Elizabeth Conway Symons, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean (born 14 April 1951) is a British politician and trade unionist. A member of the Labour Party, she was Minister of State for the Middle East from 2001 to 2005. She is former General Secretary of the FDA Trade Union and has served as the Chair of the

Arab British Chamber of Commerce Arab British Chamber of Commerce (غرفة التجارة العربية البريطانية) established 6 February 1975, is an international trade organisation based in London. Although a not-for-profit body, its role is to encourage, promote ...

(ABCC) since 2010.

Early life

The daughter of

Ernest Symons Ernest Vize Symons CB (19 June 1913 – 5 November 1990) was a British Civil Servant who became Director General of the Board of Inland Revenue. He was educated at the Stationers' Company's School and University College London (UCL), servin ...

, Chairman of HM Board of

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation ta ...

, Symons was educated at Putney High School for Girls and

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...

. She was an administration trainee at the

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

from 1974 to 1977. She then worked for the

Inland Revenue Staff Federation The Inland Revenue Staff Federation (IRSF) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The Union was born in the late 19th century, when a group of tax clerks met together to fight for higher pay, higher status and better conditions. At t ...

from 1977 to 1989 and was General Secretary of the

Association of First Division Civil Servants The FDA is a trade union for UK senior and middle management civil servants and public service professionals founded in 1919. Its over 19,000 members include Whitehall policy advisers, middle and senior managers, tax inspectors, economists and ...

from 1989 to 1997. She resigned from this post following her appointment as a working peer.

Political life

Symons was created a Labour

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 Symons of Vernham Dean, ''of Vernham Dean in the

County of Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, Dorset to the west, and Wiltshi ...

'', on 7 October 1996. From May 1997 to June 1999, she took her first government post, serving as a junior Foreign Office Minister. From 1999 until 2001, she was Minister of State for Defence Procurement and, from 2001 until 2003,

Minister of State for Trade The Minister of State for Trade Policy and Economic Security, formerly Minister of State for Trade Policy and Minister of State for Trade, is a mid-level role at the Department for Business and Trade in the Government of the United Kingdom. I ...

. From 2001 until 2005, she was Minister of State for Foreign Affairs with responsibility for the Middle East, International Security, Consular and Personal Affairs, and Deputy Leader of 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 ...

. Symons was or remains a member of the

British-American Project The British-American Project (BAP) is an organisation intended to strengthen links between the United Kingdom and the United States. BAP operates on a not-for-profit basis, funded through its membership and support from corporate partners. It was ...

(BAP). It has a membership of 600 leaders and opinion formers, drawn equally from both countries, according to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', and holds an annual conference at which everything that is said is officially off-the-record. She also serves on the board of governors of the

Ditchley Foundation The Ditchley Foundation is a foundation that holds conferences, with a primary focus on British-American relations. Based at Ditchley Park near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, it was established as a privately funded charity in 1958 by philanthr ...

. In 2001, she married her long-standing partner, Phil Bassett, a former writer at ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. They have a son. In October 2002, Bassett was appointed to the Strategic Communications Unit in

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

, leaving in September 2003 to become special adviser to

Lord Falconer of Thoroton Charles Leslie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, (born 19 November 1951) is a British Labour politician, peer and barrister who served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice under Prime Minister Tony Blair from 2003 to 20 ...

, the

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

and Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs. She is a Senior Network Member at the

European Leadership Network European Leadership Network (ELN) is a pan-European think-tank focusing on European foreign, defence and security issues based in London, United Kingdom. History and organisation The ELN was founded as part of a project by the Nuclear Security ...

(ELN).

Corporate career

Symons was not given a job in the re-shuffle after the general election of 5 May 2005, and became a non-executive director of

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

. Symons sits on the board of trustees of the John Smith Memorial Trust, a

non governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

set up in 1995 in memory of the late Labour party leader John Smith.

Conflict of interest allegations

''The Guardian'' alleged in its issue of 9 January 2005 that Symons may have used her office to give "special treatment" to David Mills, husband of Culture Secretary

Tessa Jowell Tessa Jane Helen Douglas Jowell, Baroness Jowell, (; 17 September 1947 – 12 May 2018) was a Labour Party (UK), British Labour Party politician and life peer who served as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) f ...

. Mills was seeking her assistance in sidestepping a U.S. trade embargo against Iran in order to sell $200 million worth of

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft manufacturer, aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. ...

jets to that country. On 9 February 2006, ''The Guardian'' mentioned her as one several former government ministers who had accepted lucrative positions as company directors and consultants. In the case of Symons, the companies involved were

DLA Piper DLA Piper is a law firm with offices in over 40 countries across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. It was founded in 2005 through the merger between three law firms: San Diego–based ''Gray Cary Ware & Freiden ...

and P&O.From Brussels to the boardroom: what George Robertson did next , Business , The Guardian
/ref> In 2009 similar allegations were made when she took a lucrative post with UK investment bank

MerchantBridge MerchantBridge & Co. Ltd. was a London-based boutique private equity firm that specialized in investments in the Middle East and especially Iraq, where it was one of the largest such firms. It was in existence from 2001 to 2018. Origins The fir ...

, which made millions from contracts in post-war Iraq, and also when she became a member of the National Economic Development Board of

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

shortly before the release of Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, who was convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. Symons resigned from the National Economic Development Board in 2011 in the midst of a popular uprising against the government of

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...

, one day after she had made remarks which appeared to praise Gaddafi's 'sound ideology'. Symons said the remarks had been made facetiously.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Symons of Vernham Dean, Elizabeth Conway, Baroness 1951 births Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom General secretaries of the FDA (trade union) Civil servants in the Department of the Environment Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge Labour Party (UK) life peers Living people Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress British women trade unionists