Emily May Blatch, Baroness Blatch, (née Triggs; 24 July 1937 – 31 May 2005) was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician. Born in Birkenhead, the daughter of Stephen and Sarah Triggs, she was educated at Prenton High School for Girls and at Huntingdonshire Regional College. At the age of 18, she joined the

Women's Royal Air Force The Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) was the women's branch of the Royal Air Force. It existed in two separate incarnations: the Women's Royal Air Force from 1918 to 1920 and the Women's Royal Air Force from 1949 to 1994. On 1 February 1949, the ...

and served as an

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

assistant between 1955 and 1959. Blatch entered politics in 1976 at the age of 39, as an elected councillor to

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

. Within a year she had been elected leader of the Conservative group and therefore leader of the council as the party enjoyed a majority at the time. She served as leader until 1989, during which time she helped pioneer reforming policies in education such as direct funding for schools from central government, a predecessor policy to the

Academy (English school) An academy school in Education in England, England is a State school, state-funded school which is directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local authority control. The terms of the arrangements are set out in individu ...

programme introduced by the Labour government of 1997-2010 and later extended by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition Government. Blatch was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 1983 Birthday Honours. 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 ...

ess as Baroness Blatch, ''of Hinchingbrooke in the County of

'' on 4 July 1987. From 1991 to 1994, she was Minister of State for Education and Immigration minister from 1994 to 1997. In 1997 she was given an honorary

doctorate of Law A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

from the

University of Teesside Teesside University is a public university with its main campus in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire in North East England. It was officially opened as ''Constantine Technical College'' in 1930, before becoming a polytechnic in 1969, and finally g ...

. Blatch was Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords from 2001 until her death.

Family

On 7 September 1963, she married John Richard Blatch AFC (a RAF

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

) and they had four children: David (1965–1979), Hon. James Richard (b. 1967) and twins, Hon. Andrew Edward (b. 1968) and Hon. Elizabeth Anne (b. 1968). John Blatch died in .

Death

Lady Blatch was diagnosed with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

on 23 December 2003 and died in London on 31 May 2005, aged 67.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blatch, Emily Blatch, Baroness 1937 births 2005 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Conservative Party (UK) life peers Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Deaths from pancreatic cancer in England Members of Cambridgeshire County Council 20th-century British women politicians Women's Royal Air Force airwomen Women councillors in England Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts