Sheila Valerie Noakes, Baroness Noakes, (née Masters, born 23 June 1949) is 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 and former corporate executive.

Education and early career

Sheila Masters was educated at Eltham Hill Grammar School, followed by the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

, where she studied Law. She qualified as a Chartered Accountant and became a partner in Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co, which is now part of

KPMG KPMG is a multinational professional services network, based in London, United Kingdom. As one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC. KPMG is a network of firms in 145 countries with 275,288 emplo ...

. For three years from 1988, she was seconded to 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 ...

where she modernised its financial management. In 1999 she became the first female President of the

Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is a professional membership organisation that promotes, develops and supports chartered accountants and students around the world. As of December 2024, it has over 210,000 memb ...

. At the same time, she was a non-executive director of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

and a governor of the

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degree, Master's degrees in management and finance, Master of B ...

, while still overseeing privatisations and other public sector work at KPMG. Trade journal ''

Accountancy Age ''Accountancy Age'' is an online trade publication for accountants and financial staff in the United Kingdom. After running from 1969 to 2011 with a circulation of over 60,000 in print, it changed with effect from May 2011 to an online-only publi ...

'' described her as "the country's most high profile accountant".

Political career

Baroness Noakes was the Opposition spokesperson for the Treasury (2003–2010), Work and Pensions (2001–2006) and Health (2001–2003). In January 2006 she moved, with Lord Phillips, an amendment to the Identity Cards bill which led to it being defeated in 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 ...

and sent back to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. She is a co-director of the

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

Founders Share Company and the British carpet retailer, CarpetRight. She was made a Non Executive Director at RBS in August 2011.

Honours

She was appointed a

Dame 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 ...

(DBE) in the 1996 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 ...

as Baroness Noakes, of

Goudhurst Goudhurst is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. It lies in the Weald, around south of Maidstone, on the crossroads of the A262 and B2079. The parish consists of three wards: Goudhurst, Kilndown a ...

in the

County of Kent Kent is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Greater London to the north-west. ...

on 7 June 2000.

References

External links

PeerageProfile: Baroness Noakes, conservative Treasury spokeswoman
''Accountancy Age'', 16 August 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Noakes, Sheila Noakes, Baroness 1949 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Conservative Party (UK) life peers People from Goudhurst British accountants British women accountants NatWest Group people Alumni of the University of Bristol