Barbara Lilian Janke, Baroness Janke (born 5 June 1947) is a British former teacher and politician. She was the

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

leader of

Bristol City Council Bristol City Council is the local authority for the city of Bristol, in South West England. Bristol has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1996 the council has been a unitary authority, being ...

from 2005 to 2007 and from 2009 to 2012. She was first elected councillor for Clifton ward in 1995. She became leader of the

group in 1997, with a break from 2007 to 2008. In August 2014 Cllr Janke was named as one of six new Liberal Democrat working peers.

Early life

Janke was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

on 5 June 1947.

Career

Janke formerly taught economics and modern languages in London.

Political career

She first became active in politics while in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, before becoming a councillor and then deputy Leader in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

Council in the early '90s. Janke stood unsuccessfully as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Surbiton Constituency at the 1992 General Election, losing to the Conservative Party candidate

Richard Tracey Richard Patrick Tracey, (8 February 1943 – 19 March 2020), was a British Conservative Party politician, journalist and news presenter. He was the Member of Parliament for Surbiton from 1983 to 1997, and served as Minister for Sport betwe ...

. In 1995, she was elected councillor for Clifton ward in

. She succeeded Stephen Williams as leader of the

group in 1997. In 2007, she was replaced by Steve Comer. However, she replaced him as leader in 2008. Janke became the first non- Labour leader of

for many decades after the 2003 elections when she led an all-party administration after the Council went into ''no overall control''. This arrangement collapsed in late 2004 when the Labour group withdrew and took minority control as the largest party. At the 2005 elections the

party became the largest party and took minority control of the Council under Janke as Leader until 2007, when a combined vote of Labour and Conservatives voted them out. In February 2009, she returned to the position of leader of Bristol City Council, following the resignation of the Labour cabinet. She stood down as leader in May 2012 as she approached her 65th birthday, but remained a member of the council. On 24 September 2014 Janke was created a life peeress taking the title Baroness Janke, of Clifton in the City and County of Bristol.

References

External links

Bristol City CouncilBristol Liberal Democrats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Janke, Barbara 1947 births Living people Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Councillors in Bristol Councillors in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Politicians from Liverpool Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Liberal Democrats (UK) parliamentary candidates Leaders of local authorities of England Women councillors in England