Christine Mary Humphreys, Baroness Humphreys, is a

Welsh Liberal Democrats The Welsh Liberal Democrats () is a Liberalism, liberal, Federalism, federalist political party in Wales, part of UK Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrats. The party is led by Jane Dodds, who has served as an Member of the Senedd, MS for Mid ...

peer and leader of the party's group 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 ...

. Humphreys is also a former President of the

and was a

Member of the Welsh Assembly A member of the Senedd (MS; plural: ''MSs''; ; , plural: ) is a representative elected to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd constituencies, and twenty to represe ...

for the

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

regional constituency from 1999 to 2001. She has also been 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 ...

spokesperson for Wales since 2015. Before winning election to the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

in 1999 she was a teacher and Head of Vocational Education in a Welsh Medium School in her home county of Conwy.

Political career

At the inaugural Assembly Election in 1999 she won a

seat. She resigned on 22 March 2001 for health reasons and was succeeded by fellow Liberal Democrat

Eleanor Burnham Eleanor Burnham is a Welsh Liberal Democrat politician who was a Member of the Welsh Assembly (AM) for North Wales from 2001 until 2011. Background Burnham was born in Wrexham and brought up in Gwnodl Fawr, Cynwyd. Her early career was in soci ...

as Assembly Member for

. In November 2007 she was elected President of the party, defeating Bob Barton and John Last. She went on to serve two terms as party president, including one term as honorary president of the

Welsh Young Liberals The Welsh Liberal Democrats () is a liberal, federalist political party in Wales, part of UK Liberal Democrats. The party is led by Jane Dodds, who has served as an MS for Mid and West Wales since May 2021. The party currently has one elec ...

. In August 2013 she was appointed a working peer, but she has said that she favours

Lords Reform The reform of the House of Lords, the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, has been a topic of discussion in UK politics for more than a century. Multiple governments have attempted reform, beginning with the introduction of the ...

. 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 ...

on 18 September 2013 taking the title Baroness Humphreys. ''of

Llanrwst ; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is on the east bank of the River Conwy and the A470 road, and lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Denbighshire (histori ...

in the County of Conwy'', and made a point of taking the oath in her native Welsh instead of the traditional English. Her maiden speech in the Lords focused on the significance of Welsh-language broadcasting.

References

Profile on BBC website September 1999

External links

Welsh Liberal Democrats WebsiteBBC News item of the resignation of Christine Humphreys
20th-century British women politicians Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Female members of the Senedd Living people Liberal Democrat members of the Senedd Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Wales AMs 1999–2003 Welsh-speaking politicians Year of birth missing (living people) People from Llanrwst {{Life-peer-stub