transferring to the No. 10 Press Office, where she served under the then-Prime Minister

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

. In recognition of her performance in this position, she was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

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. Following the 1997 general election, Stowell worked at Conservative Party Headquarters during William Hague's tenure as

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and was his Deputy Chief of Staff. In November 2001, Stowell joined the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

as deputy secretary. She became Head of Communications for the BBC Trust in 2003, in which capacity she worked for three successive chairmen (

Gavyn Davies Gavyn Davies, OBE (born 27 November 1950) is a former Goldman Sachs partner who was the chairman of the BBC from 2001 until 2004. On 28 January 2004 he announced that he was resigning his BBC post following the publication of the Hutton Inqui ...

, Michael Grade, and

Sir Michael Lyons Sir Michael Thomas Lyons (born 15 September 1949), is the non-executive chairman of the English Cities Fund and Participle Ltd, and a former Chairman of the BBC Trust. A former Labour Party councillor and council chief executive in the Unite ...

). In September 2008 she became the BBC's Head of Corporate Affairs.

Peerage and Parliamentary career

In 2010, Stowell sought the Conservative nomination for the safe seat of

Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in the ...

but lost to

Sajid Javid Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the Exchequer f ...

. Labour MPs called for her to resign her BBC post to avoid a conflict of interest. Stowell 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 Stowell of Beeston, of Beeston in the County of Nottinghamshire, on 10 January 2011. She was introduced to 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 ...

, where she sits on the Conservative benches, on 13 January 2011. On 18 September 2011, Baroness Stowell was appointed a

Baroness-in-Waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (without ...

to the

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, following the promotion of the former Lord-in-Waiting Lord Taylor of Holbeach (who became a junior minister at the

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United K ...

). In 2013, Baroness Stowell with the guidance of Christopher Briggs was responsible for steering the

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c. 30) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which introduced same-sex marriage in England and Wales. Background Civil partnerships were introduced in the United Kingdom in 2004, allowi ...

for

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through the House of Lords. She was subsequently, on 7 October 2013, promoted to the post of

Parliamentary Under-Secretary Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister o ...

at the Department for Communities and Local Government. On 2 April 2014, she defended overseas property investors in

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 a Parliamentary debate. In a cabinet reshuffle in July 2014, Baroness Stowell was appointed Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. She also became a Privy Counsellor. In this capacity, though she was able to attend its meetings, she was not a full member of 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 ...

. Following the 2015 general election, Baroness Stowell remained in her role and became a full member of the Cabinet. She was succeeded by the Rt. Hon.

on 14 July 2016. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport selected Stowell to be the new chair of the

Charity Commission for England and Wales , type = Non-ministerial government department , seal = , seal_caption = , logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg , logo_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , d ...

. However in 2018 the parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee at their interview of Stowell unanimously refused to endorse the appointment due to "a complete lack of experience" and a lack of "any real insight, knowledge or vision". In 2018, it was reported that the

, of which Stowell is Chair, would question The Transformation Trust, a charity which Stowell was a trustee of, over staff payments.

References

External links

Debrett's People of Today
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Stowell, Tina 1967 births BBC executives Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting Conservative Party (UK) life peers Conservative Party (UK) officials Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Female members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom Leaders of the House of Lords Living people Lords Privy Seal Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People from Beeston, Nottinghamshire