Lynda Chalker, Baroness Chalker of Wallasey, , (; born 29 April 1942) is a retired 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 who was the Member of Parliament for

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...

from 1974 to 1992. She served as Minister of State for Overseas Development and Africa at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

in the Conservative government from 1989 to 1997. Chalker headed the British delegation which participated in the first

Tokyo International Conference on African Development is a conference held regularly with the objective "to promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners." Japan is a co-host of these conferences. Other co-organizers of TICAD are the United Nations Office of t ...

in October 1993. She jointly holds the 20th-century record for continuous government service, along with

Kenneth Clarke Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham (born 2 July 1940) is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997. A member of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...

Malcolm Rifkind Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind (born 21 June 1946) is a British politician who served in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1986 to 1997, and most recently as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament from 2 ...

, Tony Newton and

Patrick Mayhew Patrick Barnabas Burke Mayhew, Baron Mayhew of Twysden, (11 September 1929 – 25 June 2016) was a British barrister and politician. Early life Mayhew was born in Cookham, Berkshire, on 11 September 1929. His father, George Mayhew, was a dec ...

, for she held government office for the entire duration of the Conservatives' 18 years in power. Chalker is the former president of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

Early life and career

Chalker was educated at Roedean (where she was

head girl The two Senior Prefects, individually called Head Boy (for the male), and Head Girl (for the female) are students who carry leadership roles and are responsible for representing the school's entire student body. Although mostly out of use, in some ...

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

and the

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

(then known as the Polytechnic of Central London), and worked as a statistician and market researcher, including spells with

Shell-Mex and BP Shell-Mex and BP Limited was a British joint venture between petroleum companies Shell and BP. It was formed in 1932 when both companies decided to merge their United Kingdom marketing operations,Reference and contact details: GB 1566 SMBP Title: ...

and Opinion Research Centre (ORC), before entering

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1974 as MP for Wallasey, Merseyside, succeeding the former Cabinet minister

Ernest Marples Alfred Ernest Marples, Baron Marples, (9 December 1907 – 6 July 1978) was a British Conservative politician who served as Postmaster General (1957–1959) and Minister of Transport (1959–1964). As Postmaster General, he oversaw the intro ...

. Chalker held a number of government posts, including spells as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the

Department of Health and Social Security The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a Ministry (government department), ministry of the Her Majesty's Government, British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed b ...

from 1979 to 1982 and at the

Department of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

from 1982 to 1983. In 1983 she became Minister of State at Transport, and was appointed

Minister for Europe The minister of state for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories, is a ministerial position within the Government of the United Kingdom, in charge of affairs with Europe. The minister can also be responsible for government policy towards ...

in 1986. However, she was never made a Cabinet minister.

Gillian Shephard Gillian Patricia Shephard, Baroness Shephard of Northwold, (''née'' Watts; born 22 January 1940), is a British Conservative politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Norfolk from 1987 to 2005. Shephard served as a Cabi ...

argued that

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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 ...

should have promoted Chalker to Cabinet, saying, "Lynda had a very senior position as a sort of Deputy Foreign Secretary, and she had worked a lot on her own developing policy on Africa and elsewhere. She was a serious player, loyal to a fault and never put her foot in it – a first class woman." When asked, Chalker said that she believed she was overlooked because Thatcher wanted to be the only woman in Cabinet.

Post-Commons

Chalker was granted a

life peerage 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 Chalker of Wallasey, of Leigh-on-Sea in the County of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

in 1992, after losing her seat at the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

of that year. Chalker is the founder and president of Africa Matters Limited, an independent consultancy providing advice and assistance to companies initiating, developing or growing their activities in Africa. She is a member of the international advisory board of Lafarge and sits on the board of trustees of the Investment Climate Facility for Africa. She is a consultant for Uganda's Presidential Investors Roundtable (PIRT) that advises the president

Yoweri Museveni Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa (born 15 September 1944) is a Ugandan politician and Officer (armed forces), military officer who is the ninth and current president of Uganda since 1986. As of 2025, he is the third-List of current state lead ...

of Uganda, on ways to improve Uganda's investment climate and competitiveness.Lynda Chalker biodata
, qub.ac.uk; accessed 10 August 2014. Chalker is a member of the board of trustees of

Sentebale Sentebale is a registered charity founded in 2006 by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho. It helps struggling children and adolescents to come to terms with their HIV and AIDS diagnosis. The charity also provides a safe environment for th ...

, a charity set up to reach

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

's poorest children, many of whom are victims of extreme poverty and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. She founded the Chalker Foundation, which seeks to support the improvement of healthcare in Africa. She held the position of non-executive director and chairman of the Corporate Responsibility and Reputation Committee for

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

, retiring in May 2007, having served three terms of three years. She joined the board of Unilever as an advisory director in 1998, becoming a non-executive director in 2004. Chalker is a former chairman of the Medicines for Malaria Venture, a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to reducing the burden of malaria in disease endemic countries. She is a former non-executive director of Group Five (Pty). She was awarded the Livingstone Medal by the

Royal Scottish Geographical Society The Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) is an educational charity based in Perth, Scotland, founded in 1884. The purpose of the society is to advance the subject of geography worldwide, inspire people to learn more about the world around ...

in 2000. In June 2014, Chalker was awarded honorary citizenship of

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

by President

Armando Guebuza Armando Emílio Guebuza (born 20 January 1943) is a Mozambique, Mozambican politician who was the third President of Mozambique from 2005 to 2015. Career Guebuza, born at Murrupula in Nampula Province, joined the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRE ...

for services to that country. Chalker was shortlisted for the

Grassroot Diplomat Grassroot Diplomat is a global non-profit, non-political, diplomatic consultancy established in 2013. The consultancy specializes in digital diplomacy and public diplomacy working with foreign governments and citizen diplomats to help build posi ...

Initiative Award in 2015 for her work with Africa Matters, and she remains in the directory of the Grassroot Diplomat Who's Who publication. In 2018, it was announced that Chalker would take over from

Nicholas Crane Nicholas Crane (born 6 May 1954) is an English geographer, explorer, writer and broadcaster. Since 2004 he has written and presented four television series for BBC Two: ''Coast'', ''Great British Journeys'', '' Map Man'' and ''Town''. Early ...

as president of the

Notes

References

External links

*
Lynda Chalker biodata
qub.ac.uk; accessed 10 August 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chalker, Lynda 1942 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Chalker of Wallasey Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Unilever people Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Presidents of the Royal Geographical Society People educated at Roedean School, East Sussex Heidelberg University alumni Alumni of Queen Mary University of London Alumni of the University of Westminster 20th-century British women politicians 20th-century English women 20th-century English politicians British expatriates in Germany Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society