Elaine Murphy, Baroness Murphy (born 16 January 1947) is a British psychiatrist, academic, and politician who sits as a

crossbench A crossbencher is a minor party or independent politician, independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. ...

member of 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 ...

Biography

After qualifying as a doctor and then as a psychiatrist she later became an academic in the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

for 25 years. She spent a period as a Health Service general manager between 1984 and 1990 which included the post of district general manager for Lewisham and North Southwark Health Authority. She was the first professor of psychiatry of old age in the UK, held at the University of London at Guy's Hospital. She took on non-executive roles after retirement and was chair of North East London Strategic Health Authority until 30 June 2006. She was a visiting professor at Queen Mary University of London, vice-president of the Alzheimer's Society and chair of council at

St George's, University of London St George's, University of London (SGUL), legally the St George's Hospital Medical School, was a public medical school from 1733 to 2024 in South London, England. It merged with City, University of London to form City St George's, University of ...

between 2009 and 2012, and was a non-executive member of Monitor (independent monitor of NHS Hospitals). On 17 June 2004, she was made 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 ...

as ''Baroness Murphy, of Aldgate in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

'', taking an interest in mental health and ageing issues in the House of Lords where she sits as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is a minor party or independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. They take their name fr ...

. She was first married 1969–2000 to John Murphy, the branding 'guru' and brewer, and then second, from 2001, to Michael A Robb, a professor and a theoretical chemist. She lives in Norfolk and has homes in London and

Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...

, where she grows olives.Radio 4 – The Today Programme – Reports
/ref> In January 2009, it was revealed that she was the author of a hoax letter about " cello scrotum" that was printed in the ''

British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a fortnightly peer-reviewed medical journal, published by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, which in turn is wholly-owned by the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world ...

'' in 1974. Murphy also has a PhD in social history and has published in the field of 18th and 19th century workhouses, madhouses and local history. Her publications include ''The Moated Grange: A History of South Norfolk Through the Story of one Home, 1300-2000'' (2015), about the village of Brockdish in

South Norfolk South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. The largest town is Wymondham, and the district also includes the towns of Costessey, Diss, Harleston, Hingham, Loddon and Long Stratton. The council was based in Long S ...

. She is an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.

References

External links

Bio at SGUL
Peers recommended by the House of Lords Appointments Commission Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II 1947 births Living people Alumni of the University of Manchester Crossbench life peers People from Chilwell {{Life-peer-stub