Lorely Jane Burt, Baroness Burt of Solihull (born 10 September 1954) is a British politician, who was the

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Li ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe ...

from 2005 to 2015. She was nominated for 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. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

age in the

2015 Dissolution Honours The 2015 Dissolution Honours List was issued on 27 August 2015 upon the advice of the Prime Minister, David Cameron. The Life Peerages were announced separately from the other appointments, while it was gazetted as a single list on 22 September 2 ...

Early life

Burt attended High Arcal Grammar School, Dudley (1966–71) and Dudley Technical College (A-levels 1971-73) before going to

University College, Swansea , former_names=University College of Swansea, University of Wales Swansea , motto= cy, Gweddw crefft heb ei dawn , mottoeng="Technical skill is bereft without culture" , established=1920 – University College of Swansea 1996 – University of Wa ...

, where she attained a BSc in Economics. She later received an MBA from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

Employment before Parliament

After graduating in economics, Burt began her career in the

Prison Service His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wal ...

as an Assistant Governor at

HM Prison Holloway HM Prison Holloway was a closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, until its closure in 2016. Histo ...

before working for several national companies in personnel and training. She later set up a training company and worked as a director in the marketing and financial services sector. She started part-time consultancy work when she became the prospective Liberal Democrat candidate for Solihull.

Political career

Burt's political career began on

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

Metropolitan Borough Council, where she served from 1998 to 2003. She stood for election in

Dudley South Dudley South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Mike Wood of the Conservative Party. Members of Parliament Boundaries Dudley South is one of four constituencies covering the Metropolitan ...

at the 2001 general election. She also stood for the

West Midlands region The West Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level for Statistics, statistical purposes. It covers the western half of the area traditio ...

at the

2004 European Parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but electe ...

Member of Parliament

In the run up to the 2005 general election, Burt campaigned on various local issues affecting

, and succeeded in overturning incumbent John Taylor's 9,407 majority to a 279 majority in her favour. Following her election, Burt became a Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

, an Opposition Whip, and served on the

Treasury Select Committee The House of Commons Treasury Committee (often referred to as the Treasury Select Committee) is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administ ...

. Following the election of Sir

Menzies Campbell Walter Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, (; born 22 May 1941), often known as Ming Campbell, is a British Liberal Democrat politician, advocate and former athlete. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Fife from ...

to the leadership of the party in 2006, Burt became the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Small Business and Women and Equality. In 2007 she moved to become the Spokesperson for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. In October 2007, she was elected as the party's first female Chair of the Liberal Democrats' Parliamentary Party, defeating

John Thurso John Archibald Sinclair, 3rd Viscount Thurso (born 10 September 1953), known also as John Thurso, is a Scottish businessman, Liberal Democrat politician and hereditary peer who is notable for having served in the House of Lords both before and ...

and Andrew George in a poll of MPs. In the 2010 general election, boundary changes had made her seat notionally Conservative. She held Solihull by 175 votes over her Conservative opponent

Maggie Throup Margaret Ann Throup (born 27 January 1957) is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Erewash in Derbyshire since the 2015 general election. Prior to entering politics, Throup worked as a b ...

. In 2013 Burt was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Upon taking this new role she resigned from her positions as BIS Co-Chair and Chair of the Parliamentary Party. In April 2014 she was appointed the government's Ambassador for Women in Enterprise. In November 2014 Burt was appointed to be an Assistant Government Whip. She lost her seat to the Conservative Julian Knight in the

2015 General Election This national electoral calendar for 2015 lists the national/Federation, federal elections held in 2015 in all List of sovereign states, sovereign states and their Dependent territory, dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though na ...

. Burt and her supporters were criticised for pushing away reporters as she left her election count following her defeat. She was announced as a new peer in the

and on the afternoon of 9 October she was created Baroness Burt of Solihull, ''of

in the

County of West Midlands West Midlands is a metropolitan county in the West Midlands Region, England, with a 2021 population of 2,919,600, making it the second most populous county in England after Greater London. It was created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 19 ...

''.

Campaigns

Burt has campaigned on a number of issues both locally and nationally. Locally, she has campaigned to prevent Shirley parkland from being developed, to save Solihull's NHS Walk-In Centre, to save Shirley Library from closure and for a better ambulance service.

Personal life

Burt is married to Richard, who himself has been a Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate several times, and has a daughter and a stepson. She is an honorary associate of the

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...

and a Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group.

References

External links

Lorely Burt MP
official constituency site
Lorely Burt
official Liberal Democrats profile
Solihull Liberal Democrats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burt, Lorely 1954 births Alumni of Swansea University Alumni of the Open University Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Councillors in the West Midlands (county) Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies Living people UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 21st-century British women politicians Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Women councillors in England