Gillian Patricia Shephard, Baroness Shephard of Northwold, (''née'' Watts; born 22 January 1940), 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 who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Norfolk from 1987 to 2005. Shephard served as a Cabinet Minister, and is now Chairman of the Association of Conservative Peers. Shephard is currently the chair of the Alumni Association of Oxford University. She was the chair of the Council of the Institute of Education until 2015 and deputy commissioner of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission until 2017.

Early life and career

The daughter of Reginald and Bertha Watts, she was born in

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. It is north of Norwich, northwest of North Walsham and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, and spent her early years in Mundesley on Sea, her father being a haulier with a small garage. She was educated at North Walsham Girls' High School and St Hilda's College, Oxford, where she graduated with an MA in Modern Languages. She became a schoolteacher and then worked as an Education Inspector for

Norfolk County Council Norfolk County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for Norfolk, England. Below it there are seven second-tier district councils: Breckland District, Breckland, Broadland, Borough of Great Yarmouth, Great Yarmo ...

from 1963 to 1975. From 1975 to 1977 she worked for Anglia Television. She was elected to Parliament in 1987, and became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Peter Lilley in 1988. She was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department of Social Security in 1989, and then in 1990, Minister of State at

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

. In 1990, she was given the additional role of Deputy Chairman of the Party.

Family

She married Thomas Shephard on 27 December 1975. She has two stepsons, including econometrician Neil Shephard FBA, Professor of Economics and Statistics at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Ministerial career

After the 1992 general election, she was appointed Secretary of State for Employment, then Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1993. She moved to

Secretary of State for Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...

in 1994, and stayed at the department when the Department for Employment merged into it in 1996. She remained in this position until the 1997 general election. Shephard was one of two women promoted to John Major's Cabinet in 1992; the other was Virginia Bottomley. The two believed the media was looking for stories of Ministerial "catfights" and made a pact to work together, despite differences in backgrounds and working styles. In an interview, Shephard said, "We said that we would never give anybody the chance to say that we were criticising the other. We would be supportive; end of. And we were." Shephard provided considerable information regarding her role as Secretary of State for Education in interviews conducted by Brian Sherratt in October 1994 and March 1996 for his book on the agenda for educational reform which the Conservative Party had developed since 1979.

In opposition

After the defeat of the Conservatives, William Hague made her Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and later Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions. She returned to the backbenches in 1999 and stepped down from the House of Commons at the 2005 general election. Her memoirs ''Shephard's Watch: Illusions of Power in British Politics'' were published in 2000. In 2013 following the death of Margaret Thatcher, Shephard published a memoir, ''The Real Iron Lady'', of her time working with the former prime minister.

Life peerage

On 13 May 2005 it was announced that she would be 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 ...

, and on 21 June 2005 the peerage was created as Baroness Shephard of Northwold, of Northwold in the County of Norfolk. She is currently Chairman of the Association of Conservative Peers. She was Deputy Chair of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission until 2017, when she resigned in frustration with Prime Minister Theresa May's lack of action.

Arms

Honours

* She was appointed as a member of the

Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are curre ...

in 1992, giving her the Honorific Title "

The Right Honourable ''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: The Rt Hon. or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire, and the Commonwealt ...

" and after Ennoblement the Post Nominal Letters "PC" for life. * She was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for the

County A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

on 23 July 2003, giving her the post nominal letters "DL" for life. on 22 January 2015 She was moved to the Retired List upon reaching the Mandatory retirement age of 75. * On 21 June 2005 she was awarded a

Life Peerage 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 ...

. The peerage was created as Baroness Shephard of Northwold, of Northwold in the County of Norfolk. This entitled her to a seat 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 ...

where she sits with the Conservative Party Benches. * In 2009 she was awarded the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. * She holds Honorary Fellowships from St Hilda's College, Oxford,

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

(2008), and the Royal Veterinary College. * In July 2018 she was awarded the

Honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

of Doctor of Civil Law (DCL) from the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

References

, - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shephard, Gillian 1940 births 21st-century English memoirists 21st-century English women writers 20th-century English women politicians 20th-century English politicians 21st-century English women politicians 21st-century English politicians English women memoirists Alumni of St Hilda's College, Oxford Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies British Secretaries of State for Education British Secretaries of State for Employment Conservative Party (UK) life peers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Deputy lieutenants of Norfolk Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Female members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom British recipients of the Legion of Honour Living people Agriculture ministers of the United Kingdom Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People from Cromer UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 People from Northwold Writers from Norfolk