Joyce Anne Anelay, Baroness Anelay of St Johns, (born 17 July 1947), is a

British Conservative Party The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. The party sits on the centre-right to right- ...

politician, previously serving as

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

of the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

from August 2014 to June 2017. Anelay was appointed as

at the

Department for Exiting the European Union The Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU; also known as the Department for Brexit or Brexit Department) was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for overseeing negotiations relating to Brexit, and establi ...

in the

Second May ministry The second May ministry was formed on 11 June 2017 after Theresa May returned to office following the June 2017 snap general election. The election resulted in a hung parliament with the Conservative Party losing its governing majority in th ...

, after the 2017 reshuffle.
Evening Standard (12 June 2017). Retrieved 12 June 2017. Anelay was Government

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...

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 ...

from 12 May 2010 until 6 August 2014, having previously been

Opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comedy ...

Chief Whip prior to the 2010 general election.

Early life

Born in Hackney on 17 July 1947, daughter of Stanley Clarke, she was christened Joyce Anne and was educated locally at Enfield County School. She attended

Bristol University The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had ...

, graduating with the degree of BA and after further studies at Brunel University of London (BUL), took the postgraduate degree of MA. Following university, Anelay worked as a secondary school teacher from 1969 to 1974. She later became a volunteer adviser with the

Citizens' Advice Bureau Citizens AdviceCitizens Advice is the operating name of The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, which is the umbrella charity for a wider network of local advice centres. The abbreviation CitA is sometimes used to refer to this natio ...

, served as a Justice of the Peace for Surrey and sat on the Social Security Appeal Tribunal.

Political career

Prior to her elevation to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

, Anelay held a number of senior posts in the Conservative Party organisation. She was Chair of the Conservative Women's National Committee from 1993 to 1996, appointed

Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire 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 ...

(OBE) in 1990, and in 1995 was promoted

Dame Commander ''Dame'' is a traditionally British honorific title given to women who have been admitted to certain orders of chivalry. It is the female equivalent of ''Sir'', the title used by knights. Baronetesses in their own right also use the title ''Da ...

(DBE). 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 ...

as Baroness Anelay of St Johns, of St John's in the County of Surrey in 1996. Between May 1997 and June 2002, Baroness Anelay served in various Conservative front bench posts, including Opposition Whip and Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport. She was a Shadow Home Office Minister from June 2002 to July 2007, and from 2 July 2007, she served as Opposition Chief Whip in the

until 2010. In 2009, Anelay was sworn of the Privy Council. After the general election, on 12 May 2010, Anelay was appointed Government

in the Lords and

Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. On 6 August 2014, the day after Baroness Warsi's resignation, Anelay was appointed in Warsi's place as

Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan is a mid-level position in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in the British government. Hamish Falconer MP was appointed to the role by Prime ...

, attending Cabinet (although not as a member). Anelay did not on take on Warsi's faith and communities brief, which reverted to

Eric Pickles Eric Jack Pickles, Baron Pickles, (born 20 April 1952) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentwood and Ongar from 1992 United ...

. In April 2017, Anelay expressed concerns about reports of homophobia in Chechnya, and she released the following statement: "The detention and ill-treatment of over 100 gay men in Chechnya is extremely concerning. Reports have also suggested that at least three of these men have been killed." In May 2020, as Chairwoman of the International Relations and Defence Committee in Britain's House of Lords, she questioned whether Israel should continue to receive preferential access to the U.K. market if the plan for annexing West Bank territory, as laid out in the incoming unity government's coalition agreement, proceeds.

Personal life

Anelay married in 1970, her university contemporary, Richard Anelay, a

Deputy High Court Judge The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...

, leading

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

and

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, and former head of 1

King's Bench Walk King's Bench Walk is a street in Temple, in the City of London. It is mainly made up of barristers' chambers. History King's Bench Walk is located in the Inner Temple, one of the four Inns of Court. The other three Inns of Court are Middle Temp ...

Chambers.

Arms

References

External links

Joyce Anelay
on the Conservative Party website
www.burkespeerage.com – ANELAY OF ST JOHNS, LPwww.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk
*

, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Anelay of St Johns, Joyce Anelay, Baroness 1947 births Alumni of Brunel University London Alumni of the University of Bristol Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting Conservative Party (UK) life peers Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Government ministers of the United Kingdom Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms Living people Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People from Hackney, London Politicians from the London Borough of Hackney Women government ministers in the United Kingdom Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts