Lorely Jane Burt, Baroness Burt of Solihull (born 10 September 1954) is a British politician, who was the

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blyth ...

from 2005 to 2015. She was nominated for a life peerage in the 2015 Dissolution Honours.

Early life

Burt attended High Arcal Grammar School, Dudley (1966–71) and Dudley Technical College (A-levels 1971-73) before going to University College, Swansea, where she attained a BSc in Economics. She later received an MBA from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

Employment before Parliament

After graduating in economics, Burt began her career in the Prison Service as an Assistant Governor at

HM Prison Holloway HM Prison Holloway was a closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, until its closure in 2016. His ...

before working for several national companies in personnel and training. She later set up a training company and worked as a director in the marketing and financial services sector. She started part-time consultancy work when she became the prospective Liberal Democrat candidate for Solihull.

Political career

Burt's political career began on

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

Metropolitan Borough Council, where she served from 1998 to 2003. She stood for election in Dudley South at the 2001 general election. She also stood for the

West Midlands region The West Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of International Territorial Level for statistical purposes. It covers the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. The region consists ...

at the

2004 European Parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but electe ...

Member of Parliament

In the run up to the 2005 general election, Burt campaigned on various local issues affecting

, and succeeded in overturning incumbent John Taylor's 9,407 majority to a 279 majority in her favour. Following her election, Burt became a Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, an Opposition Whip, and served on the

Treasury Select Committee The House of Commons Treasury Committee (often referred to as the Treasury Select Committee) is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administr ...

. Following the election of Sir Menzies Campbell to the leadership of the party in 2006, Burt became the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Small Business and Women and Equality. In 2007 she moved to become the Spokesperson for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. In October 2007, she was elected as the party's first female Chair of the Liberal Democrats' Parliamentary Party, defeating

John Thurso John Archibald Sinclair, 3rd Viscount Thurso (born 10 September 1953), known also as John Thurso, is a Scottish businessman, Liberal Democrat politician and hereditary peer who is notable for having served in the House of Lords both before and ...

and Andrew George in a poll of MPs. In the 2010 general election, boundary changes had made her seat notionally Conservative. She held Solihull by 175 votes over her Conservative opponent Maggie Throup. In 2013 Burt was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Upon taking this new role she resigned from her positions as BIS Co-Chair and Chair of the Parliamentary Party. In April 2014 she was appointed the government's Ambassador for Women in Enterprise. In November 2014 Burt was appointed to be an Assistant Government Whip. She lost her seat to the Conservative Julian Knight in the 2015 General Election. Burt and her supporters were criticised for pushing away reporters as she left her election count following her defeat. She was announced as a new peer in the 2015 Dissolution Honours and on the afternoon of 9 October she was created Baroness Burt of Solihull, ''of

in the County of West Midlands''.

Campaigns

Burt has campaigned on a number of issues both locally and nationally. Locally, she has campaigned to prevent Shirley parkland from being developed, to save Solihull's NHS Walk-In Centre, to save Shirley Library from closure and for a better ambulance service.

Personal life

Burt is married to Richard, who himself has been a Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate several times, and has a daughter and a stepson. She is an honorary associate of the

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...

and a Vice Chair of the

All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group All-Party Groups (APGs) within United Kingdom politics are informal, cross-party, interest groups of the UK Parliament. APGs have at least 20 members who are all Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords. The All-Party Parliamentary H ...

References

External links

Lorely Burt MP
official constituency site
Lorely Burt
official Liberal Democrats profile
Solihull Liberal Democrats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burt, Lorely 1954 births Alumni of Swansea University Alumni of the Open University Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Councillors in the West Midlands (county) Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies Living people UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 21st-century British women politicians Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Women councillors in England