Dame Justine Thornton (born 16 September 1970), styled The Hon Mrs Justice Thornton, is a British barrister and judge of the High Court of England and Wales. Thornton was appointed to the

High Court of England and Wales The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...

in February 2019, assigned to the Queen's Bench Division. As a lawyer, she specialised in environmental law.

Early life and education

Thornton was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

to Labour-voting professionals, Margaret and Stewart Thornton. Her mother was born in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, and her orthopaedic surgeon grandfather, who was based in Ammanford, was a speaker on social affairs. The family moved to

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, where Justine was educated at West Bridgford School. As a pupil at West Bridgford Comprehensive School, she appeared to be heading for an acting career. Thornton was a member of the

Central Junior Television Workshop The Television Workshop, formerly known as the Central Junior Television Workshop is a British organisation that offers training for young people in performance skills for television, film, radio and theatre. Open to anybody between the ages of seve ...

at the age of 16. In 1987 she starred as Erica, a rebellious schoolgirl, in "The Visit", the hour-long opening episode of ''

Hardwicke House ''Hardwicke House'' is a seven-episode sitcom produced by Central Independent Television for the ITV network. It was originally produced in the beginning of 1987. It was so negatively received that only the first two episodes were transmitted. ...

'', an ITV sitcom that was later pulled from the schedules after only two episodes had been transmitted following a backlash over its content. In 1988, she appeared as "Chrissie" in an episode of the long-running children's programme ''Dramarama'' titled "Snap Decision", which was aired in January 1989. Putting her acting career behind her, Thornton read Law at

Robinson College, Cambridge Robinson College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1977, it is one of the newest Oxbridge colleges and is unique in having been intended, from its inception, for both undergraduate and graduate students of bo ...

, graduating in 1992. She became a barrister in 1994.

Career

Thornton practised in Environmental Law, latterly at

39 Essex Chambers 39 Essex Chambers is a long established barristers' chambers based in London with over 150 barristers, including 58 King's Counsel. The chambers offers expertise in commercial, common, construction, costs, environmental and planning, public and r ...

, before she was appointed a judge. The 2010 edition of ''Legal 500'', the lawyers' directory described her as "first class". She was appointed an Advisor to the British Government on Biotechnology and the Environment under

New Labour New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...

in 2000, a role she held until 2005 and was later on the Attorney-General's C Panel. She was later Chairwoman of SERA, Labour's Environment campaign. She has also acted on behalf of the

Welsh Assembly The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh ...

, and in 2009 was shortlisted for

Chambers and Partners Chambers and Partners (often noted elsewhere as Chambers & Partners) produces international rankings for the legal industry, which is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Orbach and Chambers Orbach and Chambers Publishing Limited was founded ...

"Environmental and Planning Junior of the Year". Thornton has worked on several law-related publications, as general editor of Sweet and Maxwell's ''Encyclopedia of Environmental Law'', and a

co-author Collaborative writing, or collabwriting is a method of group work that takes place in the workplace and in the classroom. Researchers expand the idea of collaborative writing beyond groups working together to complete a writing task. Collaboration ...

of Sweet and Maxwell's textbook on Environmental law. She also co-authored the ''Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 Law Society Legislation Guides''. She became an Associate Governor of Brookfield Primary School in 2009. Thornton was appointed King's Counsel in January 2016, and a Deputy High Court Judge in May 2017. In January 2019, it was announced Thornton would be appointed a judge of the High Court of England and Wales, with her appointment taking effect on 28 February 2019. She is assigned to the Queen's Bench Division. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2019 upon her appointment to the High Court. Thornton is an honorary fellow of

Personal life

Thornton is married to former Labour Party Leader

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliban ...

. They met in 2002 and live together at

Dartmouth Park Dartmouth Park is a district of north west London in the Borough of Camden, north of Charing Cross. The area adjoins Highgate and Highgate Cemetery (to the north) and Kentish Town (to the south). Parliament Hill is to the west. The nearest Un ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

. The couple were engaged in March 2010, and married at

Langar Hall Langar Hall is a Grade II listed house, now a hotel, next to the church in Langar, Nottinghamshire. The current building dates back to the 18th century, but parts are "probably a survival of an earlier building". History The Howes came into poss ...

near Nottingham on 27 May 2011. They have two sons, born 2009 and 2010. Thornton was a close friend of Frances Osborne, the wife of former Conservative Chancellor

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...

, whom she met whilst studying for the Bar in London.

References

External links

*
Justine Thornton's Profile at BFI Film and TV Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Justine 1970 births Living people Lawyers from Manchester English people of Welsh descent People from Nottingham Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire English television actresses People educated at West Bridgford School Alumni of Robinson College, Cambridge English barristers British women lawyers Spouses of British politicians 21st-century King's Counsel Ed Miliband