Doris Martyna Ansari (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Ashurst; born 18 May 1941) is a former

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 ...

politician from

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

and Chairman of

Cornwall County Council Cornwall Council ( ), known between 1889 and 2009 as Cornwall County Council (), is the local authority which governs the non-metropolitan county of Cornwall in South West England. Since 2009 it has been a unitary authority, having taken over di ...

from 2005 to 2009. She was then opposition leader on

Cornwall Council Cornwall Council ( ), known between 1889 and 2009 as Cornwall County Council (), is the local authority which governs the non-metropolitan county of Cornwall in South West England. Since 2009 it has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary ...

from

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

until she stood down in 2011.

Early life

As Doris Ashurst, Ansari was born in

Ince-in-Makerfield Ince-in-Makerfield or Ince is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of the Ince ward at the 2011 census was 13,486, but a southern part of Ince was also listed under the Abram ward (north o ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, on 18 May 1941, the daughter of John Ashurst and his wife Maggie Birch. In 1960, she married Asadullah Ansari in

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 ...

. By 1962, they were living in

Redruth Redruth ( , ) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. According to the 2011 census, the population of Redruth was 14,018 In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, ...

, Cornwall, where their three children were born in the 1960s."Doris Ashurst" in ''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007'', Ince 8c 243; "Asadullah Ansari" in ''England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005'' Farnworth 10c 386, Spouse: Doris Ashurst"Cornwall International Male Choral Festival Ltd Company number 04509936 Filing history
: 18 April 2006 New director appointed, company-information.service.gov.uk, accessed 6 June 2022

Political career

Cornish politics

Ansari was first elected to Truro City Council in 1971, to Carrick District Council when it was formed in 1973, standing as a Liberal, and to

in 1980. In 1987, while she was chair of Cornwall County Council's planning and employment committee, she was shortlisted to be the Liberal candidate at the Truro by-election after the death of incumbent Liberal MP

David Penhaligon David Charles Penhaligon (6 June 1944 – 22 December 1986) was a British politician from Cornwall who was Liberal Member of Parliament for Truro from October 1974 until his death in 1986. He was a popular figure in all parties, and was se ...

; Matthew Taylor was eventually selected as the candidate and won the by-election. She was the County Council's vice-chair from 1995 to 1997 and its chair from 2005 until its abolition in 2009. Ansari also held the post of Portfolio Holder for Education for a period. She was criticised for not including Cornish issues in the education curriculum, which she said would be "dangerous" and "put Cornwall on the road to

the Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

". Ansari was awarded an

OBE 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 ...

in the

2000 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2000 for the United Kingdom and New Zealand were announced on 31 December 1999, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2000. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various or ...

for services to the community in Cornwall. After the establishment of the unitary

, Ansari was elected by the Truro Tregolls division and became opposition leader and leader of the Liberal Democrats on the council from

to 2011. In April 2011, she announced she would be standing down as Liberal Democrat leader having been in local government for 40 years. She did not contest the 2013 election, being succeeded by Loic Rich. By the time of her retirement, Ansari was one of the longest serving members of the council. She is not listed among Truro City Council members on the council website as of May 2025.

Regional and national politics

Ansari was a member on several regional and national bodies throughout her career including the South West Regional Arts Council, the Milk and Dairies Tribunal, and the South West Rural Development Agency.

European politics

In 2003 and 2004, Ansari chaired the Committee on Social Cohesion of the

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is the pan-European political assembly representing local and regional authorities from the forty-six member states of the Council of Europe. Its role is to promote local and regional democracy, imp ...

of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

and was a

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

for Congress reports. She was also a British representative to the Chamber of Regions at its 11th session in 2004. Ansari was made a UK delegate to the

European Committee of the Regions The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice w ...

from 2008 to fill seats left vacant during the term of office which ended in 2010. She was renominated by the

Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local government in England, local authorities in England and Wales. Its core membership is made up of 317 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the ...

for the 2010–2015 term, but served only until 2013. She was Vice-President of the ALDE Group on the Committee between 2012 and 2013.

Electoral history

2009 Cornwall Council election

1979 Carrick District Council election

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansari, Doris 1941 births Congress of the Council of Europe Living people Politics of Truro Politicians from Cornwall Members of Cornwall County Council Members of Cornwall Council Officers of the Order of the British Empire English justices of the peace Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Women councillors in England