Janet Mary Young, Baroness Young, ( Baker, 23 October 1926 – 6 September 2002) was a British Conservative Party politician. She served as the first ever female

Leader of the House of Lords The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the governing party in the House of Lords who acts ...

from 1981 to 1983, first as

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. Excluding the prime minister, the chancellor is the highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the prime minister ...

and from 1982 as Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. She was the only woman ever appointed to the Cabinet by

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

Early life

Born Janet Mary Baker in

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

in 1926, she was the daughter of J. N. L. Baker, a geographer at Oxford University, and Phyllis (née Hancock) Baker. She went to the mainly boys

Dragon School The Dragon School is a private school across two sites in Oxford, England. The Dragon Pre-Prep (children aged 4–7) and Prep School (children aged 8–13) are both co-educational schools. The Dragon Prep School was founded in 1877 as the Oxfo ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

where she played rugby and cricket, and then to Headington School. During World War II she studied at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, and then took an MA in

philosophy, politics and economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. ...

. In 1950, she married the academic chemist Geoffrey Tyndale Young (1915–2014), a Fellow at her father's college

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, and had three daughters.

Political career

Young became a councillor for

Oxford City Council Oxford City Council is the local authority for the city of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Oxford has had a council since medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974, Oxford has been a non-metropolitan district, wi ...

in 1957 and was leader by 1967. Not long after, she was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

on the advice of

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...

. Her

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 ...

age was announced on 5 April 1971 and was raised to the peerage on 24 May 1971 as Baroness Young, ''of

Farnworth Farnworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southeast of Bolton, 4 miles south-west of Bury (7 km), and northwest of Manchester. Within the historic county of Lancashire, Farnworth lies on ...

in the

County Palatine In England, Wales and Ireland a county palatine or palatinate was an area ruled by a hereditary nobleman enjoying special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom. The name derives from the Latin adjective ''palātīnus'', "relating t ...

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

''. She became a government whip shortly after appointment and was subsequently promoted to minister of state in the Department for Education. She joined the Cabinet on 15 September 1981, when she was appointed to be the

. On 13 April 1982, she was appointed to be the

and the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, posts which she kept for only 14 months, until 11 June 1983. Thatcher thought that Young "was perhaps too consistent an advocate of caution on all occasions" and was not an effective leader in the Lords. However, Young's colleagues disagreed, describing her as "bloody tough" and a "competent minister". She sat on the boards of large corporations such as

NatWest National Westminster Bank, trading as NatWest, is a major Retail banking, retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the Corporate merger, merger of National Provincial Bank and We ...

and

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

. In later life she was known for her staunch opposition to

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Not ...

; as an obituary put it: "The wellspring of her moral activism was her belief in Christian marriage and family life, her concern for children's welfare and her belief that as a Conservative she should stand up against what she saw as the slide towards an entirely secular society." She worked to try to stop legislation going through that would allow unmarried couples (including gay men and women) to adopt children, led campaigns in the House of Lords to prevent equalisation of the

age of consent The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to Human sexual activity, sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is un ...

for

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

men with that of

heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions ...

s, and also fought the repeal of

Section 28 Section 28 refers to a part of the Local Government Act 1988, which stated that Local government in the United Kingdom, local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with t ...

. She was ultimately defeated on all counts. Although she managed to delay the repeal of Section 28 in England and Wales in 2000, after her death Section 28 was finally removed from the statute book in 2003.

Death

Young died from cancer at her home in Oxford on 6 September 2002, at the age of 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Janet 1926 births 2002 deaths Deaths from cancer in England Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster Conservative Party (UK) life peers Deputy lieutenants of Oxfordshire Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Female members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom Leaders of the House of Lords LGBTQ history in the United Kingdom LGBTQ law in the United Kingdom Lords Privy Seal People educated at The Dragon School Members of Oxford City Council People educated at Headington School Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford 20th-century British women politicians Women councillors in England Conservative Party (UK) councillors Leaders of local authorities of England